Mother campaigns for sexual assault awareness outside of T.I.S.

In April 2006, a female IU student was raped in McNutt Quad. Since Wednesday, Eva Feldman, the mother of the rape victim, has been standing outside of TIS Bookstore on Third Street with one hope: To promote sexual assault awareness so these incidents will become less frequent.\nFeldman, who goes by her maiden name to protect her daughter, said the University has not done enough to prevent sexual assault on campus. \nFeldman said she feels IU has to do a few things to bring sexual awareness to the entire University. She said she feels an extensive sexual assault prevention program should be mandatory for all incoming freshmen. She said the program would be able to warn female students about the possibilities of rape on campus.\nFeldman said the University should not allow students to live on co-ed floors. She said her daughter lived on a co-ed floor and was raped by a male student living on the same floor. She added that dorms should have panic buttons and locked women’s bathrooms to further prevent the possibility of an assault.\nThe Middle Way House has been present on campus this week as well, distributing fliers at various locations to inform students and parents of prevention techniques and safety precautions. Middle Way House is a center seeking to end domestic violence and sexual assault in the lives of women and children by sponsoring activities and programs to achieve individual and social change. \nFeldman stood outside TIS not only for her daughter, but also as a volunteer for Security on Campus. \nAccording to the American Association of University Women Web site, 20 to 25 percent of women are raped during their college career. Only five percent of rape incidents are reported to the police, and 75 percent of the time, the offender, the victim or both have been drinking.\nAccording to the clery report on the IU Police Department’s Web site, there were 13 reported rapes in 2005 and nine in 2006. \nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said he feels the University has done as much as they can to promote sexual assault awareness on campus.\n“We feel by educating incoming freshman and students already here we can prevent (these occurrences) from happening,” he said. “If (the crime) is predictable, it’s preventable.”\nMinger said if anyone has ideas about sexual awareness prevention, IUPD is always open to discuss.\nFeldman said she’s not trying to harm the University, she’s just trying to spread awareness. \n“I will be back every year as long as my legs bring me back here,” she said.\nShe said she feels next year her campaign will be much stronger. Feldman said she will be outside of TIS Bookstore again from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday.