From Awareness to Action
Image Description: Text ‘From Awareness to Action. May is Sexual Violence Prevention Month’ on a background of pink northern lights and illustrations of many people.
For May, Sexual Violence Prevention Month, DWS will be posting more info about sexual violence, prevention, and consent.
May used to be called Sexual Violence Awareness Month. Awareness about sexual violence is important. Most Canadians don’t understand what sexual violence or consent is. If folks think the biggest danger is creepy looking guys in dark alleys, we’re going to have a really difficult time making our homes, schools, and workplaces safer.
It’s time to move from awareness to action.
At DWS we get asked a lot about how folks can help. It can be overwhelming to know where to start taking action.
“Thing is, we don’t need to overthink the actions needed. It can be small everyday shifts that can bring about change.”
Why Me?
We need everyone to take action to create the massive culture change needed to move from a rape culture to a consent culture.
Thing is, we don’t need to overthink the actions needed. It can be small everyday shifts that can bring about change.
Expecting survivors to take on all of the work needed to make the world safe for survivors and to prevent sexual violence is putting a lot on folks who’ve already been hurt.
What Can I Do?
Some everyday actions to prevent sexual violence:
Image created by Rima Danielle
Get Educated
Rape culture is really hard to notice most of the time. It’s everywhere. It’s considered normal. There’s an overwhelming amount of resources on the internet available. Learning is lifelong, means being vulnerable, feeling feelings, and recognizing that we didn’t
Support Survivors
Telling someone about a sexual assault takes a tremendous amount of bravery.
Most survivors never tell a helping professional about the violence they have experienced. When a friend trusts us with their story it’s important to:
Believe them.
Let them know it’s not their fault. They did not cause the assault.
Listen. Listen. Listen. This can be really difficult as we want to jump in and help, but please sit with them and listen. It can be a really big gift to your friend.
Validate what ever feelings they are having. There is no right or wrong way to feel after an assault.
Ask their permission before doing research or sharing their story. Sexual assault takes a tremendous amount of power away from survivors. Trusting survivors to make their own decisions after an assault is key.
Ask if they’d like to explore options instead of giving advice. Avoid ‘shoulds’ , ‘musts’, and pressuring your friend to do what you think is right. Survivors get to choose what happens next. You can ask if they would like more information about getting medial care, collecting evidence, or reporting options, and as supporters, we have to be OK with the possibility of hearing ‘no’.
Get support for yourself. It can be tremendously hard to sit with a friend who has been hurt. You deserve support too. The tricky part can be getting confidential support. You’re the expert at taking care of yourself and know that DWS’ 24 Hour Support Line has got your back to help to brainstorm resources and with confidential supportive listening - 867.993.5086.
Speak Up
Sexual violence is preventable. With practice and a bit of learning what sexual violence actually looks like, it’s possible to step in during the early stages of a sexual assault. Learn more about bystander intervention!
Talk With Your Friends
Whether it’s planning for what you would do if you saw something sketchy happening at a bar or party or talking about a movie you just saw that made you feel uncomfortable, creating spaces for convos with friends
Practice Consent
Consent is not just for sexy time. There’s lots of ways that you can be a possibility model for what healthy consent could look like. Check out more ideas on our blog!
Reach Out
It can be really frustrating to live with the overwhelming facts about sexual violence or to support a friend who has been assaulted. As supporters, we deserve confidential support that’s free of judgement. DWS’ 24 Hour Support Line is available to folks supporting survivors and folks with questions. Call us anytime - 867.993.5086.