Week of Events Set to Raise Awareness of Sexual Violence

Penn State’s University Park Undergraduate Association will host Sexual Violence Awareness Week, an extension of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, starting Monday.

Several events throughout the week  — including keynote speakers, discussions, film screenings and fundraisers — will focus on educating the public and showing support for victims.

The “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event, where men and women walk through campus in high-heeled shoes, will kick off the week at noon on Monday starting in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Alumni Hall. The event is designed to generate a discussion about sexual violence, which will be facilitated by Eve Ensler. The creator of The Vagina Monologues, V-Day and One Billion Rising, Ensler also will speak to students at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Alumni Hall about violence against women in the United States and around the world.

Hyunji Kwon, Penn State feminist art education researcher, will present artwork from various artists from around the world, depicting trauma and suffering among women at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Palmer Museum of Art. Featured artwork includes the paintings of former comfort women; sex slaves of the Japanese military during World War II; the At Home Project (2001), which shows domestic and sexual violence happening in one’s own home; Colombian artist Doris Salcedo’s artwork of trauma caused by political violence; and Korean American artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s work on intergenerational and transnational trauma.

Jackson Katz’s film ‘Tough Guise 2’ which focuses on the social construction of masculinity and how society conditions men to “act like men,” will be screened at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium.

Sisters on the Runway will host their annual fashion show benefitting the Centre County Women’s Resource Center Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Alumni Hall. The event also will include Penn State dance and a capella groups as well as food and music. 

‘The Pursuit of Truth,’ a documentary about adult survivors of child sexual abuse seeking justice, will be shown at 8 p.m. Thursday in Waring Commons. The film will be followed by a discussion led by its directors.

On Friday, the gala benefitting the Centre County Women’s Resource Center will take place at the Hintz Family Alumni Center from 6-8 p.m. One side of Hintz will have food and guest speakers while the other side will feature a walk through a survivor’s experience with sexual assault. Monday through Thursday, UPUA will also have tabling in the HUB from 11-3 p.m.