April Is...

Learn. Act. Change.

April is a month dedicated to raising awareness about sexual violence and increasing the public’s understanding about sexual violence in our society.

It also provides opportunities for the community to be directly involved in supporting victims and survivors, their families, and organizations that provide crisis intervention throughout the year. Sexual violence prevention requires many voices and roles. Prevention is possible and we all can make a difference.

Join us as we learn, act and change together! We have chosen a special theme for each week:

Week One we will be exploring the impact that Intersectional Identities have upon sexual assault.
Week Two we will delve into Child Sexual Assault. April is also National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Week Three is about learning about Survivor Rights and how to help someone through a sexual assault.
Week Four is a time to show your support by attending The Vagina Monologues, to understand consent and the impact of rape culture.

The below content may be triggering.

If you need support or have questions, we are here for you!

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Learn

Week One

Intersectional Identities &

Their Impact On Sexual Assault

Intersectional thought began in the late 1970s and early 1980s by black feminists like Bell Hooks and Angela Davis. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality in 1989. These scholars discussed gender, race, and class, and the important ways in which they overlapped.

Intersectionality is made up of three basic building blocks: social identities, systems of oppression and the ways in which they intersect and interact.

Social Identities: Based on groups or communities a person belongs to – social class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation. A person is usually a member of many different groups. Social identities are multi-dimensional.

Systems Of Oppression: Refers to larger forces and structures operating in society that create inequalities and reinforce exclusion. Systems of oppression include racism, colonialism, heterosexism, class stratification, gender inequality and ableism.

Intersecting and Interacting: Social Identities and Systems of Oppression do not exist in isolation and intersect. For example, a person can be both black, a woman, and elderly. She may face racism, sexism and ageism.

Intersectionality 101 (3 min)

Kimberle' Crenshaw at Ted+Animation (6 min)

LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and beyond. LGBTQIA+ people experience sexual violence at higher rates than straight people.

Intersecting identities such as differntly abled or ethicity and race further increases risk.

LGBTQueering the Narrative of Sexual Violence with Paige Leigh Baker-Braxton (20 min)

Trans Women Open Up About Their #MeToo Sexual Assault Experiences (6 min)

Learn

Week Two

Child Sexual Abuse &

Child Abuse Prevention Month

Definition of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) encompasses any sexual act involving a child that is intended to provide sexual gratification to a parent, caregiver, or other individual who has responsibility for the child. (DSM-5)

Children and Consent

Children cannot consent to sexual activity – legally as well as developmentally.

Legally in California, teens 14 years of age or older can consent to non-coercive, non-exploitative sexual activities with each other; they cannot, however, consent to sex with an adult.

Consent requires an appropriate developmental understanding of what one is consenting to. The law recognizes that children are developmentally unable to make decisions about some things, including engaging in sexual behavior with an adult.

Facts About CSA

The majority of abusers are someone the child or family knows. As many as 93 percent of victims under the age of 18 know the abuser. They may be a family member (incest), family friend, a teacher, a coach or instructor, a babysitter or other caretaker, or the parent of another child.
An abuser does not have to be an adult to harm a child. They could also be an older sibling or cousin, playmate, or classmate (child-on-child sexual abuse.)
Abusers manipulate victims to stay quiet about the sexual abuse using their position of power over the victim. They might tell the child that the activity is normal or that they enjoyed it. An abuser may make threats if the child refuses to participate or plans to tell another adult.
Child sexual abuse is not only a physical violation; it is a violation of trust and/or authority.

Out of Darkness, Into Light: Child Sexual Abuse - A WLRN Original Production (28 min)

The Horrors of Child Sexual Assault and Abuse - "Speaking the Unspeakable" - A WRAL Documentary (23 min)

Physical signs:

Bleeding, bruises, or swelling in genital area
Bloody, torn, or stained underclothes
Difficulty walking or sitting
Frequent urinary or yeast infections
Pain, itching, or burning in genital area

Behavioral signs:

Changes in hygiene, such as refusing to bathe or bathing excessively
Develops phobias
Exhibits signs of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder
Expresses suicidal thoughts, especially in adolescents
Has trouble in school, such as absences or drops in grades
Inappropriate sexual knowledge or behaviors*
Nightmares or bed-wetting
Overly protective and concerned for siblings, or assumes a caretaker role
Regressive behaviors, such as thumb sucking
Runs away from home or school
Self-harm (cutting, other self-injury)
Shrinks away or seems threatened by physical contact

Signs of Sexual Abuse (5 min)

The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire is a 10-item self-report measure developed for the ACE study to identify childhood experiences of abuse and neglect. The study posits that childhood trauma and stress early in life, apart from potentially impairing social, emotional, and cognitive development, indicates a higher risk of developing health problems in adulthood.

Article: All About The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Take The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Impact On Brain, Body and Behavior (6 min)

What Is Resilience?

Resilience is the human capacity to face, overcome and be strenghtened, and even transformed by experiences of adversity.

Infographic: 6 Resilience Facts

Infographic: 20 Tips To Bulid Your Resilience

Take The Resilience Scale Questionairre

InBrief: The Science Of Resilience (2 min)

InBrief: How Resilience Is Built (2 min)

National Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of communities working together to help families thrive and prevent child maltreatment. During the month of April and throughout the year, communities are encouraged to increase awareness about child and family well-being, and work together to implement effective strategies that support families and prevent child abuse and neglect.

Toolkit: National Child Abuse Prevention Month 2021 Outreach Toolkit

Our compassionate, state-certified advocates are ready to support you!

24/7 Crisis Line: (530) 272-3467

Text Line: (530) 290-6555 (business hours only)

Live Web Chat:Click here.

Our Client Service Center is open M-F 9am-5pm. Advocates are available for peer counseling. No appointment is necessary!

Client Service Center Location: 960 McCourtney Rd, Suite E, Grass Valley, CA

Phone: (530) 272-2046

Community Beyond Violence Sexual Assault Services

Support For Teens

Support For Elders

Support For LGBTQIA+

All our services are free, confidential and non-discriminatory.

Learn

Week Three

Supporting Survivors & Survivor Rights

What Is A Rape Kit?

A rape kit is a package of items used by medical personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an allegation of sexual assault. The evidence collected from the victim can aid the criminal rape investigation and the prosecution of a suspected assailant.

Who performs the evidentiary exam?

The Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). The SART team is composed of specially trained medical personnel, law enforcement and a counseling advocate who work together to help the victim through this exam in the least traumatic way possible.

Where are the exams performed?

The BEAR Center, Sacramento, CA. The Bridging Evidence Assessment & Resources (BEAR) Center is a joint program between Sutter Medical Foundation and Sutter Children’s Center, Sacramento. The BEAR clinic performs evidentiary sexual assault exams.

How long is the evidence kept?

California law requires evidence to be kept for 20 years, or until the age of 40 for victims who were under the age of 18 at the time of the assault.

How A Rape Kit Works (4 min)

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV, sec. 40001-40703 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355) signed as Pub.L. 103–322 by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994 (codified in part at 42 U.S.C. sections 13701 through 14040).

VAWA creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. VAWA is NOT limited to cisgender or trans women. Survivors of any gender orientation are protected under these laws.

How does VAWA helps sexual assault survivors? VAWA laws guarantee that a sexual assault survivor (12 years old and older) who requests a forensic evidentiary exam must be offered an evidentiary exam. This includes cases in which the survivor:

Does not wish to involvee with law enforcement.
Law enforcement declines to authorize an evidentiary exam.
There is no cost to the victim.

Article: What Is VAWA And Why Is It Important?

Sexual Assault Survivor Rigths

Survivors of sexual assault have been afforded extensive rights under California Penal Code §680.2.

Here are some of your rights as a survivor of sexual assault:

You are never reqiured to participate in the criminal justice system or receive a physical exam in order to keep your rights.
You get to chosewhether you get an exam, whether and how you report the assault, and how much you participate in the process.
You have the right to contact your local rape crisis center.
Seek a Civil Protection Order and/or an Emergency Protective Order.
Have a victim advocate or at least another person of your choosing during an exam or investigative interview.
Have the right to ask for the Status and Results of all evidence collected related to your assault.

Full Sexual Assault Survivor Rights Card

Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights Expands Protections and Services (3 min)

Marsy's Law

Marsy's Law (California Victims' Bill Of Rigths 2008) works in tandem with the Sexual Assault Survivor rights.

Marsy’s Law is a measure to provide all victims with rights and due process. It is an Amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal code sections. Marsy's Law covers not only the direct victim but close family members, guardians and legal representatives. The act protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime to include 17 rights in the judicial process.

Article: All About Marsy’s Law – The California’s Victims’ Bill Of Rights

Learn

Week Four

Consent and
Rape Culture

Know The Law

Consent is defined in the California Penal Code 261.6 as:

Positive cooperation in act or attitude pursuant to an exercise of free will.
The person must act freely and voluntarily and have knowledge of the nature of the act or transaction involved.
A current or previous dating or marital relationship shall not be sufficient to constitute consent where consent is at issue in a prosecution under Section 261 (rape), 262 (marital rape), 286, 288(a) or 289.

Consent Defined

Consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity.

Consent should be clearly and freely communicated. A verbal and affirmative expression of consent can help both you and your partner to understand and respect each other’s boundaries.

Consent cannot be given under these conditions:

Consent cannot be given by individuals who are underage, intoxicated or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, or asleep or unconscious.

If someone agrees to an activity under pressure of intimidation or threat, that isn’t considered consent because it was not given freely.

Unequal power dynamics, such as engaging in sexual activity with an employee or student, also mean that consent cannot be freely given. (Source: RAIIN.org)

Give Me Some Fries!

A great way to remember the components of consent is by the acronymn F.R.I.E.S.

F= FREELY GIVEN - All involved have the freedom to say yes or not. Consent does not involve any type of pressure, force, or maniipulation.

R = REVERSIBLE - Anyone can change their mind at any time...even if in the middle of an activity.

I = INFORMED - Everyone needs to know exactly what they are consenting to every single time.

E = ENTHUSIASTIC - Everyone is into what is happening, is happy about it and excited. If not, the activity should stop immediately.

S = SPECIFIC - Each activity requires consent each time...even if you have done it before.

(Source: loveisrespect.org)

Tea Consent (3 min)

What Is Rape Culture?

The term rape culture was first coined in the 1970s in the United States by second-wave feminists, and was applied to contemporary American culture as a whole.

Rape culture is a sociological concept used to describe a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality.

It is a society that accepts sexual violence as the norm where both men and women assume that sexual violence is a “fact of life” - inevitable as death or taxes.

What Does Rape Culture Look and Feel Like?

Rape culture is the myriad ways in which rape is tacitly and overtly abetted and encouraged.

It has saturated every corner of our culture so thoroughly that people cannot easily wrap their heads around what rape culture actually is. Below are just a few descriptions of rape culture:

Rape culture is victim blaming.
Rape culture is encouraging male sexual aggression.
Rape culture is treating rape as a compliment.
Rape culture is the idea that only certain people rape—and only certain people get raped.
Rape culture is tasking victims with the burden of rape prevention.
Rape culture is 1 in 6 women being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes.
Rape culture is not talking about the reality that many persons are sexually assaulted multiple times in their lives.
Rape culture is 1 in 33 men being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes.
Rape culture dictates that if a boy or man is sexually assaulted they must be gay and “wanted it”.

What Is Rape Culture? (2 min)

Jonathan Katz: Violence Agains Women - It's A Men's Issue (17 min)

Denim Day has been internationally celebrated since 1999 in protest of an Italian Supreme Court ruling that overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans.

In 1992, an 18-year-old girl in Italy was raped by her driving instructor during a driving lesson. He was convicted, but in 1999, the court overturned the verdict on the premise that “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.” Women of the Italian Legislature protested the decision by wearing jeans to work. As news of the decision spread, so did the protest.

In April 1999, a social service agency in Los Angeles established the first Denim Day in the U.S. We carry on this tradition. We wear denim to dispel harmful myths about sexual violence and survivors. There is no excuse and never an invitation to rape.

For more info, go to denimdayinfo.org.

Denim Day - Meaning, Definition & Explanation (2 min)

Wear Jeans With A Purpose on Wednesday, April 28th!

Join millions of people around the world and rock your jeans. By doing so, you are showing your support to all survivors of sexual assault.

Educate

Talk it up! Let friends, family and co-workers know why you are wearing jeans on April 28th. This opens up an opportunity to talk about the impact of rape culture, sexual assault and consent.

Post a selfie on social media in those jeans! Let your friends and followers know about Denim Day and challenge them to do the same. Use #ThisIsCommunity on your posts.

For more info, go to denimdayinfo.org.