By Candice Whitman
Stand Up! Let’s Talk About It was a three-day event consisting of games, documentaries, and speeches focussed on sexual assault education.
Lindsey Cavanagh, a student at St. Thomas University, helped create the campaign.
Cavanagh and other volunteers at the center wanted to inform people about sexual assault and the resources available.
The campaign focussed on university students.
“We realized that it doesn’t matter what we try to do, we can’t reach everyone. It’s just impossible,” Cavanagh said.
“We decided to narrow in on students, just because we realize that sexual assault is a big deal on campus. Even though it’s not talked about, it is something every student has to deal with,” Cavanagh said.
She said a driving factor for the campaign was to inform students that help is available.
“We realized a lot of women aren’t aware of our 24-hour crisis line,” Cavanagh said.
“It’s a 24 hour line, it’s always up, and someone is always available,” she said.
To kick off to the campaign, the centre encouraged students to come paint their feet and place them on a banner to symbolize standing up against sexual violence.
“Even if people don’t show up, we feel that just having these events will get people to talk,” Cavanagh said.
“Our whole thing is like… let’s talk about the issues that are present and prevalent within our community that we all are very hush hush about,” said Cavanagh.
