Together we act

April marks the 24th annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The theme "Together We Act, United We Change" highlights the importance of working together to address and prevent sexual abuse, assault, and harassment. This campaign focuses on enhancing public understanding of sexual violence, amplifying the voices of survivors, and empowering us to work together to promote the safety and well-being of others. Everyone in our communities deserves to live in safe and supportive environments where they are treated with respect. When our workplaces, schools, and communities work together to uphold safety and respect, we make progress in preventing sexual abuse, assault, and harassment.
 
We need to act with purpose. Education is the first step to action, empowering our communities to be part of the solution. This campaign works to shift the ways our communities understand, talk about, and respond to sexual abuse, assault, and harassment. We can challenge harmful misconceptions and foster safer communities by learning and acting together. This campaign also seeks to unite us in uplifting the voices of survivors—particularly those most vulnerable in our communities—to build a stronger movement. This campaign aims to develop a movement where younger generations feel included and encouraged to participate and shape a better future. 
 
Sexual violence impacts everyone. Anyone can be a victim of sexual violence, and people who commit sexual abuse, assault, and harassment exist in all our communities. This highlights why it's important for all of us to care about sexual violence and take steps to promote the safety and well-being of others. Sexual violence is an umbrella term which includes any type of unwanted sexual contact — including sexual abuse, assault, and harassment. Forms of sexual violence include:

• Rape or sexual assault
• Sexual harassment
• Sexual abuse
• Unwanted sexual contact/touching
• Sexual exploitation and trafficking,
• Exposing one’s genitals or naked body to others without consent,
• Nonconsensual image sharing and/or coercion (including AI-generated imagery) 
• Words and actions of a sexual nature against a person’s will and without their consent

Statistics show:

• Over 53% of women and over 29% of men reported experiencing contact sexual violence
• More than 1 and 4 non-Hispanic Black women (29%) in the United States were raped in their lifetime
• 1 in 3 Hispanic women (34.8%) reported unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime
• More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3%) have experienced violence in their lifetime
• About 1 in 5 white women experience sexual assault at least once in their lifetime
• 32.9% of adults with intellectual disabilities have experienced sexual violence

 
Hi-Line’s Help for Abused Spouses in Conrad, MT works diligently to break the silence and stop the cycle of violence by helping others improve personal and professional reactions, supporting survivors and their families, and offering a variety of services, resources, and referrals. We also provide training workshops to educate anyone interested and to promote public awareness. For questions and/or additional information and resources on Sexual Assault Awareness Month, call Hi-Line’s Help for Abused Spouses at 406-278-3372 or check out: https://www.rainn.org/resources, http://nij.gov/journals, https://www.cdc.gov, or https://www.nsvrc.org/saam.
 
Together, we act with purpose! United, we have the power to change the world for the better.

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