Isabella Raine

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How to be There for Survivors this Month

If you didn’t know, April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the United States. 

In many ways, April is my favorite month. 

It’s the month we really see the sun come out, advocacy is up a good amount in a topic I care deeply about, and the school year is almost over! 
Obviously we’re not all still in school, but as a sister and a preschool aide, the school year is still very prominent in my life. 

Although SAAM is about spreading awareness and educating others on prevention, my favorite thing to do is to show my love to other survivors in every way I can think of. In this light, I have put together a list of ways that you can spread awareness and support survivors this month.

1. Wear teal

2. Chalk Art Splash 

3. Write a Survivor Love Letter

4. Create a Care Package

5. Donate to your local Sexual Assault Response Team (or mine!)

6. Wear your own ‘Got Consent’ Shirt

7. Participate in Denim Day
8. Participate in NSVRC's SAAM

The teal awareness ribbon is dedicated to a few different issues, but one of them is sexual assault assault awareness.

Whether it's a teal shirt, some teal nail polish, or an actual little ribbon, this can be a sweet and low-key way of showing up for survivors. 

Something I did at my high school a few times was take chalk with a few friends and cover the grounds with chalk art dedicated to survivor affirmations and a consent culture/anti rape culture. This can be a really fun event to connect with your community and show your support while raising awareness and educating others. Whether you do it on your school grounds, or around town, it can be incredibly empowering for many to do and see. 

The Survivor Love Letter Project was started by Tani Ikeda in 2012 and is a beautiful way to show yourself or other survivors love. You can do this digitally, on paper, or a combination of the two. 

I love Sexual Assault Awareness Month,  AND — I find it overwhelming at times. Doing extra work in the community is incredibly empowering, as well as emotionally taxing. I know that if someone in my life took the time to acknowledge that and give some extra support or love that it would mean the world. I've put together a list of ideas here. 

My local SART does so much for the county. They have educational programs for k-12, as well as all the services they offer as advocates and facilitators. They personally helped me through my own criminal case, and helped me build a campaign at my high school when I was 16 to do my own peer education. I still keep in contact some seven years later with the people that helped me. 

Supporting your local SART (or mine!) would be a beautiful contribution for survivors of sexual abuse this SAAM (or any month!). These are the people we go to for help, resources, information and support. 

As I've said before, when I was 16 I started a campaign at my high school to show survivors support, educate peers on their rights and the consent culture we’re working toward. I campaigned for title IX compliance in my school and did informational tablings for my peers. On top of that, I designed a shirt that I mass ordered and sold to my peers (at cost or less/donation) for a special day each year that we would come to school wearing them all at once. It was my way of showing survivors there are people that care at the same time we were protesting the school’s non-compliance of Title IX. I sold over 300 at my high school over the years. People still ask me where I got it and where they can get one when they see me wearing mine. 

I’ve now designed cuter and simpler versions in hopes to replicate this idea at a larger scale and added many colors and items to pick from. In high school, they were all red so that when we were at school you could see a sea of red support people. I wore mine weekly and am excited to wear my new version as many times as my laundry rotations allow. 

Every last Wednesday of April, we wear denim. This year, that's April 26th. Whether it’s a pair of denim jeans, or we deck out like Britney Spears at the 2001 AMA’s. This day is dedicated to education and starting a conversation surrounding sexual violence, as well as busting disgusting myths and misconceptions. You can find more info here. 

My go to is to wear denim jeans, a denim jacket and my 'Got Consent?' shirt.

NSVRC's SAAM Activities
If you're looking for more to do this month, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center has a collection of ways to participate. They have an Instagram Contest for the #30DaysofSAAM, events to attend online, and more.

All in all, there are many ways to participate this month and support survivors. From making a statement with what you wear, to engaging in Instagram Challenges by the NSVRC.