Campus taking part in Red Flag Campaign

Pitt-Bradford is participating in a national awareness and prevention campaign aimed at reducing dating violence and sexual assault on college campuses.

The project, called The Red Flag Campaign, helps students identify “red flags” in their friends' relationships and encourages them to intervene. The purpose of the campaign is to encourage students to speak up when they see red flags for dating violence or sexual assault in their friends' relationships.

Christy Clark, Title IX/Affirmative Action Officer at Pitt-Bradford, said, “Friends play an influential role in intervening in dating violence not only with the victim, but also with the abusive partner.”

She explained that peer groups have the ability to provide safety and support and can dictate what behaviors are unacceptable.

At Pitt-Bradford, a social media campaign planned for Feb. 12 through Feb. 28 will feature photos of students photographed with red flags that had warning signs of sexual or dating violence written on them.

College students are at high risk of either acting as perpetrator or being a victim of dating physical or sexual violence during their college years:

• 32 percent of college students report dating violence by a previous partner, and 21 percent report violence by a current partner.
• 12 percent of completed rapes, 35 percent of attempted rapes, and 22 percent of threatened rapes occur on a date.
• 51 percent of college males admit perpetrating one or more sexual assault incidents during college.