by Rachel Gilbert
News Writer
It has been 15 years since April was first declared assault awareness month by the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
More recently, the state, as represented by Gov. George W. Bush, the Texas Department of Health, the office of the attorney general and the Houston Area Women's Center, officially recognized April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The Houston Area Women's Center works with several area colleges and universities to increase awareness of what assault, which includes both aggravated assault and verbal assault, is and how to prevent it, said Madonna Smith, a spokeswoman for the HAWC.
UH-Clear Lake, for example, offers students a crisis intervention class that works with HAWC. Rice University also has a program called Students Organized Against Rape, which HAWC helped initiate.
"I think volunteering has helped me realize that assault can happen to anyone," said Prudence Brooks, a recent UH graduate and volunteer for HAWC. "The best thing I can do is to stay aware and know how to protect myself."
To protect themselves, women should become aware and thus avoid places and situations where assault is likely to take place, states a pamphlet prepared by the University of Illinois.
On the street, a woman should "walk near the curb and avoid passing close to shrubbery, dark doorways and other places of concealment," the pamphlet states.
The pamphlet also suggests that, when in a dating situation, a woman should let a friend or roommate know whom she is going with and where she will be.
Prevention and intervention classes have helped reduce the number of assaults on college campuses, Smith said.
At UH, the percentage of assaults on women has decreased from 64 percent to 59 percent, indicating that assaults are more balanced between men and women. Frank Cempa, assistant chief of police for the University of Houston Police Department said in 1996, there were 26 reported aggravated and verbal assaults as compared to 35 reported assaults in 1991.
Smith said UH's statistics are in accordance with national numbers, which have steadily declined in the past few years. Houston's numbers, on the other hand, have steadily increased.
According to HAWC statistics, women and children who sought refuge in the HAWC's Family Violence Shelter increased by 37 percent from 710 in 1995 to 973 in 1996. HAWC also saw a 99 percent increase in the number of adult rape survivors served in the Rape Program in 1996.
"Women need to become fully aware of ways to prevent themselves from assault crimes," Brooks said. "Men do become victims of assault. Unfortunately, most figures show that women still have a greater chance (of being assaulted)."
At UH, 17 of the 26 reported assault victims were students. Ten of the 17 were female, according to Cempa.
"Until more women become aware, the number of assault victims will remain disproportionately women," Brooks said.