Date: Wednesday, April 25
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: “The Green” at Columbia College

Columbia College will present a rally and campus march observing national Victims’ Rights Week. The program will also include a moment of silence honoring the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. This event is free and open to the public. Speakers will include Dr. Caroline Whitson, president of Columbia College; Vicki Bourus, victims services pioneer and director of SCCADVASA; Howard Cook, campus police chief and president of the SC Campus Law Enforcement Association; and Jane Clyburn, a survivor of domestic violence. The Eau Claire High School Drum Line will perform and lead the march around campus. “It’s important to know that statistics show these crimes are chiefly against young women” says Nicolette Saxon, victims advocate and event coordinator. “We are working to raise awareness about the many forms of abuse that often lead to domestic violence, and where to find help.”  
 
Columbia College students recently created over 100 t-shirts for The Clothesline Project, honoring victims of domestic violence with messages of hope and hard facts. Students plan to wear the shirts for this event as a show of support for victims’ rights.

• Women on college campuses are at a greater risk for rape and other forms of sexual assault than the general population.
• One in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
• 50% of all homicides of women in the U.S. are domestic violence related.
• Nearly 20% of all American women acknowledge having been violently abused by a husband or boyfriend.
• Women ages 16-24 experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence.
• S.C. is 6th in the nation for Domestic Homicide.
• 90% of homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.
• 54% of female homicide victims reported stalking to police before they were killed by their stalkers.
• South Carolina Ranks #6 in the nation with the highest homicide rate among female victims by male offenders.
• In South Carolina, approximately 93% of female homicide victims are murdered by someone they know.

From www.sccadvasa.org , www.womanslaw.org , and Rape in America: A Report to the Nation 1992

Information booths will be hosted by: SCCADVASA (South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault), Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands; Richland County Sheriff’s Department, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), SCVAN (SC Victims Assistance Network), and Sistercare. Refreshments will be provided courtesy of Moe’s Southwest Grill.

For more event information contact:
Nicolette Saxon
Victims Advocate
Columbia College Police Department
Phone:803-786-3379
Email:nmsaxon@colacoll.edu