Saint Louis University’s Sexual Health/Alcohol Peer Educators
presented a panel of four people discussing the issues of rape, on
Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the coffee house of Marguerite Hall.

The evening started out with a junior Patti Kuehner, describing
her experience of sexual assault. The discussion then continued
with explanations and stories from Christina Menses-Coan, a program
specialist with the St. Louis Regional Sexual Assault Center at the
Young Women’s Christian Association, about the situations that she
has dealt with in her work in counseling rape survivors.

Edmund Postawko, an assistant assault attorney for the City of
St. Louis, was the third to speak from the panel. He discussed how
the court deals with rape cases and the prejudices that rape
victims deal with in the court system. The fourth speaker was
Jennifer Schoenholz, a criminalist from the St. Louis Metropolitan
Police Department. She discussed the way the police department
deals with the rape kits that are taken at the hospital.

The panelists continued to answer questions from people who
attended and other panelists. The group discussed issues such as
society’s view of rape, the victim’s struggle and the process of
healing. One of the main focuses was the impact of rape on the
victim.

“Sexual assault is the most devastating of crimes emotionally,
more than our typical homicide cases,” Postawko said. The panel
came to the conclusion that the most important point of Sexual
Assault Week is to keep people informed of the effect of rape on
the survivors and the need for sensitivity towards the issue. SHAPE
member Tim Cosentino closed the session by saying, “One thing we
can all take from this is awareness and education.”

The panel was part of a series of events taking place over
campus throughout Sexual Assault Awareness Week, which was from
Nov. 2 through Nov. 8. The first event was Sex in the Dark, which
was held in the Griesedieck Hall lobby on Tuesday night. The final
event will be a self-defense course run by the St. Louis
Metropolitan Police Department, in multipurpose room B of the Simon
Recreation Center.

“As a survivor of sexual assault, I think it shows a lot about
SLU students, that we would put on a Sexual Assault Awareness Week.
It makes me feel that people see this as an actual issue and that
it affects people like me,” Kuehner said.

There have been small reminders of the awareness week all
throughout campus. The elevators in some residence halls have a
poster on which students can place a sticker to represent a victim
of sexual assault that the student knows.

SHAPE has also handed out purple ribbons to bring awareness to
the issue and placed signs throughout campus. A clothesline has
been put up in both Griesedieck and Marguerite Halls with T-shirts
made by survivors of sexual assault or rape. These T-shirt have
phrases and pictures that depict the emotions of the survivors.

“People take time to ask what ribbons are for. If they don’t
come to events, at least they are aware of this week,” said Natalie
Pequignot, president of SHAPE.

“I’m really glad to be a part of a week like this because I see
rape as a real thing. I am frightened for my friends, so I am doing
my part to spread awareness,” said Costenino.