2008 Woodie Awards
Letter: URI graduate student says more should be done for sexual assault victims
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
02/12/08 - To The Cigar,
I applaud the efforts of the University of Rhode Island's Counseling Center and the Women's Center on sponsoring the Surviving and Thriving group. Sexual assault is too often swept under the table despite the statistic that one in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
We all know someone who was or will be sexually assaulted, whether or not we realize it. It happens far more often than we want to believe. However, a support group shouldn't be a once-a-year occurrence. It isn't enough.
Resources at URI are few, and the resources that do exist are difficult to find. Perhaps this perception is due to my position as a graduate student and my lack of involvement in the student life of URI.
Or perhaps it is due to comparisons to my undergraduate institution which offered more accessible services, specifically a hotline with the number printed on the back of all ID cards, a weekly drop-in survivors group, regular programming throughout the year and a week of sexual assault awareness activities in the spring.
One in four women is far too many. That's a very sad reality. With greater awareness, educational efforts, open dialogue and groups like Surviving and Thriving, perhaps one day that statistic will shrink.
Karen Stamm
I applaud the efforts of the University of Rhode Island's Counseling Center and the Women's Center on sponsoring the Surviving and Thriving group. Sexual assault is too often swept under the table despite the statistic that one in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
We all know someone who was or will be sexually assaulted, whether or not we realize it. It happens far more often than we want to believe. However, a support group shouldn't be a once-a-year occurrence. It isn't enough.
Resources at URI are few, and the resources that do exist are difficult to find. Perhaps this perception is due to my position as a graduate student and my lack of involvement in the student life of URI.
Or perhaps it is due to comparisons to my undergraduate institution which offered more accessible services, specifically a hotline with the number printed on the back of all ID cards, a weekly drop-in survivors group, regular programming throughout the year and a week of sexual assault awareness activities in the spring.
One in four women is far too many. That's a very sad reality. With greater awareness, educational efforts, open dialogue and groups like Surviving and Thriving, perhaps one day that statistic will shrink.
Karen Stamm