April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and to help bring attention to the issue, Blue Mountain Community College will host Danielle Tudor of Portland, a sexual assault survivor, on April 7 at 6 p.m. at the Pendleton campus.
Tudor was raped at the age of 17, but didn’t share her story until 2008. She’s now advocating for Oregon lawmakers to extend the state’s deadline for prosecutions of sexual assault under the statute of limitations. Current law sets it at just six years after the crime without DNA evidence.
Tudor’s visit to BMCC is made possible by Domestic Violence Services of Umatilla and Morrow Counties. She will share her story, as well as her frustrations with current laws in Oregon that she says make it too easy for criminals to get away with rape.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a woman or girl age 12 or older is raped or sexually assaulted every two minutes. This alarming statistic does not account for the many women who haven’t yet spoken of their assaults.
Tudor’s presentation is open to the public. It will be held in Pioneer Hall, Room P-132.
BMCC will also raise sexual assault awareness with a display in Pioneer Hall, next to the Student Union, on April 6 and April 28 from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), which will provide information regarding sexual assault crimes.
