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women are murdered by an intimate partner every day in America!
4.8
million American women are physically assaulted every year!
Violence
against women has long been a widespread but little known epidemic affecting local,
national and international communities alike. But now people like you and me are
speaking out about this serious issue, and by raising awareness, are helping to
stop violence against women.
To
help states, municipalities, agencies and individuals further the goals of the
Violence Against Women Act, the US Department of Justice's Office of Violence
Against Women has worked with Congress and the President to establish months designated
to raise awareness about the four crimes included in the bill: January
is Stalking Awareness Month; February
is Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month;
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and October
is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Domestic
Violence Awareness Month has been observed nationally for years, but this year's
Senate Resolution for Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month, and the
widespread observance by states and municipalities has helped raise attention
about violence against women to a whole new level. At
least 27 Governors and over 200 municipalities in 45 states declared
proclamations and resolutions for February's Dating Violence Awareness Month,
providing inspiration and opportunities for bringing communities together to address
this serious issue.
Now,
as a nation, we have an opportunity to continue momentum with April's Sexual Assault
Awareness Month. Last year, President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation
for Sexual Assault Awareness Month for the very first time, and because of recent
attention on the issue by the media, government and civil society, and with your
help, national, state and local participation will be even greater this year.
I
learned about violence against women the hard way - my 19 year old daughter Emily
was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on April 9, 2009. Please help lead the way to
ending violence against women by raising YOUR voice against violence against women.
This
April, there
are many things that YOU can do to help raise awareness
about dating abuse and sexual violence. Here are some ideas:
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1)
Write to your Mayor and Governor and ask
them to join other leaders across the nation
in declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness
Month. In most cases, all it takes is a
school or nonprofit organization to request
it and provide a sample proclamation! (Please
ask them to send a copy to The EMILY Fund,
PO Box 430, Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430, or
send a scan to info@emilyfund.org
or fax to: 1-888-247-1291 so that it can
be posted on the Internet to inspire other
communities to do the same.)
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2)
Ask your school administrator to declare a proclamation
for Sexual Assault Awareness Month (Check out
the
Sexual
Assault Resource Center
for sample proclamation,
step-by-step instructions, and lots
of resources for raising awareness.)
3)
If your town or state has declared a proclamation,
let your local newspaper know about it and why
dating violence awareness is important.
3)
Wear a teal ribbon (the official color of sexual assault awareness) or a heart
on your sleeve (print out free designs at the Have
a Heart Campaign
website) and when people ask you about it, let them know why violence against
women awareness is important to you.
4)
Create or print out posters about ending violence against women to display at
school or around your community.
5)
Participate in the National Dating Pledge Challenge to Stop Dating Violence -
hand out FREE Dating Pledge cards.
6)
Set up a table on campus or during lunch to hand out Dating Pledge cards and other
educational materials about dating abuse and dating violence.
7)
Urge your school to establish a Dating
Violence Policy
if there isn't one already in place.
8)
Urge your school to establish a year-round Dating
Violence Awareness education program.
9)
Find out more about the Lindsay
Ann Burke Act requiring schools to provide dating violence awareness resources
to all students. 6 states have already passed bills - has yours?
10)
Participate in a Healthy Relationship Peer Education
Program, or if there isn't one at your school,
work with your school or a local domestic violence
agency to establish one.
11)
Find out more:
National
Sexual Violence Resource Center's Sexual Assault Awareness Month page
US
Dept of Justice's Office of Violence Against Women
US
Dept of Defense's Sexual Assault Awareness Month page
National
Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center's page
California
Coalition Against Sexual Assault's SAAM page
Change.org's
page
Wisconsin
Coalition Against Sexual Assault's page
Printable
PDF Handout
Sample
Proclamation:
WHEREAS,
sexual assault affects women, children and men of all racial, cultural and economic
backgrounds; and
WHEREAS,
in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs, sexual assault may
also have associated consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance
abuse, depression, homelessness, eating disorders and suicide; and
WHEREAS,
sexual assault can be devastating for not only the survivor, but also for the
family and friends of the survivor; and
WHEREAS,
no one person, organization, agency or community can eliminate sexual assault
on their own, but we can work together to educate our entire population about
what can be done to prevent sexual assault, support victim/survivors and their
significant others, and increase support for agencies providing services to victim/survivors;
and
WHEREAS,
Sexual Assault Awareness Month provides an excellent opportunity for citizens
to learn more about preventing sexual violence;
NOW
THEREFORE be it, Resolved, That I, _______________, do hereby proclaim the month
of April, 2010, as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in _________.
Please
send a copy of your Mayor or Governor's proclamation to
StopDatingViolence.org
- The EMILY Fund
PO Box 430, Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430
or send a scan to:
info@emilyfund.org or Fax to 1-888-247-1291
