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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Crime & Police : Gender & Sexuality |
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Rape spurs UWF campaign for awareness, prevention |
Current rating: 3 |
by Nicole Lozare
Email: NicoleLozare (nospam) pensacolanewsjournal.com |
16 Jun 2004
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From the June 16, 2004 edition of the Pensacola News Journal |
The spark that lit the soul of Christina Greene ignited in the middle of a dorm meeting.
The University of West Florida sophomore listened with fellow residents of John G. Martin Hall as law enforcement officers briefed them about the rape of a resident on May 19, the day before. Lock your doors, they said. Don't walk by yourself at night.
But Greene's mind was whirling. She became a rape victim herself at 14 -- and a rape survivor the minute she ran out of the rapist's home and yelled down the neighborhood for help.
She became a victims' rights advocate at 20 -- the night of the dorm meeting in May.
Greene immediately sent the victim, an acquaintance who lived one floor below, flowers and a lengthy note. She offered her understanding and a few promises: a sexual assault awareness campaign on campus, self-defense classes for students and the formation of an advocacy group.
She also pledged that she would break her silence. Just one week after the May 19 rape, Greene delivered.
She organized a group session at the university's Counseling Center. She spoke publicly about her rape for the first time.
"I held my head up high and told myself that this is what happened to me, and I'm doing something about it," she said. She believes that silence makes victims feel ashamed, guilty and very lonely.
"I get nervous speaking in front of people, even if I was just talking about doughnuts. But I have to remind myself that it's about the cause."
She gave a speech about sexual assault awareness at her communications class where she handed out flashlights to her 23 classmates. She then set up a booth in the Commons -- near the busy cafeteria -- filled with safety brochures and old newspaper articles of other rape victims.
"I wanted people to see that it was a cycle. That people care about rape right when it happens, and then they forget about it until it occurs again," Greene said. "Awareness should be constant."
She has also signed up 40 students for a self-defense class in the fall for which she's still trying to secure funding.
"The information booth has exploded in ways I can't imagine," she said Tuesday as she manned it with volunteers. The booth is set up Mondays and Tuesdays for about four hours.
"Do you have any information that would be good for my daughter?" asked Jack Broach, 57, the manager of the campus post office. "She's 16."
Greene handed him a date rape brochure and talked about precautions his daughter could take.
Officer A.J. Hanks, the crime prevention training officer with the University Police Department, said Greene is making a difference.
"Students sometimes listen better to peers instead of a law enforcement officer or a counselor," Hanks said. "I hope she raises general awareness. She really wants to make a difference."
Greene said speaking out was a milestone for her, too.
So, Christina Greene. Describe yourself in one word before you started talking about what happened to you?
"Scared."
How about now?
"Determined. Very determined." |
This work is in the public domain |
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Re: Rape spurs UWF campaign for awareness, prevention |
by larenegade
compassiontothecore (nospam) hotmail.com` (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
19 Jun 2004
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I'm glad that Christina Greene is so active on the UWF campus. Rape prevention and self-defense are important skills to have. |
