When thousands of runners set off in the annual Monumental Marathon on Saturday, Serena Van Orman will be carrying a 15-pound camping mattress in a clear backpack for 26.2 miles.
Van Orman, a sexual assault survivor, is using the race to raise awareness of sexual violence and push for policy changes in Indiana that could help survivors. The mattress is roughly a sixth of her weight.
The inspiration to bear the visible weight comes from Emma Sulkowicz. As a student at Columbia University, Sulkowicz dragged a mattress around campus after administrators found a student she accused of rape not responsible.
Van Orman volunteers with Indiana nonprofit Firefly Children and Family Alliance to help other survivors with their forensic exams. She said the mattress draws attention to the issue and is symbolic.
"You’re carrying it for the rest of your life because nobody can take back what happened or what was taken from you,” Van Orman said. “But you can restore that agency through support. And when you don’t have to carry it alone, it’s a lot easier.”
The run this weekend comes as an alleged gang rape at Cornell University has drawn public attention. Van Orman said the issue is far more prevalent than some might think. More than one in three women and one in four men experience sexual violence at one point in their lifetime, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s not a matter of if you know a survivor,” said Van Orman, who previously ran the Carmel Marathon with the mattress strapped on her back. “You do know a survivor if you aren’t one yourself, because statistically, for a lot of women, you are a survivor.”
Indiana laws and funding around sexual assault
Indiana lawmakers have not passed legislation that crime victim advocates push for. In 2025, former Rep. Becky Cash (R-Zionsville) authored a bill to reduce the backlog in untested rape kits. Another bill that same session in the Senate would have eliminated the statute of limitations for rape crimes.
Cash introduced similar legislation in 2026, but it failed to pass out of committee. A study committee was formed to further investigate the issue.
In August, the Interim Study Committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services found that the 815 rape test kits sent to the Indiana State Police took 217 days on average to be analyzed.
Van Orman said there are barriers to even getting a test. In 41 of the state’s 92 counties there are no forensic nurses able to collect the evidence, according to the Indiana Sheriff’s Association.
“Which means there are survivors going to hospitals and essentially being turned away and being told, ‘Oh, you need to travel actually like to another county or a different hospital when you've already made the effort,’” Van Orman said.
Indiana is one of 19 states, according to The Associated Press, where the law treats intoxication as incapacitating only if someone became drunk or were drugged without their knowledge or consent. Advocates call this“voluntary intoxication loophole” because it can make it difficult for prosecutors to press charges when the victim willingly chooses to become intoxicated before being assaulted.
Rep. Maureen Bauer (D-South Bend) announced in a press release she joined a multi-state coalition in October to close the ambiguous language in current state law.
“Survivors should not lose legal protections simply because they voluntarily consumed a substance,” Bauer said in the release. “Indiana law should make clear that intoxication does not erase a person’s right to consent. It’s time to strengthen these protections, eliminate ambiguity in our laws and hold offenders accountable.”
Van Orman hopes her run Saturday will spark conversations from fellow runners and spectators about the needs for funding, support and legal protections for survivors of sexual violence. You can follow Van Orman’s marathon journey and learn more about Saturday’s race at monumentalmarathon.com.
Contact WFYI health reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org or on Signal at SamHorton.05
