[Newspoetry] Action this Thursday re recent local rapes

[Danielle Chynoweth]

(This message was forwarded from Aimee Rickman and the Girlzone List)

In the past couple of weeks, a number of alarming incidents involving
violence against women have occurred in our area.  Three yet unconfirmed
reports tell of women in both Champaign and Urbana who have been attacked
at various times of the day, and sexually assaulted or raped.   Common
among all of the attacks is the description of the assailant - a group of
males.    

As in past years when similar outbreaks occurred, our local police
departments are tightlipped, releasing no information on the incidents.
The media have ignored the attacks up until now.  An assault last Thursday
morning by three white men on the 500 block of West Green Street provoked
the first community alert, prompting a televised report on local news last
night, and a small blurb on the front page of the DI today.  
  
Still, details of the attacks remain cloudy.  

It is our belief that community members need to be aware of what of
known of the current situation, and informed of ways to stay safe.


On Thursday, April 1 at 5pm, an aggressive awareness action will take
place ... Anyone interested in increasing community awareness on violence 
against women in our area is encouraged to gather with us at the
University YMCA and join in as we distribute flyers on the incident and
precautionary recommendations to community members at local happy hours.


Please pass this on to others who might want to take part.  For more
information, please call Aimee at 367-8322 or email arickman at uiuc.edu.  

Thanks.

a