Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The University of North Carolina Wilmington has numerous activities planned for the next several days to help raise awareness in the campus community related to rape, abuse, incest and sexual violence.

The university's Collaboration for Assault Response and Education (CARE) office, which is focused on violence prevention and response for students, is sponsoring the events, which will provide a kickoff to lead into Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

"Sexual violence and relationship violence are a reality in the lives of many students," said Jen Adler, associate director of CARE. "Research indicates that, in 21 percent of college dating relationships, one of the partners is being abused. That's 1 in 5 relationships. We want to bring awareness to this issue, so that victims are aware of the resources available to help them, and students, faculty and staff can learn how to help friends and other students who may be in abusive relationships."

RAINN Day, Thursday, Sept. 22
Commemoration of Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) Day. RAINN is the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization, which leads national efforts to prevent sexual assault, improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.

• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Fisher University Union, Information table, games and a T-shirt raffle; students talking with students about issues of sexual assault
• 1 p.m., Azalea Coast Room, ICARE presentation, "How to Help a Friend," which provides resources to students to help friends who may have faced sexual assault or relationships violence
• 4 to 6 p.m., Sharky's Game Room, Fisher Student Center, Alcohol-free Happy Hour with food and games

Red Flag Campaign
UNCW is also kicking off its participation in the Red Flag Campaign, a public awareness campaign sponsored by Verizon Wireless and designed to address dating violence and promote the prevention of dating violence on college campuses. The campaign uses a "bystander intervention" strategy, encouraging friends and others to "say something" when they see the warning signs, or red flags, for dating violence in a friend's relationship.

• Sunday, Sept. 25 at 1 p.m., CARE peer educators will paint the UNCW "Spirit Rock" and plant red flags around it that show the warning signs of relationship abuse.
• Monday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in Lumina Theater, CARE will host a free screening of Telling Amy's Story. Narrated by actress and advocate Mariska Hargitay, and told by Detective Deirdri Fishel, who led the investigation, this documentary follows the timeline of a domestic violence homicide that took place when warning signs were present but there was no intervention.

Media contact:
Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.508.3127 or fischettid@uncw.edu