April is nationally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) which is symbolized by a teal ribbon, representing our commitment to supporting survivors. During SAAM, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education team collaborates with campus and community partners to create a month full of educational and interactive ways to address the spectrum of violence; this includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating or domestic violence, gender-based harassment, and stalking.
We believe that SAAM is a critical opportunity to not only demonstrate our unwavering solidarity with survivors, but to be agents of change, working to create a campus culture that fosters healthy relationships, demonstrates care and support, puts consent into practice, and takes action to prevent instances of sexual violence. We are committed to providing programming and outreach that is survivor centered, trauma informed, culturally salient, community specific, and student driven.
Our calendar will be updated as more events take shape, so please keep checking back throughout April. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @uosvpe to stay connected with all our initiatives throughout the year.
We recognize that support is an important part of healing and navigating this work together as a community. Please consider connecting with the Care and Advocacy Program, Counseling Services, the SAFE website, or call the SAFE Hotline at 541-346-SAFE (7233).
SAAM Events 2024
A complete list of events can be found on the SVPE Instagram: @uosvpe
5:00–6:00 p.m.
As a partner, we all want to support our significant others. Some things in relationships are more difficult to discuss than others, such as sexual harm. Through this presentation, peer educators from the UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) and Men's Resource Center (MRC) will give you the tools to better understand sexual trauma and support your partners through that experience.
In partnership with the UO Residence Hall Association, UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) is facilitating Stay Explicit presentations in the residence halls throughout the month of April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
This workshop is part of the Stay Explicit 201 presentation series from the UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) student team that serves as an extension from the first-year sexual violence prevention programming, Get Explicit 101. Created and facilitated by peer educators, Stay Explicit aims to expand upon conversations around consent, healthy sexuality and relationships, boundaries, and other topics that provide the proper tools, knowledge, and resources to support ourselves, friends, and community.
For more information about our work and resources on and around campus, follow @uosvpe on Instagram.
5:00–6:00 p.m.
Throughout our lives, we are constantly learning how to navigate relationships with friends, family, and even ourselves. How do we communicate with those closest to us? How do we know if our relationships are sustainable? Through this presentation, we will give you the tools to better identify what a healthy relationship looks like; whether they are platonic or romantic.
In partnership with the UO Residence Hall Association, UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) is facilitating Stay Explicit presentations in the residence halls throughout the month of April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
This workshop is part of the Stay Explicit 201 presentation series from the UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) student team that serves as an extension from the first-year sexual violence prevention programming, Get Explicit 101. Created and facilitated by peer educators, Stay Explicit aims to expand upon conversations around consent, healthy sexuality and relationships, boundaries, and other topics that provide the proper tools, knowledge, and resources to support ourselves, friends, and community.
For more information about our work and resources on and around campus, follow @uosvpe on Instagram.
6:00–7:00 p.m.
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), the Men's Resource Center hosts Shaun Galanos. Shaun is an intimacy and communication educator and mentor to 305k followers on Tik Tok and 250k followers on Instagram. Join us for tips on how to communicate openly, honestly, and playfully within various relationship types, from situationships to long-term partnerships. Limited seating - first come, first served.
Shaun Galanos is a certified personal and professional coach, creator and host of the Love Drive podcast, and holds a bachelor's degree from USCB in interpersonal communication.
This event is FREE for UO students, $5 for non-UO students and $10 for the general public.
5:00–6:00 p.m.
Consent is a part of our everyday lives, like when a friend asks to borrow something or if they can share a piece of your information but is also a key component of safe and healthy sexual interactions. In this workshop, we will discuss the role of protection use in sexual interactions, power dynamics, and unpack stigmas and myths around STDs.
In partnership with the UO Residence Hall Association, UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) is facilitating Stay Explicit presentations in the residence halls throughout the month of April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
This workshop is part of the Stay Explicit 201 presentation series from the UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education (SVPE) student team that serves as an extension from the first-year sexual violence prevention programming, Get Explicit 101. Created and facilitated by peer educators, Stay Explicit aims to expand upon conversations around consent, healthy sexuality and relationships, boundaries, and other topics that provide the proper tools, knowledge, and resources to support ourselves, friends, and community.
For more information about our work and resources on and around campus, follow @uosvpe on Instagram.
7:30–9:00 p.m.
Sponsored by UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education, the only one of its kind, SEXY SEXUAL HEALTH TRIVIA is a playful, and highly interactive trivia gameshow, developed and hosted by Toronto sexual health educator samantha bitty. Participants will have the chance to answer trivia questions around sexual health and earn safer sex supplies! Doors at 6:30pm with student groups, such as UO SVPE, tabling in the Straub Atrium.
The gameshow has been called "educational stand-up", "edu-tainment", includes demos, safer sex relay races, and lipsync drag performance. Using humour and tact to promote fun and pleasure-focused conversations about safer sex, consent, relationships, and communication; participants are empowered to take care of their physical, emotional, and spiritual sexual health.
samantha bitty’s passion, wit, and depth of sexual health knowledge, always results in memorable and impactful experiences.
The game operates within an anti-oppression framework. Values include: sex positivity, youth positivity, 2SLGBTQIA+ positive, humour, intersectional feminism, accessibility, equity, and joy of learning.
Although rooted in sound and scientific sexual health information, the game uses a bottom-up approach, centering the lived experiences of its participants.
3:00–4:30 p.m.
Sponsored by UO Sexual Violence Prevention Education, come hear the Sexual Assault Awareness Month keynote speaker, samantha bitty! Using disco revival music and visual media to move through what can be nuanced or challenging topics, this dynamic keynote discusses sexual health, relationship health, and the role of pleasure and sexual communication skills in cultivating consent culture. Gazing through an intersectional lens, and deploying the Systems of Empowerment framework developed by Miss. bitty, attendees are invited to be the composers of their own relationship to self and others.
5:00–7:00 p.m.
Join Drew, a couples and family therapist, for a conversation about what it means to be in healthy queer relationships, what challenges queer people experience in relationships, and the opportunities queer people and queer communities have in making new forms of meaningful and fulfilling relationships.
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Gather for transformative dialogue from MMIW activists Kola Shippentower (Umatilla) and Marta Clifford (Grand Ronde) uniting communities to shed light on the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. All are welcome to attend and gain insights into this ongoing issue.
THIS EVENT WILL BE DISCUSSING TOPICS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE COUNSELING SERVICES WILL BE PRESENT FOR ATTENDEES
6:00 p.m.
The Women’s Center is beyond excited to invite you to join *in-person* at our annual Take Back the Night Rally, March and Speak-Out Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.
When: Take Back the Night is on Thursday, April 25th, 2024 starting with the Rally at 6:00pm followed by the March at 7:00pm and Student-Led Speak-Out at 8pm.
Where: Rally begins in the EMU Amphitheater at 13th and University St. followed by an approximately 2.5 mile March from the UO Campus through the streets of Eugene and back to UO Campus in the EMU Diamond Lake Room where the Student-Led Speak Out is held.
Who: The UO Women’s Center in collaboration with the UO Campus Community (UO Muxeres, UO Duck Rides, UO Green and Yellow Garter Band and more).
Thursday, April 25th, 2024 marks the 46th annual Take Back the Night Rally, March and Speak-Out Against Sexual and Domestic Violence event for the University of Oregon Campus Community. Take Back the Night is a yearly international protest founded in 1976 which seeks to raise awareness about the realities of Sexual and Domestic Violence on campus and in the community, both for Survivors of Sexual and Domestic Violence and those who want to support and bear witness in solidarity. Take Back the Night is a Survivor-Centered event that begins with a Rally in the EMU Amphitheater, continues as a March through the streets of Eugene to symbolize reclaiming people’s safety on public streets at night, and ends with a Student-Led Speak-Out on campus during which Survivors can share personal stories of how Sexual and Domestic Violence has impacted their lives.
The Rally will feature UO Student Speakers from diverse intersecting identities and lived experiences, including the Native American Community, Latine Community, LGBTQIA2S+ Community, International Community, Disabled Community, a Child Abuse Prevention Advocacy Organization and more.
Our theme for this year’s event is addressing the DUALITY that Survivors can hold on their path to healing - throughout both their radical joy & rightful rage - as they ultimately reclaim their power. As well, we will continue to center marginalized communities too often left out of essential dialogue about Sexual and Domestic Violence - despite being disproportionately impacted by these systems of oppression. As always, the Women’s Center is committed to providing this essential event to support Survivors, educate the community and prevent future harm.
ASL Interpretation will be provided at the Rally. This event is wheelchair accessible and will have transportation available during the March and back to Student-Led Speak-Out. We ask that no UO Professional Staff or Media be present during the Student Led Speak-Out portion of the event to provide a sacred space for students to have dialogue circles of peer-to-peer support. Event will take place **rain or shine** (rain is currently forecast) and is free and open to the public. We support and believe survivors in ALL WEATHER! Masks are not required but highly encouraged. Questions regarding Take Back the Night should be directed to Fatima Roohi Pervaiz or Maggie Bertrand at the UO Women’s Center. Contact:
UO Women’s Center Director, Fatima Roohi Pervaiz fpervaiz@uoregon.edu
AND
UO Women’s Center Sexual Violence Prevention & Education Coordinator, Maggie Bertrand, svpewc@gmail.com
2:00–4:00 p.m.
Self-defense isn’t just learning how to fight. It’s also learning how to set clear boundaries and stand up for yourself while maintaining healthy, positive relationships.
In this supportive and empowering workshop, we will introduce you to a range of physical, verbal, and emotional skills that can help you recognize and thwart perpetrator tactics, reduce your risk of sexual assault, and feel more comfortable in your daily interactions. All techniques are simple, easy to learn, and effective regardless of fitness or experience level.
This workshop is open to all self-identified women and non-binary people who are comfortable in a space centered around experiences of those who identify as or may be perceived as women.