Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April
2004 - Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April
is Sexual Assault Awareness Month - a time to bring much needed attention
to the pervasive and devastating crimes of sexual violence that effect
countless numbers of women, men, and children in our communities every
day. Jane Doe Inc. and our member organizations will host a variety of
activity around the state, and we encourage you to get involved.
Press
Conference
On
April 1, we launched the month with a joint press conference with the
Massachusetts Nurses Association at the State House. (For more info, please
see press release
and State House
News article.) National advocate and rape survivor Debbie Smith along
with her husband, Rob Smith, shared their story and added their voices
to our legislative and budgetary efforts here
in Massachusetts. At a local level, the Smith’s story ties
directly to four major legislative initiatives that are being discussed
on Beacon Hill, including one that aims to restore funding to the state’s
rape crisis centers and one that aims to codify the state’s Sexual
Assault Nurse Examiner program (SANE). (
Public
Service Campaign
Jane Doe Inc. has also launched a statewide public service campaign -
thanks to the help of the ad firm Gearon Hoffman. Silence and apathy
are anathemas to ending sexual violence. Rape and sexual assault have
long been "silent" crimes that few share with even family or
friends, and ending these crimes requires that we address the root causes
of the violence. Jane Doe Inc. is dedicated to breaking the silence and
dispelling the myths that deny victims the right to safety, justice,
and healing. Campaign samples include Apathy
and Chances.
Faces
of Survivors Exhibit
Catherine Pedemonti's “Faces of Survivors: Voices Reclaimed” is
a series of photographs honoring and celebrating the surviving, healing,
and thriving done by survivors of sexual violence. The goals of this
project are to educate the public about the scope of sexual violence
and the diversity of those affected and to provide positive images of
healing for other survivors. Please join us for this exhibit, opening
at the State House in the Doric Hall on April 20. Please view the press
release and the flyer
for more information.
Dress
Down Day
We’re
also encouraging companies and schools to participate in a new fundraising
and visibility campaign called "Dress Down Day...Because it doesn't
matter what you wear." One of the most prevalent and harmful myths
about sexual assault is that victims are “asking for it” by
what they wear. By asking your school, company, or organization to participate
in Dress Down Day you can help break this myth and speak up against sexual
assault and rape. Between Tuesday, April 20 and Friday, April 23, 2004,
we ask people to break the dress code and the silence surrounding sexual
assault by dressing down for work. Here’s how it works:
- Coordinate
with your human resource department
- Advertise
the chosen day by putting up flyers, sending out emails and talking
to your peers
- Collect
$10.00 (or other designated amount) from each person who agrees to
DRESS DOWN for the day (Alternatively, if your dress code is usually
casual, why not ask employees or students to “dress up” for a day?
It truly doesn’t matter what you wear!)
- Consider
giving each person who participates a sticker or a button to raise awareness
(we can provide samples)
- Donate
the funds to Jane Doe Inc.
Participating
in Dress Down Day is an outward example of how a community can help change
peoples perceptions about violence against women, men, and children.
Together, we can break the silence and end the violence.
To download
flyers to advertise Dress Down Day, click here.
To sign up your company or school to participate, please print this form
and fax it to 617-248-0902, attention: Maureen Oakes.
For more
information about Dress Down Day, please contact Maureen Oakes at 617-557-1811
or moakes@janedoe.org
We hope
these public service announcements, newspaper ads and the variety of activities
throughout the month will encourage people to speak out and stand up against
sexual and domestic violence.
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