Oct. 29, 2004

Contact: Maya Andlig
Women's Center
(805) 756-5839; mandlig@calpoly.edu

Documentary Filmmaker, Harvard Professor to Talk About Sexual Assault Nov. 10

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Documentary filmmaker, attorney and Harvard Professor Diane L. Rosenfeld will give two presentations about sexual assault , including one for men only, on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at Cal Poly.

The male-only session will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will include a breakfast buffet, sponsored by Student Affairs, in San Luis Lounge in the University Union .

The general presentation open to all will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Room 220 in the University Union.

Rosenfeld is a lecturer on women’s studies at Harvard. She co-produced “Rape Is...,” a documentary on rape featuring Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues.”

Rosenfeld formerly served as senior counsel to the Violence Against Women Office at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, she helped implement the Violence Against Women Act in the Department of Justice and in the various state and federal agencies that are concerned with translating the act into effective programs, said Maya Andlig, coordinator of gender and sexuality programs at Cal Poly.

Rosenfeld earned her Master of Laws degree in 1996 from Harvard, where she also served as a visiting researcher.

For several years she was a legal policy advisor to the Illinois Attorney General, providing expertise in the areas of women's advocacy, environmental enforcement and professional responsibility of government lawyers.

Her video "Rape is..." examines the global impact of rape as a national health crisis and gives viewers an opportunity to hear from women who have survived the experience.

According to Salamishah Tillet, a survivor who appears in the documentary, "Rape really is a way of killing a person, but then asking them to get up afterwards. So it's a way of stealing one's spirit, but you're supposed to somehow keep going."

Rosenfeld hopes the "male only" audience session will foster an atmosphere where men can openly discuss their reactions to sexual assault, ask questions and find out how to be allies in the fight against sexual assault, Andlig said. “We hope that sports teams, male clubs, fraternities and individuals will come to have a frank discussion with Rosenfeld, so that she can share her many years of expertise."

The general session is intended for anyone who feels that this is an important topic to address on college campuses. “We hope those individuals learn from Rosenfeld’s personal viewpoints about what can be done to address the crime of sexual assault," Andlig said.

The talk, sponsored by Cal Poly's Committee on Women's Safety and Campus Climate, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Andlig at 756-5839 or mandlig@calpoly.edu.

# # #

(NOTE TO EDITORS: To arrange an interview with Rosenfeld, contact Maya Andlig.)