Sara Meadows
NEWS EDITOR
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and UNO is holding an annual campaign to bring awareness around sexual violence.
The campaign will help educate people on how to create safer communities and make space for survivors to heal.
The first event that was held for the campaign was the Take Back the Night Poster Making Session, which took place on April 7 in the MBSC Chancellor’s room. At the event, students were given the opportunity to make posters for the March portion of the event. Poster-board, markers and yardsticks were available to the first 50 students who attended the workshop, as well as survivor pins for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
“What were you wearing?” Survivor Art Installation was held April 11-15 in the MBSC Nebraska Room. The installation provided insights into students’ lived experiences and showed through different stories that clothing does not cause violence.
Take Back the Night, Keynote Le Racha Simon was held on April 15 at Memorial Park. Participants “Took Back the Night” as they marched from UNO to Memorial Park. A candlelight vigil was also held to show support for survivors and victims of sexual violence, relationship violence and sexual abuse.
Expressive Art Processes with Betsy Funk, LCSW, LIMHP, MPA, REAT was held on April 18 in the MBSC Dodge Room. Participants were invited into a safe space with others and used the Expressive Arts to explore their own strengths and resilience.
Flag Awareness Campaign will be held on April 22-28 and will feature a display that raises awareness about the extensiveness of sexual assault through a flag campaign. There will be 2,650 blue flags placed as a visual representation of statistics representing survivors of sexual violence.
Denim Day will be held on the last Wednesday of the month on April 27. This event will encourage people to wear denim to strive against victim-blaming and educate others about sexual violence.
