On our campus this year 3,070 students will be affected by sexual assault, according to Carrie Kilpatrick, diversity initiatives coordinator at the Women's Resource Center.
The center will sponsor four events in April highlighting different aspects of sexual assault.
"We really want to raise awareness, not only to victims, but to perpetrators as well," Kilpatrick said. "We want to get the word out that this is not an acceptable crime and that you are not alone. There are other people who have been affected by this and there are organizations they can contact."
The first event is the "Red Flag Campaign" April 4-6. On these days red flags will be displayed around Haley concourse to help people realize the importance of taking notice of "red flags" in dating situations.
The Women's Resource Center will partner with the fraternity Alpha Kappa Lambda for the next event, "These Hands Don't Hurt," an opportunity for students to make a commitment against violence by putting their handprint and name on a banner.
The two biggest events will be held later in the month. April 20-21 is the "Clothesline" event in which a clothesline will be constructed on the concourse and T-shirts decorated by people affected by sexual assault will be on display.
Kilpatrick said this is a powerful event because the art on the T-shirts often demonstrates many emotions.
The last event is April 21 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. This march and rally is called "Take back the Night" and begins at Cater Lawn.
Participants will march to downtown Auburn holding posters with statistics and information about sexual assault.
During the month, people affected by sexual assault are encouraged to post their experiences at auburn3070.wordpress.com/secrets.
Some posts have already been published on the website by women who wish to share their experiences of sexual assault and words of encouragement to anyone reading.
"Sexual assault isn't something that people want to talk about, but it happens even here at Auburn," said Finley Hurth, sophomore in human development and co-chair for Sexual Harassment Awareness Month.
"I feel like all my work is worth it if 10 people are more aware of the dangers of sexual assault," Hurth said.
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