Sexual assault is any nonconsensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent. April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to bringing greater awareness to sexual assault; however, we encourage you to promote awareness all year round. This page has resources and tools, ideas to promote awareness in your community, and OVW-funded events and webinars on sexual assault.
Tools/Resources
Promote Awareness
All year round, you can share information about domestic violence. Below you will find ideas and tips to promote awareness in your community. We also encourage you to share with us how you promote awareness by clicking the "share your ideas" button.
Recognizing National Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month, 2021
Recognizing National Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month, 2021Sexual Assault Awareness Month Resources for your Community are Here!
Dear Advocates, Service Providers, and Friends,We hope that this update finds you well! We also hope that you and your community are enjoying the sunshine as winter turns to spring.
As you may remember, Safe Havens has been developing a series of informational newsletter articles about the five “awareness months.” As part of that series, today we are sending you newsletter articles and a poster to share with faith leaders and communities for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In addition to raising awareness in congregations about sexual violence, we hope this will give you another (easy) way to stay in touch with your faith communities, strengthen those important partnerships, and keep faith leaders connected to your services and resources.
Please note that we are sending two newsletter articles about Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Article A should be appropriate for all faith communities. Article B refers to how transgender and gender nonconforming people are more likely to be victims of assault than the general population. For many faith communities, this will be unfamiliar territory, or it may even fly in the face of heartfelt beliefs about gender and human sexuality.
Please keep in mind that we want to meet faith communities where they are. Growth and understanding on this and so many issues occurs when people feel heard and respected. So, we encourage you to consider whether Article B is appropriate to share with the faith communities in your area—it may be for some and not for others. Or, it may be more appropriate at a later date, when you have built up more trust, or after you have had the opportunity to collaborate or learn together.
Also, let us know if you want to talk about this issue, what you are seeing in your community, and what your thoughts are around these intersections. We find that it is a constant balancing act to remain culturally humble but also to push for justice for everyone in our communities. We’d love to hear (and learn from) your experiences.
The attached Sexual Assault Awareness Month newsletter articles are ready to go, with the exception of dropping in your agency information (highlighted in yellow). Once you have made the articles unique to your agency, you can use the attached letter/email to send the article(s) along to your area faith leaders. Feel free to edit the letter/email as you see fit. And if you’re sending both articles to some of your faith communities, you could send one early in the month and one later.
Safe Havens is hoping that this newsletter series will help raise awareness AND remind your community that your agency continues to provide high-quality services to any person facing abuse. Please let us know how it goes!
Thank you for all the many ways you support people experiencing abuse,
Anne Marie and Alyson
Sexual Assault Awareness Flyer
Article A for Faith Community Newsletters
Article B for Faith Community Newsletters
Suggested Email from Service Providers to Faith Communites
Events Calendar
Apr
22
SASP Formula Grant Program
Apr
23
24th Annual International Family Justice Center Conference
Apr
23
SRA Cluster Learning Circle
Apr
23
Underserved Populations and Use of Data STOP Learning Cohort
Apr
24
STOP Formula Grant Program