Serving Barnwell County and its neighbors since 1852
Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) is an annual campaign observed in April to raise awareness about sexual violence, educate communities on prevention, and support survivors.
This month-long initiative brings together advocates, organizations, and individuals to foster dialogue and action to inspire more people to participate in meaningful ways in the fight against sexual violence.
The movement against sexual violence has been ongoing for decades, with roots tracing back to the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
During this period, grassroots activists established crisis centers and hotlines to support survivors. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, advocates began organizing events such as marches, rallies, and Take Back the Night demonstrations to protest sexual violence and demand systemic change.
In the 1990s, efforts to raise awareness coalesced into Sexual Assault Awareness Week, recognized by various organizations
across the United States.
This initiative grew into a month-long observance, and in 2001, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) officially declared April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
SAAM serves multiple critical purposes, including:
1. Raising Awareness – Many people are unaware of the prevalence and impact of sexual violence. SAAM campaigns provide education on consent, healthy relationships, and the effects of trauma on survivors.
2. Encouraging Prevention – Promoting bystander intervention, consent culture, and institutional policies that prevent sexual violence helps create safer communities.
3. Supporting Survivors – SAAM amplifies the voices of survivors and provides resources for healing, including counseling, legal advocacy, and crisis support services.
4. Challenging Stigma and Myths – Misinformation about sexual violence can lead to victim-blaming and silencing survivors. SAAM helps dismantle these harmful narratives and replaces them with survivor-centered perspectives.
5. Advocating for Policy Change – Many SAAM efforts push for stronger laws and institutional policies to protect survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month is more than just a campaign—it’s a call to action. Every effort, from sharing information to advocating for change, contributes to a culture where survivors are supported, and sexual violence is prevented.
This April, we ask that you join in our efforts to break the silence and bring AWARENESS to the critical public health issue of sexual violence.
There are numerous ways you can participate in SAAM and contribute to the movement against sexual violence:
Educate Yourself and Others – Register to attend the FREE training on safeguarding trust in faith-based communities regarding sexual abuse.
Learn from experts in the field on the importance of coming alongside our faith-based organizations and leaders to encourage collaboration and cooperation in an effort to promote prevention and safe environments, provide awareness and education, and serve survivors through best practices.
This event is Thurs-day, April 17th 9:00am-3:30pm at the North Augusta Community Center located at 495 Brookside Ave, North Augusta, SC.
Registration is required for this FREE EVENT at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/protecting-our-trust-tickets- 1283895719659?aff=odd tdtcreator
This opportunity will be accredited for CEU, CLEE and VSP hours.
• Wear Teal – Teal is the official color of SAAM, symbolizing support for survivors. Wearing teal and using the hashtag #SAAM on social media raises visibility. Awareness ribbons are frequently used to show support or raise consciousness for a cause. This month, Cumbee Center has adorned Laurens Street in Aiken, Georgia Avenue in North Augusta, Main Street in Barnwell and Courthouse Square in Edgefield with teal awareness ribbons to represent the need for social change, a culture that reduces the tolerance of abuse and the support we offer survivors.
• Engage in Conversa- tions – Speak openly about consent, boundaries, and survivor support with friends, family, and col- leagues.
Ask Cumbee Center about speaking to your small or large group.
• Support Survivor- Centered Organizations – Donate to or volunteer with the Cumbee Center.
• Advocate for Policy Change – Push for laws that improve survivor protections, workplace policies against harassment, and comprehensive sex education.
Cumbee Center is a trauma-informed, survivor-centered organization whose mission is to support and empower domestic violence and sexual violence victims and their families by providing services, reducing the tolerance of abuse, and advocating for social change.
The Cumbee Center serves multiple critical purposes in six counties: Aiken, Allendale Barnwell, Edgefield, McCormick and Saluda. Cumbee Center exists to believe, empower and educate. In doing so, we listen, validate reactions, and promote healing.
Largely, Cumbee Center provides services to survivors and their families well after an experience of sexual trauma. In addition to hospital advocacy, Cumbee Center offers court and legal advocacy, case management, counseling, emergency shelter, community out- reach, prevention education and a 24-hour hotline. Sexual violence remains a critical public health issue and is often referred to as murder of the soul. It is one of the most catastrophic crimes in our society today.
Aside from the physical injuries, survivors of sexual violence endure lifelong pain from emotional and psychological trauma.
The staff and volunteers of the Cumbee Center provide compassionate, confidential and trauma informed services to survivors like these each day and can give testimony to the emotional and psychological scars that last well beyond the physical agony.
Please visit us at www.cumbeecenter.org or follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more information on upcoming events.
If you or someone you know are in need of our services, an advocate is available to assist you twenty-four hours daily. The hotline number is 803-649-0480.
