National sexual violence prevention group coming home to suburbs

A national organization devoted to preventing sexual violence and helping survivors heal is coming home to its founder's suburban roots.

PAVE, which stands for Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, is hosting a fashion show Saturday in Naperville to raise money for the launch of a program at Lake Park High School in Roselle designed to teach teens about healthy relationships, the meaning of sexual consent and how to support someone who discloses a past sexual assault.

Angela Rose founded PAVE in 2001 after she survived being abducted from Woodfield Mall and sexually assaulted as a 17-year-old in 1996. Then a Bloomingdale resident, Rose graduated from Lake Park High School shortly before the assault.

She said she started PAVE at the University of Wisconsin Madison, but its efforts for the past 10 years have been centered in Washington, D.C. There, the sexual violence education program Rose plans to bring to Lake Park the week of March 16 has been tested in several schools.

The program is called Shattering the Silence of Sexual Violence. It will involve assemblies, leadership opportunities and work to inform teachers, counselors and students how to support those who disclose they are survivors of sexual assault, as Rose said 19 million people have on social media through the #MeToo movement.

Rose said well-meaning parents, teachers or friends can make the mistake of retraumatizing the victim when they ask questions such as "What were you wearing?" or "Why were you out so late?" A better approach is to listen and provide comfort against isolation and shame.

"Start by believing," Rose said. "Reassure them that it wasn't their fault and let them know that they're not alone."

PAVE works to support survivors with empowerment summits that offer various modes of healing, including yoga and dance, and with a "Consent Is" campaign that encourages participants to write what sexual consent means to them on a wristband and wear it.

Rose said Saturday's fashion show in Naperville will support these initiatives as well as PAVE University, an online learning portal that includes a free survivor support course.

The event is scheduled for 7:30 to 10 p.m. at Naperville Italian Autos, home of Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Fiat, 1540 W. Ogden Ave.

Tickets are on sale at https://www.pavefashionshow.org/rsvp for $85 each, including cocktails and appetizers. The event will feature pop-up shops and runway fashions from designers featured in "Project Runway" and on the Oscars Design Challenge including Elda de la Rosa, Borris Powell, Shernett Swaby and Kawami Jewelry.

Justin Roman, a Lake Park classmate of Rose's as well as a Bulls entertainment host and radio DJ, will be the host, along with Whitney Reynolds of PBS and iHeartRadio, and guests can bid on silent and live auction items.

All of it will support work that Rose said is beginning to make the problem of sexual violence more widely known.

"We're at such an important place in our nation's history," she said. "So even though we've come a long way, we still have a long way to go."