The Sexual Assault Task Force has proposed a program that would train NIU students to be “sexual assault advocates” in residence halls, fraternities and sororities.

Task force member Blanch McHugh said two fraternity members met with the committee to discuss the sexual advocate program. The program would consist of a minimum of one representative from each fraternity, sorority and residence hall floor, she said.

If the program is successful, it will be “an information-type network of students campus wide” who can assist in helping sexual assault victims, said task force member and University Police Sgt. Kathy Guimond.

Although the program is planned as an on-campus project, Guimond said she would like to involve off-campus students.

The program will be organized this semester and should go into effect this fall, McHugh said.

The task force will hold a series of workshops to train the student representatives about how to be sexual assault advocates, she said.

The student representatives “will not be peer group counselors. They will be sexual assault advocates who know what will happen” to sexual assault victims when the crime is reported, McHugh said.

The representatives will be provided with information about how to report a sexual assault, what will happen when an assault is reported and where the victim can go for counseling, she said.

Training students to be sexual assault advocates will be “a good way to disseminate accurate information” about what happens to sexual assault victims, McHugh said.

She said student sexual assault victims might be more willing to report their assault if students nearby have accurate information about reporting the assault.

Lynn Richards, Students’ Legal Assistance attorney, said the legal office is preparing a pamplet to educate people about sexual violence.

“Any sexual contact without consent of the individual” is sexual assault, Richards said.

The pamplet will explain the sexual assault victim’s “rights snd responsibilities” and also will be used to train the student sexual assault advocates, she said.

The pamplets will be available in the Students’ Legal Assistance office in the Holmes Student Center and any other NIU office that requests them, Richards said.