Date rape topic of conference

Tuesday, March 3, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.

Date rape will be one of the central issues discussed at a three-day conference that was due to begin at 10 a.m. today at the Stardust hotel-casino.

The conference is sponsored by the Department of Prisons, Community Action Against Rape and other organizations.

On the final day of the conference the Nevada Public Health Foundation will unveil what is described as a "powerful statewide date rape prevention media campaign."

The commercials, said NPHF spokesman Karen Korcheck, "were developed to deliver a strong message to teens, particularly young males, about the severe consequences of date rape."

Renata Cirri, executive director of Community Action Against Rape, said the three-day victims' conference will provide an overview about sexual assault.

"We're seeing an increase in the number of sexual assaults," Cirri said.

She said there were 169 more cases of rape reported in 1997 than 1996.

While today's conference sessions provided an overview of "where we are and what we're doing," Cirri said t he final two days will consist of panels discussing policies , victims and networking.

One goal of the conference, according to Cirri, is to "open the lines of communication."