Georgia resources for Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April 10th, 2024

April 2024 is the 23rd Sexual Assault Awareness Month. (Canva)

April 2024 is the 23rd anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), a time to raise awareness about sexual violence prevention.

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There’s been a long movement to end sexual violence, abuse and harassment, notably by those who have championed racial justice and gender equity throughout U.S. history and the recent past.

In 2001, the first Sexual Assault Awareness Week was observed and eventually grew into what is now Sexual Assault Awareness Month or SAAM. Since then, its cultural impact has touched the lives of adult and child survivors and highlighted the importance of addressing sexual assault and intimate partner violence in our workplaces, campuses, institutions and communities.

According to the CDC’s National Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey (NIPSVS), sexual violence remains a very complex societal issue and serious public health problem that impacts about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men on average.

NIPSVS 2016-2017 findings also reveal that LGBTQ individuals, particularly bisexual women and trans people, reported experiencing sexual assault and/or intimate partner violence at higher rates over their lifetimes.

College-aged women between 18 and 24 are at an elevated risk of sexual violence, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). RAINN also found that 23.1% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted.

Research has also shown that sexual violence, intimate partner violence and stalking can result in severe long-term health effects and significant social and public health expenses, something this month seeks to raise awareness and education about.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault or a mental health crisis, here are some Georgia resources: