- Kimberly Layton
- Posted On
April designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month
The main purpose of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, or SAAM, is to help increase public awareness about sexual assault and to educate communities and individuals on how to help prevent sexual violence and increase healthy sexuality and relationships.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Lake County will be proclaimed at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at the Lakeport City Council chambers; at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 7, at the Clearlake City Council chambers; and at 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, April 12, during the Board of Supervisors’ meeting at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport. The public is encouraged to attend.
Lake Family Resource Center would also like to invite the community to participate in Denim Day on Wednesday, April 27.
Individuals can help by breaking the dress code and breaking the silence, by wearing jeans on denim on this day.
The 2022 National Sexual Assault Awareness Month Campaign for this year is “Building Safe Online Spaces Together.”
Sexual harassment, assault, and abuse can happen anywhere, including in online spaces.
For too long harassment, cyberbullying, and sexual abuse and exploitation have come to be expected as typical and unavoidable behaviors online.
Building safe online spaces together is possible when we practice digital consent, intervene when we see harmful content and behaviors, and promote online communities that value respect, inclusion and safety.
Sexual violence is defined as the attempt or completion of a sexual act undertaken without the victim’s freely given consent, which includes rape and other sexual assault.
Sexual violence is a serious and costly problem in the United States, with substantial impacts on victims and their families and exorbitant costs to state and local governments.
Outcomes of sexual violence can include physical injury and other medical problems, poor mental health outcomes, lost work productivity, decreased quality of life and, sometimes, death.
In addition to physical injury or death, sexual violence can cause a myriad of short- and long-term health consequences for victims, including pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, chronic pain, gynecological and pregnancy complications, and disability that can limit employment.
It can also lead to anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, substance abuse, and attempted or completed suicide, among others issues.
Children who are victims of sexual violence are especially vulnerable to both short- and long-term negative behavioral, mental and emotional outcomes, and are significantly more likely to be re-victimized in the future.
The Lake Family Resource Center Rape Crisis Program offers free and confidential services including 24/7 Community Crisis Line (1-888-485-7733) answered by trained advocates.
The Rape Crisis Program also provides individual counseling, support, safety plans, education, hospital accompaniment, law enforcement and court advocacy, and emergency shelter for all victims of sexual assault and their family members.
For more information on Denim Day and various Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities please contact Kimberly Layton at 707-279-0563, Extension 185.
Kimberly Layton is a sexual assault specialist at Lake Family Resource Center.