Campus programs focus on rape prevention

By Allison Sundaram

With help from a government grant, two new education programs hope to educate the student body about the realities of sexual assault by taking an innovative approach to rape prevention programs.

The 1 in 4 program, established in the spring of 2004, takes its name from the statistic that "1 in 4 women are victims of rape or attempted rape in college." The program is male-only, designed to educate men and raise awareness about sexual assault by having men talk to men.

"Having an all-male audience helps to take away any blaming, any sense that men are being blamed for the problem that 'you're a potential rapist' or that 'it's all your fault,'" Assistant Dean for Student Life and 1 in 4 coordinator Lisa Millora said.

The 45-minute presentations cover five parts. First, rape and sexual assault are examined in legal terms and defined under California law. A video presentation on rape is given next, followed by discussion into how rape is not just a female issue. Ways to reduce instances of rape and sexual assault are then discussed and the session is finished with questions.

"They showed a video that was about a police chief talking about a rape scenario that was pretty graphic and it really cut to the point of how someone who goes through that kind of thing, how it kind of changes their whole world and changes how they interact with people," sophomore participant Mutanda Kwesele said.

"Our college has a yearning for knowledge. Everyone who comes is grateful for the help and information," said senior Jack Fleming, peer educator and president of the 1 in 4 program. "They want to help but they don't know how."

The Office of Student Life received a $185,000 grant from the Department of Justice's program 'Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus.' The money will be put towards bolstering the current peer education, giving more money to marketing and incentives for attendance.

According to statistics released by Campus Safety, there have been two known forcible sexual assaults on campus property in the last three years. Still, more could have occurred as many of these crimes go unreported.

The Every 2 Minutes program is designed as a female-only counterpart to the 1 in 4 program, with the same single-sex peer education component.

"It comes from the perspective that you're not a potential victim and you have as much power to hurt somebody as a man does," Millora said. "So you need to be aware of all the challenges that are on a college campus -- alcohol, mixed messages, poor communication, all those kind of things."

According to Millora, the two programs will "come together to work on some coeducational initiatives," but mainly stick to gender specific presentations.

The program coordinators and educators are both hoping to work with professors, especially in fields such as sociology, to convince them to offer extra credit to students for program attendance. This was not previously an option because of the presentations' single-sex nature.

The 1 in 4 program currently has six peer educators on campus and has trained a total of 12 undergraduates in the past two years, 6 of whom have recently graduated. They receive between 16 and 18 hours of training in a variety of different issues associated with sexual assault.

Women selected for the Every 2 Minutes program will receive the same type of training as men and will be ready to present in winter quarter.

Every 2 Minutes plans to deliver at least five programs per quarter starting in Fall 2006.

Contact Allison Sundaram at (408) 554-4546 or asundaram@scu.edu.