Sexual Assault Awareness Month

It’s Your Move.

Preventing sexual violence is possible. This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, make a move to prevent sexual violence. #ItsYourMove

Take Action this Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)

Sexual Assault Awareness Month (#SAAM2024) takes place during the month of April to increase public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities about how it can be prevented. Building on SCCADVASA’s 2023 #TalkAboutIt SAAM theme and #LevelUpForChange prevention initiative, the #ItsYourMove campaign highlights actions and choices to help prevent sexual violence. Each week, #ItsYourMove is paired with a different tagline focusing on respect, communication, boundaries, and bystander intervention.

Week 1 (April 1-7): It’s Your Move. Choose Respect.
- Everyone should communicate with their partners when it comes to physical intimacy. Consent is an ongoing conversation, no matter your age or gender.
- Men choosing to respect women is a foundation by which societal views surrounding social norms directly or indirectly condone violence and traditional ideas about masculinity.
Week 2 (April 8-14): It’s Your Move. Talk About It.
- When parents and guardians talk openly with their children about consent, boundaries, healthy relationships, and sex (especially men speaking with their sons/teens), it sets a positive example for healthy relationships.
Week 3: (April 15-21): It’s Your Move. Know Your Yeses & Nos.
- Open communication in healthy relationships and the shared understanding that only you get to make decisions about your boundaries lays the groundwork for consent. Parents/adults can set kids up for success by talking with them about identifying and communicating these boundaries.
Week 4 (April 22-30): It’s Your Move. Don’t Stand By.
- The importance of bystander intervention + defining the 4 Ds of this intervention.
- We need for boys/men to hold other boys/men accountable for sexist jokes/language and sexually, physically, and emotionally abusive behaviors that harm and degrade women.

Preventing sexual violence, especially among youth, means it is critical we teach our kids in an age-appropriate manner to understand and respect boundaries, know what healthy (and unhealthy) relationships look like, be equipped to talk with their partner about physical intimacy before it happens, and know that consent is required every time.

Read SCCADVASA’s SAAM 2024 press release.

Get Involved

Join us this #SAAM to prevent sexual violence and show support for survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence during the entire month of April by doing any of the below.

Help us spread the word on the importance of prevention and need for greater individual and community involvement when it comes to educating our youth about what it means to be responsible sexual citizens.

Download our #SAAM2024 Toolkit.
Turn your timelines on social media teal for the month of April. Teal is the official color of SAAM and represents support for survivors of sexual violence.
Follow SCCADVASA’s social media channels (@sccadvasa on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and help amplify our message of support for survivors.
Tuesday, April 2nd is SAAM Day of Action, wear teal clothing and take a selfie. Share it on all your social media accounts with #SAAM2024 #ItsYourMove.
Participate in Denim Day on Wednesday, April 24th by wearing denim and share it to social media to take a stand against victim-blaming.
Remember that change starts with you. Visit www.levelupforchange.org to learn how to prevent sexual violence among teens and NSVRC’s website for additional prevention resources.
Learn more about national and statewide sexual assault statistics.

This project was supported by Grant Number 15-JOVW-22-GG-00926-MUMU awarded by the Office of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this program are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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