What is Sexual Assault?

Sexual assault is the intentional sexual contact with another person without that personas consent. It is a act of aggression and power and is intended to overpower, degrade and humiliate the victim.

• Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted
• According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey there is an average of 207,754 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year.
• Victims of Sexual Assault are:
• 3 times more likely to suffer from depression
• 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder
• 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol
• 26 times more likely to abuse drugs
• 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide

What is Violence?

• Domestic Violence
• Domestic Violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another person
• Dating Violence
• Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim is dating violence.
• Physical Violence
• Any intentional use of physical force with the intent to cause fear or injury; like hitting, shoving, biting, strangling, kicking or using a weapon
• Indirect Violence
• Verbal Violence
• Non-physical behaviors such as threats, insults, constant monitoring or "checking in," excessive texting, humiliation, intimidation or isolation.
• Approximately 9% of high school students report being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the 12 months before surveyed (CDC, 2014)
• In a study nearly 1/3 of college students report physically assaulting a dating partner (loveisrespect.org, 2013)
• Among adult victims of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, 22% of women and 15% of men first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age (CDC, 2014)
• Women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence (loveisrespect.org, 2013)
• On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States (CDC, 2011)
• Nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 and 10 men in the US have experience rape, physical violence and/or staling by an intimate partner and report a related impact on their functioning (CDC, 2011)

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships

Signs of a Healthy Relationships

• Loving, respecting, and taking care of yourself and your partner
• Listening to each other without judgment
• Respecting each other's needs and right to privacy
• Very little emotional pain in your relationship
• Trust each other
• Your life is better with your partner in it
• You are never violent with each other; no pushing, shoving, grabbing, hitting or punching

Signs of Unhealthy Relationships

• You feel pressure to change to meet your partner's standards
• You feel isolated form friends and family
• You feel stifled or trapped in the relationship
• Your partner is very possessive and jealous
• Partner tries to manipulates you
• Your partner calls you names and yells at you
• Your partner excessively drinks or abuses drugs around you

Why Do They Stay?

• Fear
• The victim may be afraid of what will happen if they decide to leave the relationship
• Believing Abuse is Normal
• The victim may have grown up in an abusive environment.
• Fear of Being Outed
• If the victim is in same-sex relationship and has not yet come out to everyone, their partner may threaten to reveal this secret
• Embarrassment
• It can be hard for a victim to admit that they've been abused.
• Low Self-Esteem
• Years of emotional abuse can result in low self image for the victim
• Love
• The victim may stay in an abusive relationship hoping that their abuser will change

Cycle of Violence

You Can Help

• Don't be afraid to reach out to a friend who you think needs help
• Be supportive and listen patiently
• Help your friend recognize abuse is not "normal" and is NOT their fault
• Focus on your friend, not the abusive partner
• Connect your friend to resources in their community that can give them information and guidance
• Help them develop a safety plan
• If they break up with the abusive partner, continue to be supportive after the relationship has ended
• Don't contact your friend's abuser or publicly post negative things about them online

Safety Plan

• Victims of continued domestic violence cases should create a safety plan
• Create a domestic violence escape kit with identification, insurance, medical and legal information, check books, credit cards, and address books
• Make and memorize emergency contacts
• Keep cash on you in case you need to escape
• Use resources and hotlines

Campus Resources

Mississippi State University Police Department	662-325-2121
Mississippi State University Be Safeline	662-325-3333
The Longest Student Health Center	662-325-2431
The Department of Health Education and Wellness/Sexual Assault	662-325-2090
Student Counseling Services	668-325-2091
Dean of Students	662-325-3611

Local Resources

State Resources

Websites

• Program Request
• Health Education Sexual Assault Page
• RAINN
• National Network to End Domestic Violence
• Stalking Resource Center

Schedule

• Report to the amphitheater and sign in at the registration table between 8:00-9:00 AM. At this time you can pick up your FREE T-SHIRT (while supplies last). So come early!
• Before the run starts there will be music, community business booths, and educational information on healthy relationships to enjoy at the amphitheater.
• Let the Run Begin! We will release groups in waves. THIS IS NOT A TIMED RUN!
• Complete a short evaluation form.

Route

Go.Paint.Starkville is a 3K. We will start at the amphitheater and circle around to sorority row.

Parking

There will be no parking on Sorority Row.
You can park at the following:

• Fraternity Row
• Beside Farmhouse
• Hill Poultry Science
• Newell-Grissom Building
• Dorman
• Barnes & Nobel
• Bost Extension Center
• Parking lot at McCarthy Gymnasium
• Ballew Hall
• Thompson Hall
• Herzer Dairy Science Building
• Union
• Beside Lloyd Ricks
• Behind University Greenhouse
• Lee Hall
• Gast Building
• Clay Lyle Entomology Lab

Map