Please join the Women and Families Center for our annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month Vigil on April 10 from 5-7pm at the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center in Meriden. Survivors and their supporters are invited to share their stories, artwork, poetry, and community with others.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) was formally declared in 2001 by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, seeking to both raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual violence and amplify prevention efforts. But SAAM has its roots in even earlier activism against sexual violence. The Civil Rights and women’s liberation movements in the 1960s and 70s both fostered activists who spoke out about the intersecting issues facing women and people of color. These activists fought against social norms and taboos to bring issues of sexuality and consent to the forefront of public discussion, and their efforts helped establish community and societal changes to combat sexual assault, such as the opening of the nation’s first rape crisis center in San Francisco in 1971 and the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1993. Today, organizations across the country recognize SAAM, continuing in this tradition – the work of raising awareness and preventing sexual violence is far from over, and the responsibility to engage in this work lies with all of us.
WFC Sexual Assault Crisis Services provides support to survivors of sexual violence in the form of short-term counseling, hospital and legal accompaniments, and a 24/7 crisis hotline. All services are free and confidential.
