A woman is in danger of being raped or sexually assaulted at least once in her lifetime and the threat may be evident in a relationship.

This threat will be the focus of a presentation titled Recognizing the signs of relationship violence. The presentation will be sponsored by SIUC Women’s Services in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month at noon today in Quigley Hall Room 201.

Leena Batra, campus safety representative, and Valorie King, a counseling and administrative assistant, will be speaking on how to handle domestic violence.

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They will discuss how to detect signs when a person should get out of a relationship and how to prevent violence from escalating.

Batra said domestic violence is a threat to not only SIUC students but to people throughout the country.

In general people tend to react with a lot more explicitness in relationships, she said. There are higher expectations, which causes violence to escalate in a relationship. It is common in the United States.

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice state a woman is raped every two minutes in America, and one out of every three women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.

Batra also said the presentation will be beneficial for people who know someone in a violent relationship. The discussion will offer information on how to help another person who may be in a dangerous situation.

I have a lot of people come to me and tell me that they know someone who is being abused in a relationship, she said. The presentation will also discuss what steps people can take in this situation.

Factoid:For information contact Women’s Services at 453-3655

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