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April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month
To the Editor:
April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). This month is set aside to raise awareness that sexual violence impacts every person in every community. This goal is achieved through raising public awareness about sexual abuse, harassment, and assault and offering education about sexual assault to our community in schools, civic groups, and the agencies of allied professionals.
This year's SAAM campaign, Building Connected Communities, calls on each of us to work together to prevent sexual abuse, harassment, and assault. Because we believe that when anyone experiences sexual violence every community member is affected, we must strive to build more connected, respectful, and inclusive communities to promote our collective well-being and to protect against the risk of sexual violence. We believe all of our communities will then be safer.
We recognize that sexual assault effects every demographic group but it is important to recognize that statistics demonstrate that it can be more pervasive in some populations than in others.
Over 53% of women and over 29% of men reported experiencing contact sexual violence in their lifetime (Chen, et al., 2023).
About 95% of women, men, and children across all sexual identities who experienced contact sexual violence reported that the person who harmed them was someone they knew.
More than one and four non-Hispanic Black women (29%) in the United States were raped in their lifetime (Basile et al., 2022).
One in three Hispanic women (34.8%) reported unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime (Basile et al., 2022).
56% of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime (http://nij.ojp.gov)).
Sexual abuse can happen at any age, but children and teens are at highest risk. Young children depend on adults for basic care and safety. The more dependent children are, the more at risk they are.
12.3% of female victims of rape were first raped when they were 10 or younger (Black et al., 2011).
27.8% of male victims of rape were first raped when they were 10 or younger (Black et al., 2011).
Communities that have connections to the people that live, work and play there are key. This starts with looking out for one another and making choices to promote health, safety, and well-being because building connected communities brings us closer to the goal of health equity. When health equity exists in a community, everyone, no matter their situation, has a chance to achieve their best possible health, creating the opportunity for everyone to reach their highest level of well-being. This includes being free from sexual violence. (NSVRC 2021).
The Abuse Network would like to thank the communities we serve for your participation in SAAM and to thank our partners in service. Thank you for showing that you support survivors of sexual abuse, harassment, and assault and for the work you do in Building Connected Communities.
Rebecca Wills
Public Training
Coordinator
The Abuse Network
Basile, K. C., Smith, S. G., Kresnow, M., Khatiwada S., and Leemis, R. W. (2022). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 report on sexual violence. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs/nisvsReportonSexualViolence.pdf
Chen, J., Khatiwada, S., Chen, M. S., Smith, S. G., Leemis, R. W., Friar, N., Basile, K. C., and Kresnow, M. (2023). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2016/2017: Report on Victimization by Sexual Identity. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs/nisvsReportonSexualIdentity.pdf
Rosay, A. B. (2016, September). Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and men. NIJ Journal, 277. National Institute of Justice. http://nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence-againstamerican-indians-alaska-natives.aspx
Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., and Stevens, M.R. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf
National Institute of Justice. Retrieved from: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/violence-against-american-indian-and-alaska-native-women-and-men