March is Women’s History Month, a month dedicated to celebrating and appreciating women and their role in society. It is also a month to raise awareness about issues such as violence against women.

The Levan Center for Humanities hosted an event on March 14 from 12:30p.m. to 2:30 p.m. titled “BC, Violence and Women: Policies, Perspectives, and Issues” to raise awareness about the issues, policies, and procedures women face from their perspective.

The event was conducted by a speaker panel, which consisted of criminal justice professor Pat Smith, public safety officer Marco Sifuentes, director of student life Nicky Damania, and BC counselor Grace Camiso.

The event began with Smith defining several key words such as sexual assault, dating violence, and rape. She added that there is no way around it, and asked the audience, “If you’re under the influence, does that grant consent?” The audience responded with a united, “No.”

Smith also discussed issues such as stalking, and shared information about a former friend who had been stalked by her ex-husband. According to Smith, the situation escalated to the point that wherever her friend moved, her ex-husband would follow.

“Stalkers will hang around for quite a long time. They can be around for many years,” said Smith.

She then discussed a similar case she worked with in the past in which a different woman was stalked by her ex-husband as well.

Smith said, “When she married another man, he felt that ‘if I can’t have her, neither can he’ and he killed her.”

Smith urges anyone who believes they are being stalked to contact the police as soon as possible.

Rape was then defined by Smith as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object.” She added that, “In the old days, it had to be penetration by penis. They have changed that law fairly recently.”

The definition of rape includes oral penetration of the victim by the genital organ of another person.

“Don’t hold on to that thought of, ‘What should I do?’ I held on to mine for 25 years,” said Smith, alluding to a sexual assault she experienced in her past.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone to the police when I should have,” Smith added.

Smith told students that, “It’s important to know that these things can happen on a college campus. It’s important to be safe at all times.”

After Smith, public safety officer Sifuentes spoke in place of director of public safety Chris Counts, who was unable to attend the panel.

“We encourage you to call us,” said Sifuentes in regards to any form of sexual harassment anyone may experience on campus.

According to Sifuentes, BC’s public safety officers are on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

He reminded students that their safety is not solely based on the belief that “no means no.”

“If you don’t say yes, or if you just don’t say anything, that is not consent,” he said.

Students on campus do not have to be or feel threatened by a fellow student in order to receive help from public safety.

“If you feel threatened by a person, and that person doesn’t happen to go here, it doesn’t matter. You’re coming to school here. Our responsibility is to keep you safe and make sure you feel safe,” Sifuentes said.

He went on to add that public safety officers are available for students who take day or night classes and feel they need some kind of escort to class.

After Sifuentes spoke about how public safety officers can help, Nicky Damania spoke about issues that are currently occurring on campus.

According to Damania, there have been cases that involve cyber bullying, stalking, weapons on campus, and some sexual harassment.

He urged students to report anything unusual they may see on campus that falls under these categories.

The event came to a close as counselor Grace Camiso spoke about the RAD program.

RAD stands for Rape Aggression Defense, and the program provides training for men and women of any age to defend themselves against any form of sexual assault that could potentially lead to rape.

“It was designed to empower women to take a stance, to be aware of their surroundings,” said Camiso. She added, “You need to make sure you know what your surroundings look like. We teach you what to look for. We teach you what stance to take. We teach you how to do certain types of kicks and how to get out of certain types of holds.”

During a presentation of these defense tactics, Camiso emphasized the importance of not just stances or kicks, but the importance of using your voice.

“Yelling ‘no!’ or yelling ‘stop!’ can make the biggest difference,” she said.

If you witness suspicious behavior, or are sexually harassed or assaulted on campus, call the BC public safety office at 661-395-4595.

Or as Damania said, “if worse comes to worst, don’t hesitate to call 911.”