Sexual Assault Prevention Week begins today

There will be events from September 11th through September 15th.

Sexual assault on college campuses is a highly concerning issue, and this week Temple is focused on preventing it. Temple Student Government will be teaming up with SAASA – Students Activists Against Sexual Assault – to educate students throughout this week.

SAASA is looking forward to working with Temple’s Student Government for Sexual Assault Prevention week campus wide.  The organization dedicates themselves to spreading awareness on sexual violence and supporting sexual assault survivors on campus.

On the student government’s site, there are a list of events for each day of the week with a time and location.

For Monday, the event is Owl Stand Up. This is for survivors, allies, and supporters who feel silent to get the chance to express themselves. This includes art, storytelling, poetry, and music.

On Tuesday, the event is Bystander Intervention. This is an information training session for students to not be just bystanders and hold those accountable.

This Wednesday, the event is ‘Know Your Resource’ Panel. This is where students can learn about the resources on and off campus.

For Thursday, the event is Self-Defense Workshop. Here, students will learn how to better defend themselves through an introductory workshop.

Finally on Friday, the event is the Temple football game. This is for informing students on a larger platform the prevalence of sexual assault on campuses nationally, and serves as a chance to introduce the “It’s On Us” Campaign.

Although each event holds its own unique purpose, these events together are a chance for students to become more educated and take action against sexual assault.

At Temple University, they have a PDF of the Annual Security Fire Safety Report that’s updated every three years. In the report, they have a column of the number of different types of clergy and non-clergy crimes that were committed on each of the campuses. There is a also of row of where the campus crimes were reported.

In 2015, seven rapes were reported on campus, six rapes in the residence hall, one rape in non-campus, and one rape on public property. Four fondling sex-offenses were reported on campus, three fondling sex-offenses in the residence hall, and two fondling sex-offenses on public property.

Tyrell Barnes, the president of TSG, explained that he and his team decided to work with SAASA because they are dedicated to take action against sexual violence. 

“We felt that it was imperative that we collaborate. When compiling our platform, we made sexual assault prevention a major facet of what we would like to tackle throughout the year.” Barnes said. 

Barnes is also the Vice President of SAASA. On Wednesday, both organizations went to the state capital and met with Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf, to promote his “It’s On Us” statewide campaign. The movement focuses on having a large community come together to inform, stop, and prevent sexual violence.

Barnes presented a powerful speech on fighting sexual assault and was the only student speaker.

“We must consistently stand in solidarity and create spaces where survivors feel supported, powered, and safe.” Barnes said.

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