April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month

It saddens me that we have to create a month that brings awareness to sexual assault.  Just like October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, April is that time when national, state, and local non-profits work on educating the public on the rates of rape, sexual abuse and sexual assault in communities across America.  Education efforts also focus on prevention of future crimes, support for victims, and creating accountability for perpetrators. 

Educaton must also come from parents, care-givers, adult role models and other youth.  A great publication on how to raise sexually healthy youth is available from Advocates for Youth.  The publication covers some of the adolescent development issues that take place during this time frame.  Another popular article seems to be an article on appropriate sexual development in children from Self Help Magazine.

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center produces documents and collects other resources that focus on adolescent rates of violence and programs working with our youth.  I encourage you to check out the articles on the following topics:

1. Telling It Like It Is -Teens Perspectives on Romantic Relationships
2. Juveniles perpetrating sexual violence on minors; report from the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
3. Male victims - boys & men; sample article
4. Restorative Justice efforts 

Don't forget to check out other resources for National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and find out what is going on in your area!