On Sat. Sept. 7, Sonoma State University students will be hosting March For Consent. This event will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will end at 1:00 p.m. at Arbor and Lakes at Sonoma State University. 

This march will be going outside of Sonoma State campus and onto Rohnert Park Expressway, Snyder Lane, East Cotati Ave., and back to campus for other events to follow. The march itself will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will last for approximately an hour and a half.

The whole idea behind this march is about understanding the idea of sexual consent as well as encouraging people to be more open to speak about this in conversation. 

“I also want to send a message that we need to start believing victims. It takes an incredible amount of bravery for victims to come out and tell their story, and they deserve to be heard and believed,” said Lauren Quinn, a Sonoma State student and coordinator of this event. 

 Following the march there will be a rally back at Arbor and Lakes where some important people will be giving speeches. These people include: Mayor Gina Belforte as well as City Councilwoman Susan Adams. 

Sexual abuse has been a huge  issue on college campuses and an event such as this march provides others with an immense amount of comfortablity which is exactly what the coordinators want. They want this march to be viewed as some sort of “safe zone.” 

“20%-25% of college women and 15% of college men are victims of forced sex during their time in college,” according to the Campus Sexual Assault, website statstics. That statistic should push people to realize that this is a relevant topic that has become normalized in society today, however it should also push people to want to change that stat. 

Throughout this past school year itself the amount of reported sexual assault cases at Sonoma State has increased based off of student recieved emails. Therefore, now it is even more important to emphasize the significance of consent in not only today’s society but as well as on a college campus. It is crucial to make sure that people know the true meaning of consent. 

This march is to show the public that with the increasing number of sexual assaults and harassment that occur in our society and colleges that those who are victims do have a voice and support system who dedicate their lives to ensuring that they can speak up and create more awareness revolving around it.

This is one of many different events that Sonoma State is putting on in order to raise awareness around this topic.

 “We hope that through education and keeping the issues of consent, sexual assault, domestic violence, etc. in the forefront, we will help students to make good choices for themselves and others,” said Mo Phillips from Sonoma State student involvement. 

This is a great event which will show .people solidarity against a rising issue. It helps give students a chance to speak up about a major problem.

For those who may want to know more about this event, check out March for Consent 2019 on Facebook.