PURPOSE AND HISTORY
Sexual Assault Awareness Month runs for the month of April. It is a time for raising awareness of sexual violence and the harm it causes, of the support available to victim survivors and their loved ones and of the change that is urgently needed to build a world free from sexual violence.
The first Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) took place in 2001 in the US but it was born out of a long history of activism. It is now recognised globally, denoted by a teal ribbon.
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?
Submit your ideas for addressing sexual violence in Victoria to YourSay.
SASVic will campaign on an idea directly from the community in the lead up to the Victorian state election in November. The idea we campaign on will be chosen by a panel of victim survivors.
Action on sexual violence should be informed by victim survivors and the community. Help us get the word out and submit your idea this Sexual Assault Awareness Month!
AWARENESS
SASVic is the peak body for Victoria’s 19 specialist sexual assault services, sometimes known as Centres Against Sexual Assault (CASAs).
Do you know where your local specialist sexual assault service is?
- Interactive map of specialist sexual assault services across Victoria >
- List of Victorian specialist sexual assault services >
Specialist sexual assault services are for everyone. There are also services that support specific communities, including the Aboriginal Community Controlled Sexual Violence Pilots and LGBTIQA+ health services.
Outside Victoria? Visit the Australian Sexual Violence Support Directory.
Sexual violence information
EVENTS
Left Write Hook community screenings
Left Write Hook is a peer-led program that combines creative writing and non-contact boxing to support survivors of childhood sexual abuse and gendered violence to reclaim their stories and sense of power.
This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a number of regional specialist sexual assault services will be hosting community screenings of Left Write Hook’s documentary, followed by a live Q&A.
Bendigo screening hosted by Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria (CASA CV)
11 April | La Trobe Art Institute, Bendigo
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with local leaders, filmmakers and program participants.
Shepparton screening hosted by Goulburn Valley Centre Against Sexual Assault (GV CASA)
15 April | University of Melbourne, Shepparton Campus
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Founder of Left Write Hook Associate Professor Donna Lyon, a program participant and Senior Counsellor Advocates.
Benalla screening hosted by Centre Against Violence (CAV)
20 April | Benalla Cinema Centre
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Founder of Left Write Hook Associate Professor Donna Lyon, Director and Producer Dr Shannon Owen, Family Violence & Accommodation Services Manager at CAV, Lucy Lee and a program participant.
Beechworth screening with Centre Against Violence (CAV)
21 April | Beechworth Secondary College
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Founder of Left Write Hook Associate Professor Donna Lyon, Director and Producer Dr Shannon Owen, Family Violence & Accommodation Services Manager at CAV, Lucy Lee and a program participant.
Denim Day
29 April
Denim Day is recognised on the last Wednesday of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court to overturn a rape conviction because the victim survivors was wearing tight jeans, therefore she must have helped to remove them. Following the reversal, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the survivor.
SASVic advocates for change on behalf of our members and the 20,000 people that they support each year.
Learn about some of our campaigns:
Pre-recorded evidence
Many survivors are forced to wait more than a year to give testimony at trial, causing anticipatory anxiety and stress. On top of this, they are expected to recount some of the most traumatic moments of their lives and answer distressing and often humiliating questions about their bodies and assault, with a jury and the person who harmed them watching on. We can support survivors’ safety and wellbeing by allow survivors to pre-record their evidence. In 2024, SASVic and Fair Agenda published a report providing a model for pre-recording evidence.
Call on governments to adopt this model >
Protect confidential sexual assault counselling notes
In criminal cases in Victoria, people accused of sexual assault can seek sexual assault counselling notes as part of the legal process. These personal, confidential notes are used to undermine survivors. This causes real harm and can stop people from reporting or even seeking counselling. Specialist sexual assault services divert valuable resources away from frontline service delivery to fight subpoenas (orders from the Court) for confidential counselling files. Our member services will never stop fighting these orders, but it shouldn’t be necessary.
Learn more and call on the Victorian Government to protect survivors’ counselling notes >