Sexual Assault Awareness Month centers students in healing and community

April marks the 25th year of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). At Stanford, students and faculty are honoring SAAM’s history with programming and outreach on sexual assault prevention evolving over the decades. 

The Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Education (SHARE) Title IX and Title VI Office has planned student-centered SAAM programming, including queer yoga, a technology and gender-based violence prevention webinar, the annual Take Back the Night (TBTN) rally and march, among others.

“This year, my goal was to keep our signature programming but ensure that we provided opportunities for students to engage with how sexual violence prevention [is] moving with the rapid changes of technology,” said Nina Lee, assistant director and education and outreach manager of SHARE. 

Stanford has participated in SAAM in some capacity for all 25 years, according to Lee. However, like other college campuses, Stanford’s TBTN predates its participation in SAAM. 

This year’s new webinar on April 16 will focus on how technology opens access to care, information and support for survivors of gender-based violence. One of the panelists, Tracy DeTomasi, consulted with stakeholders on tools like anti-sexual harassment virtual reality training. 

SAAM programming this year also included a Day of Action on Thursday, where volunteers made care packages for survivors. SHARE will donate the packages to Next Door Solutions, a domestic violence agency in Santa Clara County. 

“Day of Action in years past has just been a simple tabling event in White Plaza that uplifts the events,” Lee said. “But this year, Day of Action actually centers around an act of service.”

Students filled baskets with shampoo, lotion and other personal care items alongside handwritten notes of empowerment. SHARE also provided materials to make posters for TBTN. 

“I think raising awareness for sexual assault is incredibly important, especially making people aware that there are resources and support available to them,” said Zuireth Sanchez-Aldape ’28. “Creating these care packages is an important way of showing that, not just saying that.”

Sanchez-Aldape volunteered with the student organization Hermanas de Stanford. Along with Hermanas, SHARE partnered with the Stanford Lambdas to promote the Day of Action. 

“I wanted to do something that was direct action, like filling up a care package. It’s very physical, and I like the idea of someone who will receive this and read a letter,” Roberto Ibarra ’28 said.

Denim Day has also expanded, from a tabling event to a resource fair. SHARE, Weiland Health Initiative and Flip the Script, among other local organizations, will be present in White Plaza on April 29. 

On Denim Day, SHARE invites Stanford to wear jeans or other denim clothing to “stand in solidarity with survivors and challenge harmful myths about sexual violence.” The worldwide campaign by Peace Over Violence began in 1999 when the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the survivor was wearing tight jeans. The ruling determined that the survivor couldn’t have been assaulted because her jeans would have been impossible to remove unless she helped.

“After the judge delivered that judgment, women in the community went to the courtroom wearing jeans to say clothes don’t equal consent, and clothes shouldn’t be a key component of decisions in cases of sexual violence,” Lee said. 

SHARE student staff play a major role in planning student-centered SAAM programming. They offered insights into the ideal times and locations for hosting events for students to attend between classes and Greek rush. 

On April 14, Marissa Floro, program manager of the Weiland Health Initiative, will host queer yoga. 

“Because sexual assault and sexual violence is harm that happens between people, it’s really important that we also create healing opportunities between people,” Floro said.

Yoga classes, she added, create a collective experience that encourages connection to the body, emotions and thoughts. “Hopefully, [this] is really empowering for folks who might not feel very connected to their body. Also, it does provide a space to sit with some difficult things in a structured way,” Floro said.

Floro’s yoga class ties into SAAM’s emphasis this year on reflection and community-building. 

“I think it’s more important than ever for people to realize that you’re not alone,” Lee said. “In order to feel connection, we have to be there in person, show up for each other, ask for help, ask for support.”

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