A run to remember

Christina Kaviani and Katie Purdom are working to get people thinking about sexual assault and relationship violence. To accomplish this, they will commemorate victims and work to help end sexual assault with the ninth annual Run to Remember on Wednesday.

Run to Remember is a 5k fundraiser for Sexual Assault Free Environment Resource (SAFER) and the Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention (SARP) Center of San Luis Obispo.

Purdom, an environmental management and protection junior and SAFER greek student assistant, said she would like to see more than 100 runners participate and raise between $1,000 and $2,000. But her real purpose is centered on raising awareness about sexual assault and relationship violence, she said.

“The goal of Run to Remember is really to remember those that we’ve lost to sexual assault,” Purdom said. “People need to know how important this is because we lose people in our community to this every year.”

SAFER coordinator Kaviani said sexual assault is prevalent on college campuses. Approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men are sexually assaulted during their college years, she said.

Victims of sexual assault are three times more likely to suffer from depression, six times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and four times more likely to contemplate suicide. It is one of the most highly unreported crimes, with 60 percent of cases left unreported.

Despite San Luis Obispo’s reputation as a safe town, people need to be aware that sexual assault happens frequently here, Kaviani said.

The rapes and murders of Kristin Smart in 1996, Rachel Newhouse in 1998 and Aundria Crawford in 1999 inspired the event, she said.

“The Run to Remember started after the three rapes and murders of two Cal Poly students and one Cuesta student back in the ’90s,” Kaviani said. “It was a shaking of this county because crime in (San Luis Obispo) is low, everyone is pretty happy  and you don’t think about people being raped and murdered.”

Rex Krebs, who is now on California death row, was found guilty for the rapes and murders of Newhouse and Crawford. Smart’s body was never found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002.

SAFER began educating students about sexual assault and offering crisis counseling for victims in response to the deaths of Smart, Newhouse and Crawford.

Approximately 50 students came into the SAFER office last year for crisis counseling, Kaviani said. SAFER rape crisis counselors have worked with six students so far this year.

A federal law called the Clery Act requires all colleges and universities to disclose information about crimes occurring on campus. It was written to provide students and their families with information about the safety of their campuses.

Veronica Heiskell, AmeriCorps member and assistant coordinator of the Gender Equity Center’s Women’s Programs, said although the Clery Act mandates that colleges tell people if and when a sexual assault has happened on campus, the numbers don’t reflect what actually occurs.

The most recent version of the Clery Report, published on Sept. 29, shows campus crime statistics for years 2008, 2009 and 2010. One sexual offense occurred on the Cal Poly campus during those three years, according to the Clery Report. The three reported sexual assaults that happened on campus last May will be included in the 2011 Clery Report when it is released, Heiskell said.

University Police Department commander Lori Hashim said all cases that become a part of the Clery Report have to have occurred on campus, although the majority of sexual assaults don’t occur on campus.

“We can only tally the ones that are reported, and even then, it’s still not entirely accurate because we can’t account for the cases happening off campus,” Hashim said.

Survivors of on-campus sexual assault might also opt to talk to a coach, dean of students or someone who is a campus authority, rather than talk to the police, Hashim said.

But even then, cases are reported, she said.

“A victim may choose to confide in a campus authority person, who is then required to fill out a form for the Clery Act, which is completely anonymous, and we will then put it into our Clery stats,” Hashim said.

People victims confide in often make the mistakes of asking investigative questions and victim blaming, Kaviani said.

“Asking questions that might suggest that the assault was the victim’s fault — ‘What were you wearing?’ ‘How much did you drink?’ ‘Were you flirting?’ — is probably the most common unintentional mistake people make,” Kaviani said.

The effects of sexual assault manifest themselves differently for everyone, and may even develop into a form of post-traumatic stress disorder called rape trauma syndrome, she said.

By creating a dialogue about sexual assault, people will realize that open discussion about sexual assault can have positive results, Kaviani said.

“My hope is that having events like Run to Remember will show people that sexual assault is okay to talk about, and as a result, reporting will increase and assaults will drop,” Kaviani said. “If we can make a enough hype to show that ‘Hey, this is a need,’ then maybe we can create that wave of change.”

SAFER recently started working with the greek system to organize effective presentations about sexual assault in college communities. Heiskell works closely with Purdom and other students in the Gender Equity Center and SAFER.

“We’ve been hiring students from the greek system to work with SAFER to show people that the greek system is really valuable and we’re very valuable, and we’re working together to end sexual assault,” Heiskell said.

Members of Cal Poly’s greek population who participate in this year’s Run to Remember can earn up to four service hours.

Despite the serious topic of sexual assault that the run is based on, participants will be surprised by the upbeat nature of the event, Kaviani said.

“This is actually a very uplifting event,” Kaviani said. “You might think that because it’s a run for sexual assault that it’s going to be really heavy and sad, but we’re going to have a live bluegrass band, some speakers and poetry readings.”

Several male speakers will discuss the importance of men’s involvement in the movement to end sexual assault. Representatives from the local women’s shelter will talk about October as domestic violence awareness month. Live music will be playing from 5 to 5:45 p.m.

The run will begin at 6 p.m., which, according to Kaviani, highlights the fact that many people, especially women, do not feel comfortable being out alone at night. The course of the run starts at the University Union (UU) Plaza and will circle around campus back to the UU. Participants may run, jog or walk. There are also volunteer positions for set-up and clean-up.

“I hope Run to Remember will get people thinking, talking, being aware and caring about the movement,” Kaviani said. “People aren’t invincible, things can happen and the best way to success is self-awareness.”