Stanford participates in National Sexual Assault Awareness Month

In recognition of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in April, Stanford’s SHARE Office (Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Education Title IX Office) Education Team has planned a series of events, as well as provided a number of educational resources for the Stanford community.

The purpose of the national SAAM campaign is to raise public awareness about sexual violence and prioritize prevention through education and collective action.

“April serves as a focal month to unite both within Stanford and beyond in this national effort to speak up and against sexual violence,” said Carley Flanery, director of prevention education for students in the SHARE Office. “We are taking a particular approach to our events of the month, focusing on creating healing opportunities for participants in light of global events with a keen understanding of the compounding impacts of the pandemic and the national reckoning with racial injustice, ableism and violence against trans people, for example.”

Flanery also noted that Stanford’s SAAM 2021 campaign will highlight the Black women founding activists who significantly contributed to the anti-sexual violence movement and overlapping anti-oppression movements. The SHARE Office aims to continue these Black women’s legacies and center Black women in the Stanford community’s activism against sexual violence. They will be profiled in the April SHARE newsletter.

Stanford events in support of SAAM

SAAM at Stanford will kick off on April 6 with the Day of Action, when participants can show their support throughout the month in a variety of ways, such as wearing teal – the color of sexual assault awareness and prevention.

Virtual events throughout the month include:

• A conversation on Sexual Citizenship with the authors of Sexual Citizens: Sex, Power and Assault on Campus, April 7
• “Sovereignty of the Soul: Confronting Gender-Based Violence in Native America,” a keynote address by Sarah Deer, J.D. distinguished professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies University of Kansas, April 9
• Yoga as Healing, April 9
• Take Back the Night rally, April 14
• Survivor Processing Circle, April 20
• Queer Healing Space for Survivors & Supporters, April 26
• Denim Day on April 28

More information on the events, including how to register, can be found on the SAAM website.

In addition, the SHARE Education team has put together an action guide that outlines ways to participate, along with resources for learning more about the issue of sexual violence.

History of the SAAM campaign

The SAAM campaign was launched in 2001 by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. In addition to raising awareness of the issue of sexual assault, core tenets of the campaign are to promote consent, end victim-blaming and show support for survivors. In 2009, under the Obama Administration, April was recognized as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year’s national theme is We Can Build Safe Online Spaces.

For more information about SAAM 2021 at Stanford, visit the website.