Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates offers informational programs for students and associate professors each semester and Sexual Assault Services Coordinator Stephen Thompson said this semester will be no different.

Starting this month, SAPA will lend its educational programs to groups on and off campus. On Tuesday, SAPA will participate in a campus safety panel discussion.

The time and place of the discussion have yet to be determined.

Bloomfield Hills senior and SAPA Events Coordinator Chris Williams said SAPA attends these panels to discuss what the group is about, how to become involved and to dispel some common myths about sexual assault.

Even though the message of the programs stays the same through the years, the way the message is brought to the audience has not.

“The cool thing about our programs is that they’re dynamic,” Williams said. “They don’t stay static; they are always changing to find better ways to communicate the message.”

SAPA offers a variety of programs for campus groups and classes to request free of charge.

The most popular program, “No Zebras,” will not be performed on campus this semester. Thompson said there will be four off-campus showings on Jan. 31 at Olivet, at Tri-State University in Indiana, on Feb. 15 during the teen summit at Mount Pleasant High School and at Saginaw Valley State University.

A professional DVD recording of the “No Zebras” program also will be available for purchase Feb. 1, Thompson said.

Another program that SAPA offers is “Myths & Facts,” which is presented to all-female or co-ed groups, Williams said. The group discusses the social myths about sexual assault, date-rape drugs and how to help a survivor.

“It takes you step by step through what predators look for,” Williams said. “Like the ‘nice guy’ predator, basically how he appears.”

SAPA also offers a “1 in 4″ men’s program, which is targeted for a male audience. The program features presentations defining sexual assault, teaching men how to be supportive of survivors and encouraging men to confront ideas and actions that promote or allow for the occurrence of sexual assault, according to the SAPA Web site.

“We take a group of guys and they go through what it’s like to be sexually assaulted – how it feels to be alienated,” Williams said. “It’s not just a women issue; it affects all of us.”

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