April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month!

April 1st kicks off Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and while I believe that every month should be sexual assault awareness month, it’s also nice to have a time of year to focus on it and what we can do collectively and individually to become more aware and empowered and help change the tide of not only the crime being committed but the care survivors receive (that’s where I come in) and the likelihood of prosecution.

Did you know that only 7 out of every 100 sexual assaults that go to trial end in a prison sentence? And it’s one of the most underreported violent crimes; the current estimates are that approximately 34% of the crimes that are actually committed are ever reported to authorities.

Here’s some basic statistics to get you started this month, stay tuned for additional resources, information, events, etc.

• 1 in every 5 women will be raped in their lifetime

• 1 in every 71 men will be raped in their lifetime

• The annual cost of sexual assault in the United States is $127 billion (more than assault, murder, and drunk driving)

• Over half of multi-racial women will experience sexual violence in their lifetime.

• 51% of women (and 52% of men) report being raped or assaulted by someone they know (this is not a crime of masked strangers).