by Lucy Graves
Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) is this month with on-campus events such as the clothesline project as well as virtual events to raise awareness and bring this issue to light not only this month, but every day.
“Survivors so often feel so shamed by the issue, so often feel like it’s their fault. They blame themselves. Other people blame them mistakenly, and so to feel truly supported and know that there’s this community who believes them and does not blame them for what happened to them is powerful,” said Mica Hughes-Harrell, director of Wellness Promotion.
SAAM is a national event, not just at UAB. Wellness Promotion and the UAB community show support to survivors of sexual violence and aim to educate students and others on this ongoing national issue.
Typically, there is a month-long string of events. Due to COVID-19, Wellness Promotion held a week-long series in their “Take Back the Net” event.
One of the events was a live yoga class held on the green with trauma informed meditation and mantras to support survivors and help them cope. It was also available on Zoom, and anyone can watch the recorded video at @wellnessuab on Instagram.
“Yoga truly is a type of therapy. People who have gone through different forms of sexual trauma need safe ways to release tension and find peace. The event by UAB was a very good way to keep the conversation going not only about preventing sexual assault, but also supporting our survivors,” said Jane Nail, a senior majoring in economics that attended the session.
As a part of “Take Back the Net,” UAB Student Counseling Services held a virtual conversation on allyship which was hosted by Veronica Mixon on their Instagram Live. Allyship is all about how to support survivors, what language to use and how to be an ally to people in need. Find the recorded conversation at @uabscs on Instagram.
The Clothesline Project is another part of SAAM put on by Wellness Promotion every year at UAB as well as around the world during April. It highlights issues such as interpersonal violence, sexual violence, dating violence and domestic violence.
People from various organizations — including the YWCA, One Place Birmingham and the Sigma Rho sorority — contributed T-shirts with artistic expressions regarding those forms of violence, supporting messages to survivors and ways to express the voices of people who sometimes remain unheard.
Wellness Promotion hung these shirts on clotheslines in residence halls and the Student Hill Center. The display spreads a message of support and prevention for anyone who sees it. Find the virtual tour of the shirts here.
Circumstances due to COVID-19 have changed the way Wellness Promotion puts on Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but with “Take Back the Net” they figured out a way to support survivors and prevent further violence virtually.
“We should always be talking about issues of sexual violence and relationship violence because they effect all of us and all of us have a role to play in prevention,” said Hughes-Harrell.
For people struggling to speak up or speak out, these resources be able to help.
UAB Student Counseling Services
https://www.uab.edu/students/counseling/
UAB Student Health Services
https://www.uab.edu/students/health/
The Crisis Center (Birmingham)
One Place Metro Alabama Family Justice Center (Birmingham)
https://oneplacebirmingham.com/
UAB Title IX
