Students share experiences with t-shirts during Sexual Assault Awareness Week

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - This week, students at Georgia Southern University who’ve been victims of assault have a way to tell their story without saying a word.

Organizers of Sexual Assault Awareness Week say victims can use t-shirts to express themselves if they can’t yet verbalize their pain in front of others.

The shirts hang in Henderson Library as well as other sites on the Statesboro and Armstrong campuses. The color code indicates the type of domestic or sexual assault it represents.

University counselors say they’ve been planning the week for months, trying to determine which events they could still hold even in a pandemic.

“It’s very important to us. It has the widest reach of any of our programs,” said Dr. Lauren Patterson, with the GSU Counseling Center.

She says they try to help student whether they were victimized as children or in present day.

“One in four college-age women and one in 16 college age men nationally will be sexually assaulted while they’re at college.”

She says they’ll hold their traditional “Take Back the Night” rally, but it will be virtual.

If you are a victim of sexual assault, we want you to know there are resources available that will connect you with resources in your area. RAINN is the group that runs the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

The number for that is 800-656-4673.

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