Photo by Deb Gau Surrounded by cardboard silhouettes representing survivors of sexual assault, Sam Lund prepares for class at Southwest Minnesota State University. A group of justice administration students placed cutouts in classrooms to represent the number of sexual assault survivors in an average group of people.

MARSHALL — They had the statistics. But a group of students at Southwest Minnesota State University were looking for a way to make the impact of sexual assault more visible for classmates and university staff.

The solution could be seen around SMSU last week: cardboard cutouts at seats in each classroom on campus.

The cutouts represented the number of sexual assault survivors in an average group of people. Smaller classrooms had one or two cutouts, while lecture halls had about six, explained SMSU student McKenna Hinrichs.

The silhouettes are just one way SMSU students are calling attention to Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April. Hinrichs and fellow students said it was important for them to get involved in efforts to stop assault, and to be there for survivors.

“It’s really important for other students, to see students taking charge,” she said.

“It’s more meaningful if students are bringing it up,” said SMSU student Sam Lund.

Groups of justice administration students have organized events throughout the month, including a presentation on sexual assault prevention, a movie night and informational displays.

Sexual assault or harassment are experienced by many people, including college students. Informational materials the students helped distribute around campus said one in five women, and one in 16 men, are sexually assaulted in college. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 81% of women and 43% of men have reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment or assault in their lifetimes.

Hinrichs said the awareness campaign got started with the help of BC Franson, associate professor of justice administration at SMSU. Students in one of Franson’s justice administration classes split up into groups to work on different projects.

Hinrichs said Franson came up with the idea of using silhouettes to help represent sexual assault survivors who might be present in the student body. Students placed them around campus on April 3 to get people’s attention for upcoming awareness events.

SMSU student Gina Huber said one concern students and university faculty shared was how best to support survivors of sexual assault. Not everyone in the SMSU community knows how they can report an assault, or where they can go for help, she said.

“A lot of questions were like, ‘Where do we go? Who do we talk to?'” Huber said.

“We did a survey of staff, faculty and administrators, and asked them about the processes we have on campus,” Huber said. “We were trying to figure out where we could bridge some of the gaps.”

In addition to conducting the survey, the student group also gave a presentation on sexual assault prevention and victim support last week. Huber and Franson said they hoped it would start conversations, and more communication about preventing sexual assault. Students planned Sexual Awareness Month events throughout the month of April. On Thursday, one group of students had an informational table about the White Ribbon Pledge.

SMSU student Alayna Peterson said the White Ribbon Campaign is the largest global movement of men and boys speaking out against gender-based violence. The table display at SMSU talked about some of the ways that violence is normalized in media and popular culture.

On Thursday night, the student groups held a movie night with a presentation of “Audrie & Daisy,” a documentary highlighting the need for both sexual assault prevention and mental health and support resources for victims and families.

Hinrichs said members of the SMSU Criminal Justice Club also plan to hold a vigil on Wednesday, to recognize and support survivors of sexual assault. The idea, she said, is “to give words of hope to each other.”

Students said other ways to learn more about sexual assault and resources for victims were available through book displays at the SMSU Library and Marshall-Lyon County Library. Free bookmarks were available with links to a variety of support resources.