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They say April showers bring May flowers, and as New England marks the start of spring, the Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire (CCCNH) is planting seeds of survivor support and prevention education that will bloom for years to come. For the past twenty-two years April has been nationally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) although sexual assault awareness work has been around a lot longer and took a stronghold in the United States in the 1970s. Thankfully, many survivors have benefitted from the hard work of those original voices.

San Francisco opened the first rape crisis center in 1971 and then held the first U.S. Take Back the Night event in 1978. Over the next two decades, advocacy around survivors of sexual violence worked to support victims and create better legislation and policy to support them. In 1993, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed creating federal funding to support the crisis centers.

Did you know, an American is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds? According to Rainn; one in six females have experienced sexual assault; one in 10 victims of rape are male; and 21% of transgender, genderqueer and nonconforming college students have been sexually assaulted. Though it may barely register for the offender, rape stays with the victim forever. Even “minor” instances of sexual harassment, such as catcalling or groping, are likely to traumatize victims.

Our communities must come together to talk about rape culture. The preservation of rape culture only draws out the pervasive epidemic of sexual violence in America. If we are to dismantle rape culture, we must approach it both personally and as a community. We must de-platform and discourage abusers within our communities and larger institutions.

This year CCCNH is hosting a variety of events to support the Merrimack County community. The two newest annual events that CCCNH is launching are the Resilience Breakfast on April 12th, a hopeful event to celebrate the strength of survivors in our community, and the Prevention Luncheon on April 20th to strategize with local community partner agencies new ways to stop violence before it happens. The one returning event that CCCNH will be hosting is a community favorite, Mr. Concord, which is a fundraiser for CCCNH that has been running for eight years. Mr. Concord will be held on the evening of April 20th. Tickets are still available to attend each event, and any interested party may contact CCCNH by phone or website to reserve space.

 Sources:

Rainn: https://www.rainn.org/

National Survivor Resource Center: https://www.nsvrc.org/saam