SURE Walk

          Sexual assault is prevalent on many college campuses, and national reports reveal that around 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted at least once over the course of their 4 years in college. Also, on average there are approximately 35 cases of sexual assault per 1,000 females on a college campus every 6 months, thus proving that this is an issue campuses need to take notice of. It’s evident that sexual assault is a huge issue in colleges, but the issue can be prevented, or at the least minimized, with simple actions taken by schools. The University of Texas at Austin has a program called SURE Walk, created by the student government, that takes proactive measures to prevent sexual assaults on the college campus, and is one of many programs aimed at the same cause on campus.

SURE Walk is a program that students can call to walk them to a certain destination during designated times to ensure they don't walk alone. Completely run by student volunteers, the program is available to provide walks for both students and staff to and from the campus to guarantee that they make it to their destination safely. The group is comprised of both male and female students that belong to reliable on-campus groups, which makes sure that they are completely trustworthy. SURE Walk runs from 10pm until 2am from Monday through Thursday, helping people feel safer when it’s dark outside and when the threat of sexual assaults can be slightly higher.

       
The program makes it really easy to order a SURE Walk. Students and faculty can call the phone number or email the address listed on the organization’s website. There’s even an app for mobile phones dedicated to the program that makes it extremely easy and efficient to order a SURE Walk. Once the request is put in, one male and one female SURE Walk volunteer will meet the student at the requested destination and walk to wherever they need to go.  The program is completely free, leaving little reason for students not to use a SURE walk when they feel unsafe outside during the night hours. Students can check the Facebook or Twitter pages for SURE Walk to get the latest updates from the program.

       

Since sexual violence is prevalent at our large public university, as it is at similar colleges, this program can be extremely beneficial in not only making students feel safe but also in possibly preventing a crime. According to the University of Texas at Austin’s Annual Security Report with statistics from 2012, there were 18 cases of “forcible sex offenses” on and closely surrounding campus, and 10 cases of assault. With programs like SURE Walk, the university can ensure that this number stays low or even disappears. The organization is great at UT and should undoubtedly be implemented at other universities as well to ensure that students aren’t walking on or around campus alone at night when there is potential threat of violence involved.

Sources:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/about/news/images/sure%20walk.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/surewalk/photos/a.315715451820782.73638.116169851775344/443461299046196/?type=1&theater

http://www.slc.edu/offices-services/security/assault/statistics.html