Safety awareness and preparedness is a combination of addressing physical threats, mental health challenges, environmental disasters, weather emergencies, theft prevention, cyber security, and situational awareness. This series offers guidance from our subject matter experts, with tips and resources available on our website. Please feel free to link to our materials through that site.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year’s theme, “Together we Act, United we Change,” highlights the importance of working together to prevent and address sexual assault, harassment, and abuse.

Sexual violence is an umbrella term that encompasses:

• Rape or sexual assault

• Sexual harassment

• Sexual abuse

• Unwanted sexual contact or touching

• Sexual exploitation and trafficking

• Exposing one’s genitals or naked body to another without consent

• Non-consensual image sharing and/or coercion (including AI-generated content)

• Words and actions of a sexual nature against a person's will and without their consent.

Trust Your Instincts

Always listen to that little voice telling you that something is off. Pay attention to your intuition; it is usually right. If someone is approaching you and you feel uncomfortable, remember that you have no duty to be polite. Tell them to stop and move away from you. Keep your distance and call for help. It is far better to overreact to a situation than to put yourself in danger because you didn’t want to be rude. The book The Gift of Fear is a great resource in this space.

Secure Your Drink and Surroundings

Predators also use charm to lower your defenses and get you alone, often using tactics designed to lower your defenses (“Can I come in? I won’t stay long, I promise”). Until you really know someone, don’t let them into your personal space, whether your home or the direct space around you.

Another warning sign is someone trying to get you inebriated, waiting till you are drunk and vulnerable to assault you. Be cautious of your drink, as it takes almost no time to have it spiked. If you leave your drink unattended, get a new one. Bartenders will usually be happy to put it behind the bar and watch it for you, but only do this if you know and trust them.

Use the Buddy System

Remember STAN – Stay Together All Night. Have friends with you on a night out and promise to stay with each other all night. Come together, leave together.

Get Support

Immediate Help (24/7 Hotlines)

1. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)

   • Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

2. National Sexual Assault Hotline (via RAINN)

   • Text: Text "HELLO" to 741741 (Crisis Text Line)

   • For Deaf Survivors: Online chat or video phone services via RAINN.

3. The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ Youth)

   • Hotline: 1-866-488-7386

   • Text: "START" to 678-678

Medical & Legal Support

4. Find a Local Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)

   • What they do: Provide forensic exams (even if you don’t report to police).

   • How to find one: Call RAINN or search via NSVRC.

5. National Center for Victims of Crime

   • Hotline: 1-855-4-VICTIM (1-855-484-2846)

Long-Term Support & Counseling

6. Psychology Today Therapist Directory

   • Search: Find trauma-informed therapists by zip code; filter by "Sexual Abuse" or "Trauma"

7. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

   • Helpline: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

Marginalized Communities

8. FORGE (Transgender Survivors)

9. Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence

   • Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (National Domestic Violence Hotline)

10. Black Women’s Blueprint

Online Support & Education

11. Pandora’s Project

12. Me Too Movement

Legal Rights & Reporting

13. National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)

14. Know Your IX (Campus Sexual Assault)

Self-Care & Healing

15. Gift from Within (PTSD Resources)

~ Charlie Taylor

charlie@dprepsafety.com

DPrep Safety offers private, tailored training and consultations in emergency preparedness, situational awareness, violence risk and threat assessment, violence prevention, mental illness, suicide prevention, CARE/BIT team development, case management, diversity, equity, and inclusion, site safety, behavioral threat cases, bias mitigation, and alternative resolution agreements. Contact bethany@dprep.com.