TW: mentions of sexual assault
The Advocates in collaboration with other clubs and houses is heading Teal Week the week of April 10 to 16. This event happens every year during April, which is sexual assault awareness month and holds a lot of meaning for survivors of sexual assault and supporters alike.
Teal Week is a week with multiple different intentions. First of all, the week is intended to raise awareness of sexual assault while educating people on the topic. Secondly, the Advocates is working to help break the stigma around sexual assault. This is something that needs to be talked about and be taught more so that survivors can feel supported and validated. That brings up the third purpose of teal week: to show survivors that they are not alone, their stories are valid, and they have support all over campus. The students and faculty of SLU are working their hardest to make campus feel like a safe and supportive environment for everyone.
President of the advocates Lucky Amoding ‘23 and Vice President Erin Kingston ‘23 have been hard at work trying to pull together this week so that there are activities and events suited for all students during the week. About the Advocates activities and events during the week, Lucky states that “we collaborate with a number of clubs and departments on campus not only to raise awareness of sexual assault during teal week but also a number of ways to indulge in self-care. From organic face mask making with the Green House to raising male sexual assault awareness with ATO.”
Lucky and Erin have created a schedule that has the ability to suit almost everyone’s wants or needs for Teal Week. Here is the lineup for the week:
Sunday: Putting up decorations and the out of darkness walk (11 am)
Monday: A discussion with ATO about the impact of sexual assault on male survivors (7-8 pm)
Tuesday: Empower hour yoga with PPGA in the multipurpose room in Newell (7 pm)
Wednesday: Making organic face masks with the Green House at the Green House
Thursday: Campfire with note writing and S’mores and Chi Omega (8 pm)
Friday: Possible discussion with Thelmo about drink spiking (TBD)
Teal Week is very important to SLU and its students, though this week is a nationwide event. Historically, these issues were brought to attention in the 40s and 50s, the campaign to raise awareness was championed by black women and women of color. The activism to raise awareness of sexual assault continued into the 1970s, when people began addressing sexual assault as a major issue. Later, change began happening at a larger scale, such as the 1993 violence against women act. There is a lot of history and hard work that went into April being the official sexual assault awareness month and it is recognized as a part of the month’s impacts. April of 2022 will mark the twenty-first anniversary of sexual assault awareness month. This shows the progress that has been made toward educating people and supporting victims.
Our humble Teal Week here on campus is an important event that has a lot of work being put into it. Vice president Erin Kingston ‘23 states about the week that “Teal Week is extremely important to this campus, it serves as a time to remind us that there is still a lot more work to do in educating the community about consent, healthy relationships and sex, and how to better support survivors of assault and abuse.”
The Advocates encourage everyone to participate in these fun and educational events next week. It is also important to support survivors a little bit more during the next week as it can be very triggering for many. There will be a trained advocate at every event for people who may need someone to talk to, or the Advocates hotline is always available to call.