The Women*s Center, College Assistance Migrant Program and Health Promotion are putting on events that students can join for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

SAAM focuses on creating awareness of people who are survivors of sexual assault, said Women*s Center Director Amy Sharp. 

“What’s interesting for us is it’s sexual assault awareness all year round, so really for us just doing a month of honoring those that are surviving or just bringing awareness is the least we can do,” Sharp said.

The Coalition for Women Students is putting together an event called Take Back the Night, which is a march to raise awareness about and call for an to end sexual assault, she said. Ky Wong, chair of Coalition for Women Students, is leading the march, which will be on Thursday starting on the Todd Hall steps.

This march is in collaboration with Cougar Safe Rides, the Women*s Center and the Lauren McCluskey Foundation, Sharp said. 

On March 22, CAMP began organizing and preparing for The Bandana Project. While collaborating with Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx De Aztlán and the Crimson Group, this project is in honor of farmworkers who have faced sexual assault, said Maritay Mendoza-Quiroz, third-year student and CAMP student engagement coordinator.

“Since the late 1980s, sexual harassment within the fields start to grow more and more, so that’s why [The Bandana Project] started,” Mendoza-Quiroz said. “It affects directly our families, like our mothers.” 

For this project, people come together to decorate white bandanas and write words of encouragement such as “stop sexual assault” or “we are essentials,” which are then displayed in public places. 

On April 1, CAMP and those who are part of the project displayed them in the Lighty Student Services Building. Mendoza-Quiroz said the organization is waiting on permission to get bandanas displayed in the trees on Glenn Terrell Mall and in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. 

Some other events going on this month are Count on Cougs, which is led by Health Promotion and will take place April 19 and 22 over Zoom. These workshops will help graduate and professional students, as well as faculty and staff, recognize warning signs that could prevent sexual assault, according to their website. 

Health Promotion is also hosting a documentary viewing of “The Hunting Ground” on April 26 in the Compton Union Building auditorium. This documentary is about sexual assault on college campuses, according to the Health Promotion website.

Health Promotion is leading a workshop on how students can support survivors of sexual assault on April 29 in The Spark: Academic Innovation Hub Room 227, according to their website. 

All of these events are available to WSU students throughout the month of April.