Stanford’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Education (SHARE) team will honor Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) through a myriad of educational events and activities throughout the month of April.
The SHARE: Education team hopes to use SAAM as an opportunity to raise awareness of sexual violence at the University and promote values of consent and healthy sexuality.
In the coming weeks, the SHARE: Education team will also aim to highlight Asian American advocates in the disability community whose work intersects with the movement for sexual violence awareness and prevention. In an initiative to provide education for the Stanford community on the intersectionality of race, gender, disability status and other essential components of identity, the SHARE: Education team will provide information about current advocacy efforts. Reflecting on this mission, the team states on its website that “the intersection between Asian American identity and disability status and its relationship to sexual violence remains critically understudied and unacknowledged.”
Here’s an overview of the events ahead.
April 5: SAAM Day of Action
To kick off the month, the team will host a SAAM Day of Action on Tuesday. From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., students can visit the Day of Action table in White Plaza to pick up SAAM resources and merchandise. Community members are encouraged to wear teal — the color symbolizing sexual violence prevention — and use virtual Zoom backgrounds to show recognition of SAAM.
April 15: Yoga for Healing
On April 15, the SHARE: Education team will host a Yoga for Healing event in collaboration with YogaX — a Stanford Psychiatry program whose mission is to integrate the various mental and physical benefits of the practice into the healthcare system. Survivors and allies are invited to learn more about the role of yoga as a self-care practice and response to long-term trauma. Event registration is required.
April 19: Take Back the Night
Students can join college campuses nationwide in attending the annual Take Back the Night event on April 19. Beginning at 7 p.m. on White Plaza, attendees will participate in a rally with campus activists, followed by a march to Meyer Green. The night ends with a speak-out event, during which survivors will share their stories with community members and showcase experiences of healing and vulnerability. This year’s theme centers around “honoring surviving, embracing thriving,” which recognizes both the comprehensive struggles associated with survival of sexual violence and the importance of joy and personal reclamation for survivors, according to the Stanford SAAM website.
April 27: Denim Day
The Stanford community will join survivors and advocates worldwide to commemorate Denim Day on April 27. Established by Peace Over Violence more than two decades ago, Denim Day followed a 1998 Italian Supreme Court decision in which a judge overturned a rape conviction by reasoning that because the victim wore tight jeans at the time of her assault, she likely helped her abuser remove her jeans and thus implied consent. This decision kickstarted the global campaign to wear denim as a means of raising awareness about the misconceptions of sexual assault. The SHARE: Education team will host a table in White Plaza from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in recognition of the annual event.
April 29: Writing for Healing
Students can reflect on the past month’s events and practice writing as a strategy for coping with the mental impacts of sexual violence at a Writing for Healing event at 12 p.m. on April 28. Staff at the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking will collaborate with the SHARE: Education team on the program, designed to detail the role of written expression in coping with emotional adversity.