Written by DeAnna Britton, Relate Contributing Writer

One of my favorite performances every year is the Vagina Monologues written by Eve Ensler. My school just hosted this event last weekend for V-Day. V-Day is a movement thriving to stop sexual violence against women all over the world. Even though most of the scripts are the same, I feel empowered and more educated every time. It’s a time when I am brought into awareness of some of the things women go through in their lifetimes. One of the most disturbing ones is about rape and sexual assault.

Rape is a big issue amongst girls and women of all ages. One in six women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime and the rate is FOUR times higher for college-aged girls. This is definitely a problem for me. I know someone who had been raped and I know what she went through mentally; it changes your life forever.

Part of the reason I enjoy the Vagina Monologues so much is because I learn a lot from them that no one else ever taught me. Part of this reason is because we don’t learn about such personal matters in health class. We learn the basics. We learn the definitions. We never learn the gray areas. This may be the reason why 60 percent of the sexual assaults that happen are never reported to the police and only 6 percent of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.

For instance, I never knew how many different kinds of rapes there are. I just thought it happened randomly and people didn’t even know the person who raped them; that they just came out of nowhere. Rape is when someone has sex with someone else without their consent and usually by force or deception. It’s up to us girls to learn about sexual harassment and rape so that we know when something is definitely wrong and to make sure we speak up about it.

If you are a victim of sexual assault or rape, there are many outlets you can go to for help and support. Rainn.org is the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network. They have a calling hotline and an online hotline to help people who have been victims to cope with what happened and to find support.

RAINN Day is a campus-wide campaign dedicated to stop sexual violence. You and your school and community can be a part of this day, too. Go to their website and learn more. Be a part of ending these traumatic experiences for women all over the country and world.

I am proud to be a woman and I feel it is my responsibility to be a part of helping other women become aware of the dangers they may face one day; it is my job to join the fight to stop the harassment and rape and it is my goal to assist those who have been victims, to find the help and support they need. It’s all of our jobs. Someone in the United States gets sexually assaulted every two minutes. Let’s not forget it can happen to any of us- we’re all in this together.

Tags: eve ensler, rape, sexual assault, teen rape, v-day, vagina monologues, violence