Faculty and students discussed sexual assault awareness at El Camino in a panel discussion on Wednesday, April 26 in the Distance Education Room.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness month and Jaynie Ishikawa, Director of Staff and Student Diversity teamed up with Sociology Professor, Stacey Allen to raise campus awareness on the matter.

As students and faculty entered the event, outside they were greeted with a display of t-shirts and denim pockets with artwork.

Before the panel began Allen shared facts about sexual assault:

• Every 2.5 minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted
• 1 in 5 women and 1 in 33 men in the U.S. have experienced an attempted or completed rape
• 25 percent of women will be raped during their college career

The panelist was composed of faculty from El Camino and outside resources from campus, they began the discussion with an introduction and the services they provide.

“The discussion was really insightful, I learned there are a lot of resources on this campus that I didn’t know were here,” Clair Moseley, 23, child development major said.

Everyone was offered a safety pin with a blue ribbon and a button that said, “I support denim day.”

After the panel finished their introduction the floor was open to all for any questions or advice on awareness.

Students opened up about personal experiences in situations where they are bystanders and they can see the situation escalating.

Lieutenant Ramund Box, El Camino Compton Center, talks about how bystanders can step in and prevent an assault from happening.

“We always tell our students, ‘there is always something you can do’, we also teach what is called bystander training to give you techniques to report things to the police or staff members,” Box said.

After the panel was over students approached the panelist one on one with their own personal questions or comments.

“It was really good to see the students engaging and sharing personal experiences,” Ishikawa said.

Moseley talks about what she learned from the sexual assault panel discussion.

“It (the discussion) kind of made me think, ‘If I did see it would I report it?’ I felt like coming here made me feel more confident about reporting stuff if I see it,” Moseley said.

Here are a list of resources on campus:

• Student Health Center (provides medical and psychological services) Students have six counseling sessions per academic year.
• Crisis Center 24-Hour Phone (310)-392-8381
• Staff and Student Diversity Office (310)-660-3813 (located in the communications building Room 201D)

Here are resources outside of campus available:

• YWCA Greater Los Angeles (213)-365-2991
• 211 La (provides referrals for all health services their phone line is 211 which is open 24 hours, seven days a week)
• 1736 Crisis Center