Fellow Law School Colleagues,
I have been working recently to put together a team for the annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event which will take place Friday April 27, 2012 at 5 P.M. at Lock 3. This annual event challenges men to slip on women’s shoes and walk a mile to raise awareness about the serious causes of, effects of, and remedies to sexual violence. You can visit the national website by visiting www.walkamileinhershoes.org for more information about the event. We will be wearing women’s shoes and walking the mile, all we are asking of you is for your consideration in joining us for the walk or that you make a monetary donation to our team to support the cause.
As my team works daily with sex offenders and their victims, we often see the frequency in which sexual assaults occur, the negative effects on victims/family/friends, and the need to raise awareness about these issues. Sexual assault is not something that the average person enjoys speaking about, so consequently people do not know much about it. Below are some statistics which may shock you about sexual assault:
- The Center for Disease Control states that 10.6% of women and 2.1% of men experience forced sex at some point in their lives.
- The CDC also suggests that approximately 20%-25% of women in college experience and attempted or completed sexual assault while in college.
- According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a sexual assault occurs once every 2 minutes in the United States.
- RAINN also reports that approximately 54% of sexual assaults never get reported to Law Enforcement and that 97% of rapists will never spend a day in jail.
Looking at these statistics, it is very possible (and very unfortunate) that you may know someone who has been a victim of sexual assault. The effects of these assaults are devastating, not only to the victim, but her family, her friends, etc. Raising awareness may indeed save one person from being a victim. Your monetary donation to our team will be used to benefit the Rape Crisis Center of Summit and Medina County. Please visit their website at www.rccmsc.org to see the various ways in which your donations will be used to raise awareness for sexual assault and to help the victims of sexual assault.
There are two ways to support our team:
- Please consider joining our team to walk for this excellent cause. At minimum, all that we would ask is that you show your support by walking as part of our team. If you join you can also “go the extra mile” by soliciting monetary donations to support our team. Please contact me directly if you would like to be a part of our team.
- Please consider showing your support for the cause and for our team by making a monetary donation. You can make a secure donation to our team at:http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/TeamSCAdultProbationSexOffenderUnit/walkamileinhershoes?fge=ask
You can also view the names of all of our active team members.
Our team recognizes that money is often tight in this time of fiscal challenge, but your donations will be put to excellent use for an excellent cause. Any donations you may be able to make to this cause, no matter how large or how small they may be, will be beneficial. Please also remember that this donation goes to a non-profit organization and may be able to be used as a tax write-off. If you are unable to donate or walk on our team, please consider showing your support for our team by being a spectator at the event.
Please feel free to forward this email to any friends, family members, co-workers, etc who may be interested in showing their support for ending sexual violence.
In advance, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your donations to this excellent cause. Should you have any questions or should you have any interest in joining our team as a walker, please contact me directly at the contact information below.
Colin Meeker, 1L: cmeeker@cpcourt.summitoh.net