You've Seen Them....Now What?

Last week, small red flags were placed in different locations on campus. They were seen on the Quad, in front of Bibb Graves, the Library, the Alumni House and the TMB. If you drove down Highway 21 any day last week, you probably saw them. And we're sure you were wondering what they meant.

JSU will launch the Red Flag Campaign this week in conjunction with the Clothesline Project and April's National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. According to their website, The Red Flag Campaign is the first statewide public awareness campaign to address dating violence and promote the prevention of dating violence on Virginia’s college campuses, and is now being offered to and launched on campuses nationally.

The Campaign is a project of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, and was created by college students, college personnel, and community victim advocates. The Campaign is funded by a generous grant from the Verizon Foundation.

Also from the Red Flag website, Dating violence is defined as controlling, abusive, and aggressive behavior in a romantic relationship. It occurs among people who are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, and can include verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, or a combination of these. College students are at extremely high risk of either acting as perpetrator or being a victim of dating physical or sexual violence during their college years.

Consider the following:
• 32% of college students report dating violence by a previous partner, and 21% report violence by a current partner. *1

• 12% of completed rapes, 35% of attempted rapes, and 22% of threatened rapes occur on a date. *2

• 51% of college males admit perpetrating one or more sexual assault incidents during college. *3

• Females ages 16 to 24 experience the highest per capita rates of intimate violence—at a rate almost triple the national average. *4

* 1 C. Sellers and M. Bromley, “Violent Behavior in College Student Dating Relationships,” Journal of Contemporary Justice, (1996).

* 2 B. Fisher, F. Cullen, and M. Turner, “The Sexual Victimization of College Women,” (Washington: NIJ/BJS, 2000).

* 3 A. Berkowitz, “College Men as Perpetrators of Acquaintance Rape and Sexual Assault,” College Health, (1992).

* 4 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99 (Oct. 2001, rev. 11/28/01).

Join us on Wednesday, April 14 from 10am-5pm on the TMB Lawn for the Red Flag Event! Design a t-shirt for the Clothesline Project, listen to speakers on relationship violence, and participate in a rally for RED FLAG awareness! The Red Flag Event is sponsored by: Counseling Services, JSU Peer Educators, University Housing and Residence Life, Greek Life, WISE, AMI, NE AL Crisis Center (formerly Daybreak), and 2nd Chance.

For more information, contact Counseling Services at 256-782-5475.




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