Environmental studies and applications senior Chris Laverdiere, left, and Briyana Domjahn, a human biology and premedical senior and co-chair of Every 5 Minutes, right, practice one of their skits Monday.
Brianne Haner turned to social action theater more than two years ago after witnessing the pain sexual assault and rape cause victims.
“There has been an instance of sexual assault and rape within my own family, and not being able to talk to anyone was difficult,” said Haner, co-chair of Every 5 Minutes, a student-run theater troupe that uses skits to teach campus organizations about rape and sexual assault.
The group, which refers to itself as e5m, performed three skits on Tuesday for MSU Democrats at 101 N. Kedzie Hall.
“I want to learn how to help other people and how to give them enough information so they don’t feel like they’re helpless or that they have done something wrong,” said Haner, a social work senior.
The theater group’s skits provide answers and resources students need to learn how to deal with the issue of rape and those involved, she said.
One of the skits, which the group calls “Not What We Expected,” shows that it is possible to be raped by someone you know — even a friend.
“We like to switch it up,” said Amanda Renaud, the group’s secretary.
“We try to do skits about topics that aren’t mentioned as much, like acquaintance rape, which is the highest percentage of rape but it’s not talked about a lot.”
Haner plays the character Kate, a friend of the rape victim, in the skit. Rather than her character believing the friend when she said she was raped, she tells her, “What did you expect?”
“Situations like the ones portrayed in our skits occur every day whether they are talked about or not,” Haner said.
Another skit that was performed Tuesday, “The Mugging of Ms. Smith,” features a rape victim getting blamed for the incident.
Renaud, who played the role of Ms. Smith, said it is important to recognize that victim blaming does exist.
“The criminal justice system sometimes discriminates against rape victims, whereas they don’t with other crimes, like mugging,” she said.
Lashonda Windham, the group’s treasurer, narrated each skit Tuesday. She said while each story has its own powerful message, the third skit, “Jack’s Monologue,” tells a story from a different perspective.
“This skit is a way to hear from a perpetrator about sexual violence and what goes through his mind,” said Windham, a psychology junior.
Haner said this particular skit provides students the opportunity to ask a character, Jack, questions about why he feels no remorse for his actions.
“It’s a different way of looking at rape,” Haner said.
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