ODU to Host Oct. 5 Fear 2 Freedom Event to Support Victims of Sexual Abuse

October 04, 2016

CNU First Lady Rosemary Trible (left) helps a volunteer assemble contents for a Fear 2 Freedom kit.

Old Dominion University will join with the non-profit organization Fear 2 Freedom again this year to assemble sexual abuse recovery kits that will be distributed as needed in the community.

The event will be held in the Webb University Center's North Café on Oct. 5 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Volunteers are needed to assemble kits during the event as well as set up for the program, from 5-6:15 p.m.; and clean up afterward, from 7:45-8:30 p.m.

During the "Celebration Night" event, students assemble F2F Kits which are designed to meet the immediate physical, emotional and psychological needs of those affected by sexual assault. Each of the kits include a personal note from the volunteer who put the package together.

The packages, which are described by the organization as "a medical kit for the heart," are meant for distribution to sexual assault victims who have to undergo a PERK examination, during which time their clothing is taken for forensic evidence. Each of the child and adult-specific kits include: a t-shirt and sweatpants, underwear, toiletries and the personal note of support as well as other items such as a "Freedom Bear," storybook, journal or toy and a list of community resources.

"At Old Dominion, we have zero tolerance for sexual assault so this partnership with Fear 2 Freedom is an important opportunity to come together as a community and support victims during a most-critical time of need," said Old Dominion University First Lady Kate Broderick. "I can think of no better way to show how much we care, in the face of a crisis no one should ever have to experience, than by providing some degree of comfort and normalcy as they embark on a difficult road to recovery."

Fear 2 Freedom is a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that works to educate college students on sexual abuse and restore joy to sexual assault victims. The group was founded in 2011 by Rosemary Trible, the first lady of Christopher Newport University, who was raped at gunpoint in 1975.

In recent years, Fear 2 Freedom has delivered more than 6,000 F2F kits to women and children affected by sexual abuse and the group currently has university-hospital partnerships across Virginia. In 2014, Fear 2 Freedom introduced a national campaign to make F2F Kits available to hospitals across the country.

"A critical answer to ending sexual assault on college campuses is to educate students on the effects, repercussions and the lifetime impact that sexual assault has on the victim," Trible, the wife of former U.S. Senator and current President of Christopher Newport University Paul Trible Jr., said at ODU's inaugural event in 2014.

For more information about the organization, visit the Fear 2 Freedom website. For more information about the event, call the ODU Women's Center at 757-683-4109 or email womenctr@odu.edu. Information about sexual assault prevention and available resources can be found at the ODU S.A.F.E. Program website.