Last updated on April 22, 2022
By Trent Lieffring
April is nationally recognized as sexual assault awareness month. This month, Volunteer State Community College is looking to spread awareness of sexual assault to its students.
Vol State will primarily be focusing on consent, support, and prevention of sexual violence for the safety of students on campus.
The Office of Student Engagement at Vol State encourages people to “Take some time and commit to understanding what consent is and is not.”
“We care very deeply that you are supported while you are one of our students,” according to The Office of Student Engagement.
They also encourage people to learn about “Tea and Consent” as well as to take a pledge to help prevent sexual assault. Once the pledge is completed, a free t-shirt will be given out in the Wood Campus Center in office 215.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in five women in America are either raped or have been attempted to be raped. Also, nearly 44 percent of women and 25 percent of men have experienced some sort of sexual violence in their life.
“Women are not the only victims of sexual assault. Anyone can be assaulted. Men can also be victims of assault and harassment,” said Tiffany Zwart, Coordinator of Student Support at Vol State.
“Studies even show that over half of transgender and bisexual women will experience sexual violence at some point in their lifetime. This is just not okay,” said Zwart.
Zwart and others at Vol State are looking to teach students about sexual assault and to make them aware of everything that goes with it.
“Ultimately our goal is to educate in a way that is respectful and impactful. I believe most people think they know all there is to know about assault, but we’re never really done learning,” said Zwart.
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