Written by | Tashana Smith |
The Amarillo College Police Department will host events this semester to help give important information to AC students, faculty and staff. The first event the police department will offer will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 7 in the Badger Den in the College Union Building. Because April is sexual assault awareness month, event organizers hope it will bring more awareness to the college of how such violence can be avoided and how victims can be helped.
A multitude of vendors and advocates will be available to help spread awareness and information on the effects of sexual assault. Free food and raffles also will be available. “My focus is that we help the students, faculty and staff know of the overall dangers of sexual assault and giving them the information they need that will help them,” Officer Stephanie Birkenfeld said. According to rainn.org/statistics, 44 percent of victims are under age 18 and 80 percent are under age 30.
Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted, and each year there are about 293,000 victims of sexual assault. About 68 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police, and 98 percent of rapists never will spend time in jail or prison. About four-fifths of assaults are committed by someone known to the victim, and 47 percent of rapists are friends or acquaintances. ACPD officers said they want to give out as much information as possible.
“My focus is as we team up with Family Support Services to promote more awareness tips and risk reductions,” Cpl. Scott Acker said. “Our biggest thing is to get the word out there.”
Leave a Reply