In solidarity with April being sexual assault awareness month, the University of Oregon’s Delta Sigma Theta sorority prepares its third-annual Duck Walk to spread awareness about sexual assault on campus.
Delta Sigma Theta has officially confirmed the Duck Walk will take place on Saturday, April 13. Duck Walk participants will be meeting in the Erb Memorial Union building by the O-Desk at noon.
This will be the third time the event has been held by Delta Sigma Theta, a sorority at the UO that focuses on economic development, uplifting the black community, and political involvement.
India Davis, president of the UO chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, announced that they will be holding the event to spread awareness on the “taboo” topic of sexual assault.
“Sexual assault is a prominent issue no matter where you are, especially for women,” Davis said. “The purpose of the Duck Walk is to ‘walk in her shoes.’”
Duck Walk organizers are encouraging its participants to bring a pair of high heels and walk a mile within the Eugene community. The act of walking in shoes, according to Davis, will be a symbolic act to commemorate and honor the victims of sexual assault.
“On a personal level, I think the most important takeaway for those who participate in the Duck Walk should be to really think about what a woman goes through in her lifetime,” Davis said.
According to Davis, the number of sexual assault cases could be much higher than what we know because of the high amount of cases that go unreported.
“We have this idea that sexual assault always has to occur in a certain fashion,” Davis said. “It could be as simple as an unwanted engagement — verbal. It’s not a black-and-white situation.”
Elle Knofczynski is a senior at UO and was asked about her thoughts on the event and the cause of sexual assault awareness.
“I think it’s pretty prominent in Eugene,” Knofczynski said. “I think, [Eugene] being a college town, there are a lot of people willing to take advantage of other people. For a lot of people, it’s their first time living on their own, so they don’t necessarily have the same awareness around safety.”
Davis hopes the turnout this year will be more than last year — when they garnered support mostly from the Greek life community.
“It was predominantly fraternities,” Davis said. “I think that was because our aim is to convey the message to people who present as male — identify as men — to go that extra mile to participate because they don’t live as a woman day to day.”
Davis expressed that one of the main goals, aside from spreading awareness to male-presenting people, is to spread information about the event. Some students might not be aware of the event or when it is taking place.
Davis sees the event continuing beyond the third installment to continue the conversation around sexual assault on campus.
“To continue and push this event and create a more open conversation — that is the goal of this event,” Davis said. “To get people talking about sexual assault because it is a taboo topic.”
