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Campus Sexual Assault Topic of Seminar

With one in five college students on U.S. college campuses experiencing sexual assault in some form, “it’s easy to lose perspective on how far we’ve come” in sexual assault prevention and treatment for survivors, said Sam Wilmoth.

“We’re really seeing colleges and universities across the country devoting resources to this problem,” said Wilmoth, who is a Title IX trainer at West Virginia University and formerly was the Sexual Assault Response Team project coordinator for the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services.

Wilmoth will present a free sexual assault prevention program geared to high school girls from 9:30 a.m. to noon April 1 at West Virginia Northern Community College’s Wheeling campus, sponsored by Soroptomist International of Wheeling.

“We have invited probably over 800 junior and senior high school girls from five high schools in the area to attend,” said organizer Greta Swann of Soroptomist, noting fliers were sent to Wheeling Park, Bishop Donahue, John Marshall, Linsly and Wheeling Central Catholic.

“But we’re not going to turn anyone away. It’s open to anybody,” she said.

Wilmoth, a Wheeling native now living in Fairmont, will discuss how best to support a friend who is a sexual assault survivor, safe and realistic ways to help as a bystander, and sexual assault information and statistics. Audience members can submit anonymous questions, and he also will answer questions privately afterward.

Wilmoth said the session is not meant to be something to be checked off a to-do list as teens prepare for college. The topic should be an ongoing conversation both at home and on campuses.

“What we can do is begin the conversation about how to help your friends, what resources are available on campuses and how we think about sexual violence” in terms of being a bystander, Wilmoth said.

Soroptomist of Wheeling, a volunteer organization for professional women focused on improving the lives of girls and women, is hosting the program for the first time but plans to continue it every other year, Swann said. The goal is “to stop the cycle of sexual violence.”

For more information, call 304-242-6325.

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