Welcoming Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April 1, 2010 |
Valor

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The month of April is designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The goal is to raise public awareness about sexual violence (focusing on sexual assault and rape) and to educate communities and individuals how to prevent sexual violence. By working together, we can highlight sexual violence as an important public health issue and reinforce the need for prevention efforts.
What can you do to participate?

  • Contact CALCASA if you wish to participate SAAM events taking place throughout California. CALCASA can connect you with any of the state’s 85 rape crisis centers.
  • Informing friends and family via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
  • Inviting people in your community to join you at crisis center events.
  • Participate in Denim Day – April 21

Facts and figures
A study by the Centers for Disease Control in 2008 found that:

  • 11 percent of women and 2 percent of men reported experiencing forced sex at some point in their lives.
  • 1 in 4 women reported experiencing an attempted or completed rape while they were in college.
  • 60 percent of female and 70 percent of male victims were first raped before the age of 18.
  • Sexual assaults represented 10 percent of all assault-related injury visits to emergency departments by females in 2006.

For more information about what you can do to participate, visit CALCASA’s SAAM 2010 page.