MSU programs to raise awareness of sexual abuse issues

Contact: Sammy McDavid

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State again is sponsoring two high-profile national programs that focus on the prevention of sexual assault and other violent crimes against women.

Organized by the university's Student Counseling Services, the 2006 Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign involves the Sept. 18-21 Clothesline Project Exhibition, taking place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on the Drill Field. In case of inclement weather, the display moves to Mitchell Memorial Library's first-floor IMC presentation room.

The second program, titled Get Carded Day, will be campus-wide and daylong on the 20th.

The Clothesline Project features lines of T-shirts coded by color to indicate a type of sexual abuse and its specific impact on a victim. The range includes:

--White, dead from violence;

--Yellow/beige, battered or assaulted, whether physically, verbally or emotionally;

--Red/pink/orange, survivors of rape;

--Blue/green, survivors of incest;

--Purple/lavender, attacked for sexual orientation; and

--Black, attacked for political reasons.

Get Carded will involve the mass distribution of wallet-sized cards containing information about ways to reduce the risk of sexual assault and what to do if it happens.

For additional information, contact Adrian Tate at 662-325-9101 or atate@saffairs.msstate.edu; or Krista Harris at 325-3518.

For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.