Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be joining forces at upcoming basketball games to raise awareness about sexual assault on both campuses.
The initiative is the first outreach to students from Helping to Advocate for Violence Ending Now, a Duke-UNC faculty training program designed to provide a support network for students who were sexually assaulted.
The first event will take place at the Dean E. Smith Center Feb. 25, during the Duke-UNC women's basketball game. Tables will be set up outside as students file in, and volunteers will pass out give-aways-like T-shirts and wristbands-and information pamphlets.
A similar event will be held at the March 9 men's game in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Organizers of the events will attempt to increase the awareness level on both campuses at the basketball games, which they said will provide a great platform to inform a large body of students from both universities.
The basketball outreach program is sponsored by a $2,500 grant from the Robertson Scholars Program. Another grant for $2,500 was approved in May by the Robertson Scholars to start the HAVEN program.
"We've been very blessed by the Robertson," said Melinda Manning, UNC's assistant dean of students
HAVEN, launched in fall of 2005, is a program available to faculty and staff on both campuses. It trains them to become informed allies for those victims of sexual assault.
Chimi Boyd, assistant director of UNC's Women's Center, hopes to make HAVEN more well-known to students.
Faculty who have been trained attach a HAVEN sign to their office door.
Boyd said she hopes students learn through outreach programs that they can talk safely with any HAVEN members.
The program saw much success in its first semester, sexual assault support services coordinator at Duke's Women's Center Jean Leonard said, noting that 48 staff members were trained from both the UNC and Duke campuses.
"We anticipate the same number of participants this semester," she said.
Sexual assault incidents have risen in number across the nation, and many universities are exploring new avenues for raising awareness and combatting the problem.
One in four women will be sexually assaulted in her life and one in six of those attacks will happen during her college years, Leonard said.
Three percent of men will be assaulted, Leonard added.
Last academic year, UNC reported a record-high 30 sexual assaults, Manning noted.
"We respond to sexual assault well, but we don't do well to prevent it," she added.
Leonard said that at Duke, the number is between 30 to 45 students annually.
These numbers, however, are not an accurate representation of the reality on campus, Leonard explained.
Many students do not report attacks to the Women's Center after being sexually assaulted, she added.
She said as the level of awareness on campus increases, the number of reported sexual assault cases will also increase.
Leonard sees this trend as beneficial to students, as more people will receive the help they need during the healing process.
Organizers of HAVEN-which include members from the Duke University Police Department, among others-hope to expand the initiative beyond just the basketball games.
"We're talking about doing some other events," said Christine Gwyn, DUPD community service officer. "We want to see how the first game goes."
Leonard expressed much confidence in these programs.
"I think these events say something about both our campuses and the commitment we have to make it safer for all students," she said.
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