Sexual Assault Awareness Month: What You Need to Know
What is Sexual Assault Awareness Month?
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The first nationally observed SAAM occurred in 2001; but survivors and advocates had been organizing events to raise awareness about sexual assault long before the month (April) and color (teal) were chosen to represent the need to educate the public about sexual assault and support survivors. You can read more about the history of SAAM here.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) develops a campaign each year, to help advocates at community, state, and college based organizations and coalitions run the month long event. They develop a theme, create graphics and fact sheets, text and hashtags for social media posts, and share ways to get involved with educating the community about sexual assault.
What is Sexual Assault
The main goals of SAAM are awareness and prevention. For a long time, sexual assault was not acknowledged and once it was people were unaware of how frequently it occurred.
Forms of sexual violence include (from the NSVRC):
Rape or sexual assault
Sexual harassment
Sexual abuse
Unwanted sexual contact/touching
Sexual exploitation and trafficking
Exposing one’s genitals or naked body to others without consent
Nonconsensual image sharing and/or coercion (including AI-generated imagery)
Words and actions of a sexual nature against a person’s will and without their consent
There is a misconception that sexual violence = rape and that rape is only committed violently by strangers in dark alleys. But this is not the case. Sexual violence includes harrassment and unwanted contact, and rape is more often than not committed by someone the victim knows. Understanding what coercion and consent are is crucial to preventing assault. I also highlighted the last two bullet points about the use of images and words of a sexual nature without consent. This is becoming a widespread problem with the increased use of social media, cell phones, and AI. It has led to an increase in sex trafficking, violations of privacy, and children/teens becoming victims (or perpetrators) of sexual violence.
Here are some staggering statistics provided by the NSVRC:
Over 53% of women and over 29% of men reported experiencing contact sexual violence (Chen, et al., 2023).
More than 1 and 4 non-Hispanic Black women (29%) in the United States were raped in their lifetime (Basile et al., 2022).
1 in 3 Hispanic women (34.8%) reported unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime (Basile et al., 2022).
More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3%) have experienced violence in their lifetime (Rosay, 2016).
32.9% of adults with intellectual disabilities have experienced sexual violence (Tomsa et al., 2021).
SAAM 2025 theme: “Together We Act, United We Change”
The theme of SAAM 2025 is “Together We Act, United We Change” which emphasizes the importance of communities working together to prevent sexual abuse, assault, and harassment. The campaign also aims to amplify the voices of survivors in vulnerable communities who may have more trouble accessing services and feeling heard.
Key SAAM Dates/Events
Here are some important dates in April for SAAM. I will be sharing more information about each of them as they approach.
SAAM Day of Action: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 – Wear Teal and post on Social Media!
National Crime Victims' Rights Week: April 6–12, 2025
International Anti-Street Harassment Week: April 6-12, 2025
National Public Health Week: April 7-13, 2025
SAAM Day of Giving: April 23, 2025
National Youth Violence Prevention Week: April 28 - May 2, 2025
Denim Day: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
April is also National Child Abuse Prevention Month
This month I will be sharing more posts about SAAM, healthy relationships, and the connections between mental health and abuse.
If you are interested in raising awareness by simply using social media, check out:
SAAM Social media campaign guide
#30daysofSAAM Instagram Challenge
References
Basile, K. C., Smith, S. G., Kresnow, M., Khatiwada S., & 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/nisvs/documentation/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.
Prevention Institute & National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2021). A Health Equity Approach to Preventing Sexual Violence. https://www.nsvrc.org/resource/2500/health-equity-approach-preventing-sexual-violence
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
Tomsa, R., Gutu, S., Cojocaru, D., Gutiérrez-Bermejo, B., Flores, N., & Jenaro, C. (2021). Prevalence of sexual abuse in adults with intellectual disability: Systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1980. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041980