Today is the first day of Sexual Assault Awareness Month or #SAAM. This year’s theme is building connected communities. You might already be preventing sexual violence by supporting survivors, understanding consent with your partners, and not participating in harmful rhetoric, like victim blaming, but NSVRC helps us to understand how community change can go beyond that.
“Community-level prevention means making changes to larger-level factors and conditions to reduce the likelihood that people will perpetrate sexual violence. These broader conditions that can impact an entire community include the physical environment and surroundings, predominant community attitudes, norms, standards, and policies and rules such as a code of conduct. Community-level prevention refers to more than just communities of people within a town, it can also mean workplaces, campuses, organizations, or any space (online or otherwise) with their own policies, rules, and norms that impact others (NSVRC, 2021).”
What are some ways that you can inspire change within your communities?
- Tuesday, April 2 – SAAM day of Action – Wear teal to support survivors of sexual harassment and violence. Don’t forget to share pictures on social media, tag @AwareShelter, and use #SAAM2024.
- Wednesday, April 10 – Campus Day – AWARE sexual assault advocates will be at Baker College for a community table event regarding SAAM. Stop by and say hi!
- Wednesday, April 24 – National Denim Day – Dress comfortably and support survivors by wearing your favorite denim. For the history of Denim Day and what it represents, visit https://denimday.org/whydenim
- Tuesday, April 30 – Sexual Assault Team (SART) Training – For more information and to register, visit https://www.awareshelter.org/sart-training/