Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted, according the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). The Student Government Association at West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) is encouraging their fellow students, faculty and staff to take a stand against sexual violence through the national It’s on Us campaign.WKCTC and the other 15 community colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) joined the campaign to combat sexual assaults on college campuses and throughout the communities.
The faculty, staff and students at the colleges are completing online sexual assault prevention training. Through various scenarios, each person can learn to recognize the non-consensual signs of sexual assault, identify situations in which sexual assault may occur, intervene in situations where consent has not or cannot be given, and to create an environment in which sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported. Individuals are also asked to sign the It’s on Us pledge to make a personal commitment to help women and men safe form sexual assault and to promise to not be a bystander to the problem, but to be part of the solution.
“This training prepares us to recognize the signs of sexual assault and to know what to do to help someone who has experienced it,” said Georgiana Roberts, SGA president at WKCTC. Putting our name on the pledge says, ‘I will be someone who does what it takes to make it stop.’”
To show their resolve in the fight against sexual violence, WKCTC students, faculty and staff also participated in an It’s on Us sheet mural. They put their hands in pink and blue paint, representing women and men who have been sexually assaulted, and placed their handprints on the sheet. When the mural is complete, it will be displayed in the WKCTC Student Center throughout the It’s on Us campaign, which ends in early December.