Dressed in early 1900s clothes, Ball State’s Amnesty International chapter hosted a demonstration today to increase awareness and encourage the administration to give students more resources to deal with sexual assault and violence.
Students wore long dresses, hats and suspenders while giving speeches adapted from the women’s suffrage movement to fit the cause of sexual assault. Members of the organization held signs similar to those seen during the Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C.
“People come up and see the people dressed in strange clothes, and they are already asking questions,” Matthew Smith, co-director of the group, said. “It’s really symbolic because it’s the 100th anniversary of the march on Washington in 1913 that sort of jump started the woman’s suffrage movement.”
People had the opportunity to sign a petition in order to encourage the university to expand the programs dealing with sexual assault. The signatures will be sent to university officials along with a list of suggestions, collected via an anonymous online form.
Members also passed out action sheets to the students with methods to “help campus, help yourself and help others.”
“It’s not even just about the administration — it’s about the students,” said Bianca Russelburg, social media coordinator for Amnesty International. “I’m sure there are students who don’t even realize this kind of thing is an issue. They don’t even realize what true consent is.”
David Merten, a sophomore acting major, watched the demonstration and thought it was effective.
“I think it’s great that people our age are focusing on these issues because we’re the people on this campus,” Merten said. “We’re the ones being affected by this sort of material and sort of resources being given out by our university, and also these crimes are on our campus affecting us. I think it’s nice the student voice is finally being heard and hopefully, the university will hear the students voice more than they ever have.”
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