Awareness Months for Sexual Violence, Child Abuse, and Crime Victims
By Brittany Spratt
April marks National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and National Crime Victims’ Rights week. Programs for Peaceful Living in Klickitat County would like to share information and opportunities for you to support your friends, family, and community.
The first month of awareness is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The United States designated April SAAM since 2001, however the ground work for recognizing and preventing sexual violence goes back to grassroots movements and in the 1970’s when the very first women’s rape crisis center was opened in the Bay Area. Soon after, sexual assault awareness heightened and state coalitions and agencies providing services began forming.
When you hear sexual assault your first thought might be rape, however there are many other types of sexual violence that are detrimental to an individuals physical and mental health that include; fondling or unwanted sexual touching, forcing a victim to perform sexual acts such as oral sex, sexual contact with minors whether consensual or not, or any unwanted coerced sexual contact. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault and want to seek help and find resources, please contact an advocate at Programs For Peaceful Living (509) 493-2662 or call the national sexual assault hotline at 1(800) 656-HOPE.
The second awareness we would like to bring to the forefront is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which has been a month of awareness since 1983. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse and child maltreatment as "all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power”.
What happens in childhood can last a lifetime and we believe that every youth is deserving of an abuse free childhood. You can visit Washington’s Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) website to learn 10 things that you can do to help prevent child abuse and neglect in our community (https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/safety/prevent-child-abuse). If you are concerned about a child in your community, you can call the national child abuse hotline at 1(800) 422-4453. WAGAP programs provide many services to youth and families, more information at wagap.org or 509-493-2662.
Last but certainly not least, National Crime Victims Rights week takes place April 23-29th this year. The first national crime victims’ rights week was observed in 1981, and following shortly after in 1988 the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was formed to help crime victim survivors find their justice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation states that a crime victim is “a person that has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a crime”.
Annually there are millions of dollars set aside by the government that have been collected through criminal fines, penalties, forfeited bail bonds, and other fines endured through the criminal justice system. These funds are called crime victims compensation funds and if you are a survivor of one of the following crimes you may be eligible for compensation; assault, burglary, child abuse & neglect, impaired driving, elder abuse, hate crimes, homicide, identity theft, robbery, trafficking, and vehicular victimization. If you are a crime victim you can reach out to an advocate through Programs for Peaceful Living for assistance at (509) 493-2662.