CSU’s Women & Gender Advocacy Center Observes Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Colorado State University’s Women & Gender Advocacy Center will observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month throughout April with various events.

“One of the best aspects about Sexual Assault Awareness Month is that the focus is on honoring the story of survivors, and raising awareness from a place of solidarity,” said Kathy Sisneros, director of the Women & Gender Advocacy Center. “The month’s events include educational programs that are ‘sex positive’ in nature, educating about ‘consent,’ stories of survivors, and how to offer support to people we care about. It’s an important time to engage in understanding how to shift the dialogue and recognize that it is possible to prevent sexual assault.”

This year’s keynote event, a lecture by Jessica Valenti, a feminist author, blogger and speaker, on April 22, will discuss how lacking a widely understood, culturally shared definition of rape affects the American culture.

Events throughout the month aim to educate and raise awareness about sexual violence:

April 3

– Women@Noon – Sex-Positivity Workshop: Taking the “Boo” out of Taboo, noon, Lory Student Center 220. Participants will learn about sex-positivity and how to incorporate it into their own lives.

April 4

– Safer Sexy Sex workshop, 7:30 p.m., Summit Hall Conference Room. Workshop will discuss sex toys, products and making sex safe and consensual.

April 9

– Film Screening and Discussion: The Invisible War, 7 p.m., Clark A104. Documentary investigates the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military.

April 10

– Developing Porn Literacy workshop, 6:30 p.m., Corbett Hall Lobby. Workshop will discuss how pornography is changing sexual behavior.

April 11

– Sexual Assault Awareness Month Day on the Plaza, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., LSC Plaza. Stop by for games, prizes, community and campus resources, the Clothesline Project, the CTMO photo booth, Red Whistle Brigade, art and candy.

– Take Back the Night, 6 p.m., LSC Plaza. This internationally recognized rally and protest creates an atmosphere of empowerment while raising awareness about sexual violence. The event begins with a speak-out and ends with a march to Old Town. No recording will be allowed at the speak-out prior to the march.

April 15

– “I Believe You” workshop, 3 p.m., LSC Rm. 227. Workshop will discuss ideas about how support people can impact healing in survivors of sexual assault.

April 16

– “But I’m a Nice Guy!” workshop, 6 p.m., Behavioral Sciences Building Rm. 105. Workshop will explore ways men can be agents of change as well as highlight the role of self-work as a strategy to confront violence.

April 17

– Clothesline Project, 6-8 p.m., Summit Hall. The Clothesline Project is a visual display of T-shirts with messages and illustrations designed by survivors of violence and hung shoulder to shoulder on a clothesline to raise the public’s awareness about violence.

– “Can I Kiss You” with Mike Domitrz, 7 p.m., Lincoln Center. Through humor and the creation of national initiatives, the DATE SAFE Project strives to help students have a healthier approach to dating and communication.

April 18

– Clothesline Project, 6-8 p.m., Summit Hall.
April 19

– Indigenous Women and the Reauthorization of VAWA: A Historical Move to Reinstate Tribal Jurisdiction over Non-Natives, noon-1 p.m., Clark A104. Presented by Roe Bubar, assistant professor in CSU’s Department of Ethnic Studies.

April 22

– Keynote: Jessica Valenti, 6:30 p.m., LSC Theatre. Valenti will discuss why feminism matters and the battle against rape culture.

April 24

– WGAC Open House and Breakfast, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Women & Gender Advocacy Center, 112 Student Services Building. Stop by the office to meet the staff, enjoy refreshments and learn about resources.

– Women@Noon – Experiences of Survivors: Physiological Impacts of Trauma, noon, LSC 220. Discussion will focus on how the body stores trauma.

April 30

– Consent Turns Me On (CTMO) Consent Carnival, 6-8 p.m., Corbett Hall. Carnival will include games, prizes, snacks and the CTMO photo booth.

For more information, contact the Women & Gender Advocacy Center at (970) 491-6384 or visit www.wgac.colostate.edu.

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