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In a women’s studies course, students are assigned an activism project in which they have to identity an issue that has an affect on women’s lives and educate themselves about their chosen topic.
Margo Miller, sophomore in nursing, chose to focus her project on sexual assault.
“I think sexual assault is a big women’s issue,” Miller said. “A lot of women downplay their sexual assault stories or do not even come forward because of the judgment they will receive so I think educating everyone about the topic of sexual assault will help.”
Miller hadn’t had many experiences with learning about sexual assault until she became a student at PSU.
“I think I started to think about how I knew nothing of sexual assault until I came to PSU because I am from a rural town in Missouri, and we never had a learning of what sexual assault was,” Miller said. “So, in freshman orientation is really opened by eyes about how little I knew.”
Many cases of sexual assault go unreported.
“This project is important to me because women or anyone who has been sexually assaulted should not be unsure about what happened to them or if they should speak out,” Miller said.
There are resources available on campus.
“One really great source for people who wish to learn more or are victim of sexual assault is right here on campus, The Students for Violence prevention,” Miller said. “You can find the SVP at 103 Bryant Students Health center. They have great resources for information and are really helpful for victims.”
Miller believes that sexual assault isn’t spoken about enough.
“I think sexual assault is an under talked about topic because so many people think of sexual assault in the extremes,” Miller said. “But the little things matter too. Many people will not come forward because they are unsure if what they even went through is sexual assault and that must come to an end.”
Being educated on the topic is an important step in preventing it.
“The basics of sexual assault are what we are taught,” Miller said. “That girls need to travel in groups, that you never leave your drink unattended or things like that… People need to learn correct actions, learning in depth about sexual assault will stop many actions that people think are ‘okay’ from happening.”
Miller hopes to spread awareness and encourage people to educate themselves on sexual assault.
“I am hoping to educate people more about what sexual assault is,” Miller said. “For them to hear that word and not think of the extremes. My goal is to educate people and girl victims the courage to come forward with their stories.”