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“Witness Week” is a mini-week of activities dedicated to promoting education and awareness to combat sexual assault and domestic violence. We designed this week with one central focus: making our campus at Arkansas State University as safe as it can be for every student!

Mahatma Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Every student has the power to create positive change around them! The goals of “Witness Week”are to supply students with helpful information and strategies to decrease sexual assault and domestic violence in their community and in turn, make a positive impact in the world around them. A portion of the week’s activities are also designed to help students help the friend who has confided in them that he or she has been the victim of rape or domestic violence.
The Silent Witness Project of Arkansas will be displayed on our campus during “Witness Week.” The Project began in 1990 with a small group of women in Minnesota who wanted to change the world around them. They had become upset with the number of women who were being murdered in their state by partners or acquaintances. They felt an urgency to do something that would not only speak out against domestic violence, but commemorate the lives of the 26 women who had been murdered as a result of domestic violence.

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They did this by creating “witnesses”. The witnesses are cardboard, life-size cutouts representing victims who died the previous year. Each victim’s name and story are attached to the displays. The Project spread like wildfire across the United States and other countries. It aims to remember and honor the victims, raise awareness, advocate, and collect data and statistics. Hope lies in statistics such as this: domestic violence has decreased by 25% in the last several years!

Please join us this week in learning more about how you can be a part of positive change on our campus, in our community and in the world in which we live.