Sexual Assault Awareness Month

TW: Mentions of sexual assault and rape

Welcome back to the blog!

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and we will be posting twice a week to raise awareness and talk about recent events surrounding this idea. This month we will cover hard topics and it won't be easy, but it's important to educate yourself and others about the relevance of sexual assault.

To start this month off, let's talk about the reality of sexual assault in our communities. Sexual assault is defined by CASA as any type of sexual behavior committed against someone without their consent. This can include harassment, unwanted touching, and rape. Unfortunately, a large portion of assaults are from someone the victim knows. If they are family or a friend, this can make reporting more difficult because of the close relationship prior to the assault.

According to RAINN, in the United States alone over 400,000 men and women are victims of attempted or completed rape. This equates to about 1 in 6 women and 1 in 10 men who are impacted. Unfortunately, the numbers are usually higher amongst minorities. A lot of sexual assaults go unreported and this makes it difficult to start the healing process. Survivors are also more likely to develop anxiety, depression, and even PTSD. These effects can carry throughout a survivor's lifetime and can make work, school, and personal relationships even more challenging.

Recently, the 97% movement has been brought up in social media. If you have not heard about this, this 97% pertains to the percentage of younger women who have been sexually harassed in their life. Ninety-seven percent is a HUGE number.... almost all young women. Harassment is a more broad offense than assault, but this does not diminish the severity of the issue. Although this is a largely women's issue, this is also a men's issue. Men are also victims of sexual assault and we cannot ignore their experiences. The ratio of harassment done by men compared to harassment done by women is substantially higher and more focus needs to be into teaching men not to assault, instead of teaching women how to avoid being assaulted. There is more to this issue, but we will be covering this in a podcast that will be coming soon so stay tuned.

Later this month, we will cover recent events such as the Minnesota ruling, Deshaun Watson accusations, and bring more light into the 97% movement.

To all of the survivors out there, we support you and we believe you. You are not alone in your experience and It's On Us is a safe community if you are in need of support.

If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, please visit our "Crisis Support" tab that has resources for reporting and getting the help you need. If you are a student at Clemson University, you can reach out to any of our leadership for support. RAINN has a survivor hotline, survivor stories, and extended resources to assist you in getting the help you need. Please visit https://www.rainn.org for more information.

See you guys soon!

It's On Us