By: Miriam Corella

Contributing Writer

The University of New Haven’s Victimology Club is using social media’s evil powers for good. Throughout April they are running a campaign in order to raise awareness for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

One in four women and one in six men are victims of sexual assault, so a Victimology Club representative stated in their campaign that “a huge number of our campus population is affected by this almost invisible issue. It is time that we band together as RSOs and campus leaders to take a stand in the name of our campus community and shed light on a crime that affects so many of us.” Victimology invited the UNH campus to join them to take a stand against “this very prevalent issue.”

While sexual assault is a subject that is tough to deal with, it is important to start addressing it directly rather than sweeping it to the side. The club got the idea from a similar campaign that men in Scotland are doing, which is gaining a lot of notoriety for its message, and can be found at: http://www.policymic.com/articles/85293/amazing-posters-of-scotland-s-men-standing-up-against-rape-are-exactly-what-america-needs

“After seeing this, the e-board decided that we should make this into something that our club does for Victims’ Rights Month. We are asking that for all of April, you and as many people as you can get to do it, post a certain photo as your profile picture on Facebook and on Instagram. Take a photo of yourself and edit the picture to say “I am the type of guy who” or “I am the type of girl who,” then you fill in the blank with something to do with consent, and then “Are you?” At the bottom of the photo write “#SexualAssaultAwarenessMonth,” the title of this event, to include the cause for the photos,” said Victimology Club in an email sent out to the UNH community. “If you are a part of Greek Life, play a UNH sport, are a part of the LGBTQ community, or are part of a cultural diversity organization that understands the intersectionality of sexual violence with your community or organization, try and make your picture unique to show that you are representing that population.”

Victimology Club also encourages social media users to like each other’s photos consistently throughout the month so that it keeps appearing on everyone’s newsfeed for the whole month and continues the support of the cause.

To make the largest impact, it is important to get your friends and members involved too; the most important part of making this campaign successful is the amount of people involved and more posts means more awareness.

“Let’s kick off April with a huge social media blast on this campus, show our support of all of the survivors on this campus, and bring awareness to perpetrators that we will not stand for this anymore!” said Victimology Club in an email about their campaign.

The next event being held in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month is the Remembering Jessica Fundraiser Dinner. The dinner will be hosted by Victimology Club and Office of Advancement to honor the memory of Jessica N. Santos on Thursday, April 17. Santos was a student from Tarrytown, NY, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Yonkers, NY, on Aug. 27, 2006, a day before she was to begin her sophomore year at UNH. The event will help raise funds to aid students pursuing degrees in criminal justice and forensic science and marks UNH’s annual observance of victims’ rights through the month of April. There will be two seatings for the dinner in the Alumni Lounge at 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.