Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY11California/1142770974?pg=team&fr_id=27983&team_id=772247

Join us for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Sacramento on October 17th 2010. To register, follow the link above and be sure to join our team University Women of Merced Network at UC Merced.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Sexual assault and relationship violence affects everyone, especially women. It is a silent war against women that has grown more dangerous over time. Every 2 minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted, 1 in 6 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police, approximately 73% of rape victims know their assailants, and college women are 4 times as likely to be sexually assaulted [1]. At UC Merced, we care about the safety and sexual health of the women on and off campus.

UWMN will be hosting a series of events to provide awareness and education to students, faculty, and staff, to be compassionate to the victims, and to give an opportunity to heal. We have termed the week of April 13-17^th the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Awareness (SARVA) week.

EXPERIENCE SARVA!

Monday, April 13^th: “Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture” movie screening, Location TBA 7:00pm-9:00pm

Despite the achievements of the women's movement over the past four decades, misogyny remains a persistent force in American culture. In this important documentary, Thomas Keith, professor of philosophy at California State University-Long Beach, looks specifically at misogyny and sexism in mainstream American media, exploring how negative definitions of femininity and hateful attitudes toward women get constructed and perpetuated at the very heart of our popular culture.

Tuesday, April 14^th: Understanding Relationship Violence and its Victims a workshop facilitated by Bob Burtch, Bobcat Lair, 7:00pm-9:00pm

As an experienced counselor, with over ten years of experience, and the additional background as a Domestic Violence child welfare liaison worker, Mr. Burtch offers an in-depth understanding of the theory behind relationship abuse and a perspective gained from real life outcomes.

The workshop will cover a wide range of topics regarding the relationship violence. Defining and identifying relationship abuse is often difficult and confusing. In today’s fast paced life it is often difficult to understand others and “feeling good” is often mistaken for genuine love and support. This workshop will explore the definition of abuse, the prevalence and types of abuse as well as the myths, and current daily statistics behind today’s rarely mentioned abusive culture.

Utilizing current research, the student will learn to identify the direct and indirect effects of relationship violence on both its victims and the children who experience secondhand violence.

The workshop is open to those who may be experiencing abuse, their family members and friends as well as those who work with victims of domestic violence.

Wednesday, April 15^th: Sexual Assault Workshop facilitated by Genevieve Bardini of the Valley Crisis Center, Bobcat Lair 7:00pm-9:00pm

Also on Wednesday: Jeans for Justice

Wear your jeans on Wednesday to show your support for women. The name Jeans For Justice comes from a grassroots campaign inspired by a 1999 case in Italian High Court in which a rape conviction was overturned because the victim was wearing jeans.

Thursday, April 16^th: “Writing to Heal” workshop facilitated by Susan Bohrer of the Student Advising and Learning Center, COB 209 7:00pm-9:00pm

Writing about our experiences as victims, as friends, family and loved ones of victims, gives us the power to transform our feelings of helplessness and impotence. In this workshop you will have to opportunity to express what you might have feared to say, what may have seemed unspeakable pain; what you might have wanted to say for yourself or to someone else, but never did and never found the words to express. By writing, you begin take back what is yours, your own feelings and thoughts, and even your own body.

Audre Lorde, the writer, poet and activist states in “Transforming Silence into Action” that what she regretted most were her silences. For silence is acceptance, tolerance, and a sign that we fear to speak. If we do not give voice to what we know is wrong and acknowledge the wrongs done to us and others, then we neglect our obligation to ourselves and remain powerless. To take back the night we must restore our power and the power we have to speak for ourselves.

Friday April 17^th: Take Back the Night a March and Rally; Dining Quad 8:00pm-10:00pm

Take Back the Night is an empowering event to give women who have suffered from sexual assault and relationship violence to take pride in the night they have feared. Throughout its history, Take Back the Night has inspired both women and men to confront a myriad of social ills, including rape, sexual violence, domestic violence, violence against children, and violence against women. The unifying theme throughout these diverse topics is the assertion that all human beings have the right to be free from violence, the right to be heard, and the right to reclaim those rights if they are violated.

March for peace!

Throughout the week: Clothesline Project by Intercultural Programs of OSL

Look out for the tent of shirts! The Clothesline Project (CLP) is a program started on Cape Cod, MA, in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women.

If you have any questions about the events please email UWMN at uwmn.ucm@gmail.com or the current President, Jackie Shay, at jshay@ucmerced.edu.

References:

1. Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN); rainn.org. Visited March, 29^th 2009.