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Spring recording artist kicks off concert series
  
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By KEVIN KOLOIAN
Spring’s own Jennifer Grassman will perform at “Rock For SAFE,” a free concert at the University of Houston aimed at educating students on how to protect themselves from becoming victims of sexual assault.
Hosted by the student organization SAFE (Stop Abuse in Family Environments), the event will take place on Oct. 20 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the University Center, Arbor Level.
A singer-songwriter, Grassman, who lists Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos as inspirations, is also a volunteer and event organizer for RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network).
“I got involved because I’m a survivor and when it was time for me to escape my situation RAINN was one of the organizations that I looked to to figure out how to do that and realize what happened to me,” Grassman said. “It was very empowering and encouraging for me. It’s a hard thing to wrap your mind around.”
Many local organizations will be on site with literature and statistics, painting the brutal picture of sexual abuse.
Sexual assault, which is commonly known as rape, is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country and one of the least reported, cites the University of Houston’s Department of Public Safety 2007 Annual Security Report. The document further reports that acquaintance rape accounts for 84 percent of all sexual assault cases involving college-age students, most as a result of alcohol use.
This is Grassman’s first of a series of mini-concerts called Rain Showers that are designed to raise sexual abuse awareness around Houston.
With five other concerts in the works, she is is still nailing down the dates for the series, which will culminate in the citywide benefit concert RAINN Over Houston scheduled for June 2009. It was originally planned to take place at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, but due to extensive damage from Hurricane Ike the location is up in the air.
Grassman will mainly be performing on college and church campuses to educate the community on abuse statistics and how to reduce their risk of assault.
“We are especially targeting high school and college groups because those groups have higher levels of abuse and rape,” Grassman said.
She deals with her personal experience through her music, both clearly spelled out in the lyrics and between the lines.
Before she even acknowledged she was an abuse victim, Grassman received an e-mail from a man saying he was raped as a little boy by his father and now has post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal.
“He said whenever he started to have a panic attack he went to my Myspace or website and listened to my music,” Grassman said. “I just thought, ‘Oh my God. If I could help just one person it would be amazing. If I got involved with RAINN the impact could be 100 times bigger.’”
RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE) which has helped more than 1.2 million people since its inception in 1994. The group recently launched the National Sexual Assault Hotline (www.rainn.org), the country’s first secure web-based hotline, which provides a safe, secure and anonymous place for victims to get help online.
RAINN also helps to educate more than 130 million college students each year about sexual assault and leads national efforts to improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.
Grassman is thankful to use her gift of song to raise awareness.
“It’s very important for me to take something good and beautiful out of all of the horrible stuff that happened to me when I was a kid and share it with everyone,” Grassman said.
Hosted by the student organization SAFE (Stop Abuse in Family Environments), the event will take place on Oct. 20 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the University Center, Arbor Level.
A singer-songwriter, Grassman, who lists Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos as inspirations, is also a volunteer and event organizer for RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network).
“I got involved because I’m a survivor and when it was time for me to escape my situation RAINN was one of the organizations that I looked to to figure out how to do that and realize what happened to me,” Grassman said. “It was very empowering and encouraging for me. It’s a hard thing to wrap your mind around.”
Many local organizations will be on site with literature and statistics, painting the brutal picture of sexual abuse.
Sexual assault, which is commonly known as rape, is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country and one of the least reported, cites the University of Houston’s Department of Public Safety 2007 Annual Security Report. The document further reports that acquaintance rape accounts for 84 percent of all sexual assault cases involving college-age students, most as a result of alcohol use.
This is Grassman’s first of a series of mini-concerts called Rain Showers that are designed to raise sexual abuse awareness around Houston.
With five other concerts in the works, she is is still nailing down the dates for the series, which will culminate in the citywide benefit concert RAINN Over Houston scheduled for June 2009. It was originally planned to take place at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, but due to extensive damage from Hurricane Ike the location is up in the air.
Grassman will mainly be performing on college and church campuses to educate the community on abuse statistics and how to reduce their risk of assault.
“We are especially targeting high school and college groups because those groups have higher levels of abuse and rape,” Grassman said.
She deals with her personal experience through her music, both clearly spelled out in the lyrics and between the lines.
Before she even acknowledged she was an abuse victim, Grassman received an e-mail from a man saying he was raped as a little boy by his father and now has post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal.
“He said whenever he started to have a panic attack he went to my Myspace or website and listened to my music,” Grassman said. “I just thought, ‘Oh my God. If I could help just one person it would be amazing. If I got involved with RAINN the impact could be 100 times bigger.’”
RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE) which has helped more than 1.2 million people since its inception in 1994. The group recently launched the National Sexual Assault Hotline (www.rainn.org), the country’s first secure web-based hotline, which provides a safe, secure and anonymous place for victims to get help online.
RAINN also helps to educate more than 130 million college students each year about sexual assault and leads national efforts to improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.
Grassman is thankful to use her gift of song to raise awareness.
“It’s very important for me to take something good and beautiful out of all of the horrible stuff that happened to me when I was a kid and share it with everyone,” Grassman said.
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