April: Violence Against Women and Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Allison Chen

Walking home from a friend’s house at 9pm on Wednesday, March 3rd, Sarah Everard goes missing soon after. Three days later, the Metropolitan Police became aware of this, released a CCTV image of Sarah, and began investigating. After another three days of investigation, the Met arrested 48-year-old Wayne Couzens, who is a police officer serving in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command of the Met.

This event sparked a movement against violence targeted specifically towards women in Britain and further highlighted the gravity of this fear faced by women daily. Looking at the statistics of Aylesbury Vale, 95.1% of rape reported had a female victim—1,462 of the 1,538 recorded cases, to be exact. As for sexual assault in general, women make up 82.7% of the victims of reported cases in Thames Valley. In this specific region, it is found that around 4 cases of sexual assault is reported per day. The fact that the arrested murderer of Sarah Everard is a police officer demonstrates that those who are supposed to protect citizens cannot be trusted. Not only are these statistics true in Britain, but they are maintained throughout many countries. It should be emphasized that though statistics show that males experience sexual violence at a lower rate when compared to women, sexual abuse with male victims should not be disregarded.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month started in the beginning of the 1970s. Sexual assault survivors began to share their stories in order to educate and raise awareness on this issue. Perhaps the largest movement against sexual violence is the #MeToo movement, founded by activist Tarana Burke in 2006, but the movement gained popularity specifically in 2017 as countless female celebrities exposed Harvey Weinstein’s acts of sexual abuse. The #MeToo movement helped build a community of survivors and destroy the social stigma that perpetuates the continuation of sexual violence. By encouraging survivors to share their stories, it holds the perpetrators accountable for their actions.

A big part of the attempt to lower the number of victims is education. Education should be discuss topics such as, but not limited to what sexual violence is, the statistics, healthy relationships, and toxic masculinity. Throughout March after what occurred to Sarah Everard, many have turned to social media to raise awareness especially during the pandemic. Posts that discuss the actual/similar events, shocking statistics, and personal stories are some commonly re-posted on personal stories. However, there is an increase in posts that talks directly about actions that can be taken by males to help create a safer environment for women, showing also an increase in efforts by both sides of this issue to improve the current situation. When opened up to about an incident of sexual violence, it is important that one makes them feel safe and validated, and resources should be directed to them.

Resources in Taiwan

Call 113 Hotline
Sexual Assault Prevention Centers
Sexual Assault Response Stations at Hospitals

“We want to turn victims into survivors – and survivors into thrivers.” —Tarana Burke

Citations

KASPER

The Official KAS Student-Run Newspaper

April: Violence Against Women and Sexual Assault Awareness Month