Over 4,000 women are killed by their partners each year.
Each year, approximately 3.3 million children in the U.S. witness domestic violence.
Violence and abuse can happen to anyone. Violence and abuse happen each day and unfortunately there are cases in which no one does anything about it. OASIS is working to change that.
East Tennessee State University’s OASIS (Outreach & Awareness: Sexuality Information for Students) is a program sponsored by the ETSU Counseling Center. The program addresses relationship and sexual violence and advocates healthy relationships and sexuality.
Toward the end of March, OASIS will be hosting several events aimed at bringing attention to domestic violence and sexual abuse. In addition, OASIS will be working to raise money for organizations that help the survivors of domestic abuse, as well as organizations that work to eliminate domestic abuse.
The first event, the Clothesline Project, will be held March 20-23 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Amphitheatre area. Students are encouraged to create a message on a T-shirt that supports “breaking the silence of domestic and sexual abuse.” The shirts will then be hung on a clothesline, which will be set up throughout the time of the event, as well as during the Take Back the Night 5K Road Race/Walk.
On March 21 at 7 p.m., the seventh annual Candlelight Vigil – Honoring Survivors of Abuse will be held in the Amphitheatre. OASIS, the ETSU Counseling Center and Women’s Resource Center will sponsor the event, which encourages ETSU students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the community to honor the survivors of abuse by participate in the vigil.
The vigil will include a short period of music, paired with a time of reflection. Following this program will be a reception.
On March 23, the ninth annual Take Back the Night 5K Road Race/Walk will be held at ETSU. Registration for the race will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the Culp Center Cave Patio. The race will begin at 9:30 a.m. Registration prior to March 15 is $14, while registration after March 15 will be $16. All proceeds from the race will be donated to local programs that work to eliminate domestic and sexual violence.
For registration information for the race, contact Kristen Feemster or Jennifer McGhee at ETSU’s Counseling Center (423-439-4841) or email oasis@etsu.edu. To download the registration form for the race, visit www.runtricities.org.
For more background information about the events above visit http://www.takebackthenight.org/.
For more information about OASIS, visit http://www.etsu.edu/students/counseling/sexual_assault.aspx.
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