Sexual Assault Prevention Month

by in Uncategorized
April 4, 2014

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the United States. We would have to be living under a rock if we didn’t recognize that sexual violence is pervasive in our society. It occurs in our homes, our neighborhoods, our schools, our communities, our workplaces, and even in venerable institutions, like our military.

No one is immune. The statistics are profoundly disturbing: Every 2 minutes someone is sexually assaulted. That someone might be you yourself, or someone you know, or someone you love. For me, that someone is my daughter Laura, who was raped and murdered in 2005.

Educational programs and public service announcements go a long way in raising awareness, but they are not enough. Preventing sexual assault is everybody’s business, everybody’s responsibility. We must all commit to changing the cultural climate that overlooks or allows it. We must not tolerate it in any form, or to any degree.

 April may be the officially designated sexual assault prevention month, but preventing sexual violence and abuse requires the efforts of all of us every single day of every single month throughout the year.