Sexual Assault Awareness Month Series Part 1: Know Your Resources
The beginning of April marks the start of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. We know this is a tough topic, but it’s one we have to talk about. For many people, women in particular, sexual assault is never a far thought. Just last month, 33-year-old Sarah Everard was abducted on her walk home in London, all while doing everything women are told to do to stay safe when alone.
The sexual assault prevention movement in America started in the 1970s, when crisis centers and state coalitions began to form. The first major move toward awareness came in 1976, when the first Take Back the Night marches were organized. Take Back the Night, an event that Elon’s Gender and LGBTQIA Center (GLC) holds every year, protests the fear and violence women face walking alone at night.
This movement definitively raised awareness around the country and sparked more movements. By the late 1980s, the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, in partnership with state sexual assault coalitions, chose April for a national Sexual Assault Awareness Week. It was not until 2001 that Sexual Assault Awareness Month was recognized for the entirety of April and was finally officially proclaimed as a national month of awareness by President Barack Obama in 2009.
This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, it’s important we get clear on the definition of sexual assault (also sometimes called sexual violence) and how prevalent it is today. The Office on Women’s Health, a department within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defines sexual assault as, “any type of sexual activity or contact, including rape, that happens without your consent.”
The statistics of the frequency of sexual assault can’t be understated—according to the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, RAINN, an American is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds. The CDC says more than one in three women and one in four men have experienced sexual violence at some point in their life.
Awareness around this topic is incredibly important at Elon, especially because women between the ages of 18 and 24 who are college students are three times more likely than women in general to experience sexual assault. It is important, however, to remember that women, men, transgender individuals, genderqueer individuals and nonconforming individuals can all be victims of sexual assault.
The Edge condemns acts of sexual violence and hopes that none of our readers never have to deal with these difficult situations; however, we cannot ignore the statistics and we choose to stay educated in case the worst happens. So, what should you do if you, or someone you know, is assaulted on campus? The first crucial thing to note is that an experience with sexual violence is never your fault. Elon’s Center for Equity and Inclusive Excellence (CEIE) provides several on-campus options to support those who have experienced sexual violence.
These options, as described by the CEIE, include:
Confidential Support: A space to discuss your situation with a confidential responder, who can guide a survivor through the options available to them with regards to medical care, reporting and more.
Interim Measures: Accommodations and remedies intended to make survivors feel safer that do not require an investigation, such as residence changes, coordination with professors for academic needs and assistance with getting a medical leave.
Pursuing an Investigation: A way for survivors to seek sanctions for their perpetrator through Title IX by university or police investigation.
Receiving Medical Attention: Care that can be administered for both immediate and non-immediate medical needs related to sexual violence.
To pursue any of these options, visit the CEIE’s website, call Elon’s Safeline at 336-278-3333 or contact Elon’s Coordinator for Violence Response by phone at 336-278-5009 or by email at jmetz@elon.edu. We also suggest saving these numbers in your phone, so that you don’t have to search for them in the event you need them.
Additionally, the GLC will be hosting events, such as Take Back the Night and Denim Day, and providing information throughout the month of April. To find out more about the GLC’s work this month visit their Instagram or their website.
We hope you’ll take some time this month to familiarize yourself not only with ways you can receive help, but also the steps you and those around you can take to prevent sexual violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
More resources for both survivors and friends of survivors: