Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2023: Illuminate the Path
April is recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
During this month, the Native Alliance Against Violence works to raise awareness about sexual violence, educate the public on ways to prevent sexual violence and teach the importance of supporting those who are survivors of sexual violence. 20 years of sexual assault data has consistently shown high rates of victimization for the American Indian/Alaska Native population. This means that too many Indigenous relatives and friends have had their sense of safety and well-being shattered due to sexual violence. Until citizens become informed on the implications of sexual assault, the Indigenous population will continue to be vulnerable to predators. Awareness matters.
With this in mind, the NAAV’s theme for 2023 SAAM is “Illuminate the Path.” To engage allies in the anti-sexual violence movement, they need to understand what sexual violence is and their role in helping abolish it. In 2023, take the lead in creating a safer, healthier community by illuminating the path for change.
Facebook cover images
The button below will take you to a Google Drive folder where you can view and download the available ready-to-use Facebook Cover designs. Once downloaded, go to your Facebook profile page and click “edit cover photo”. This is where you will upload the photo design you would like to use.
Phone lockscreen designs
The button below will take you to a Google Drive folder where you can download the available ready-to-use Lockscreen Awareness images. Once downloaded, send the images to your phone through email or your preferred method. Then locate the image you want to use in your phone’s photo library where you can set it as your phone’s lock screen wallpaper.
For iPhone: tap the bottom left icon (a square with arrow on top) and choose “Use as Wallpaper” and choose between lock screen, home screen or both.
For Android: Go to your Settings app and tap on Wallpaper and choose gallery and apply the Awareness Image you would like to use.
definitions
Consent (defined by the State of Oklahoma)
o 21 O.S. § 113
§ The term "consent" means the affirmative, unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in a specific sexual activity during a sexual encounter which can be revoked at any time. Consent cannot be:
§ 1. Given by an individual who:
§ a. is asleep or is mentally or physically incapacitated either through the effect of drugs or alcohol or for any other reason, or
§ b. is under duress, threat, coercion or force; or
§ 2. Inferred under circumstances in which consent is not clear including, but not limited to:
§ a. the absence of an individual saying "no" or "stop", or
§ b. the existence of a prior or current relationship or sexual activity.
· Rape defined by the State of Oklahoma (Completed Rape)
· 21 O.S. § 1111 (OSCN 2022); Effective November 1st 2022
o Rape is an act of sexual intercourse involving vaginal or anal penetration accomplished with a male or female who is not the spouse of the perpetrator and who may be of the same or the opposite sex as the perpetrator under any of the following circumstances:
o Where the victim is under sixteen (16) years of age;
o Where the victim is incapable through mental illness or any other unsoundness of mind, whether temporary or permanent, of giving legal consent;
o Where force or violence is used or threatened, accompanied by apparent power of execution to the victim or to another person;
o Where the victim is intoxicated by a narcotic or anesthetic agent, administered by or with the privity of the accused as a means of forcing the victim to submit;
o Where the victim is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act and this fact is known to the accused;
o Where the victim submits to sexual intercourse under the belief that the person committing the act is a spouse, and this belief is induced by artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the accused or by the accused in collusion with the spouse with intent to induce that belief. In all cases of collusion between the accused and the spouse to accomplish such act, both the spouse and the accused, upon conviction, shall be deemed guilty of rape;
o Where the victim is under the legal custody or supervision of a state agency, a federal agency, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision and engages in sexual intercourse with a state, federal, county, municipal or political subdivision employee or an employee of a contractor of the state, the federal government, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision that exercises authority over the victim, or the subcontractor or employee of a subcontractor of the contractor of the state or federal government, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision that exercises authority over the victim;
o Where the victim is at least sixteen (16) years of age and is less than twenty (20) years of age and is a student, or under the legal custody or supervision of any public or private elementary or secondary school, junior high or high school, or public vocational school, and engages in sexual intercourse with a person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older and is an employee of a school system;
o Where the victim is nineteen (19) years of age or younger and is in the legal custody of a state agency, federal agency or tribal court and engages in sexual intercourse with a foster parent or foster parent applicant; or
o Where the victim is a student at a secondary school, is concurrently enrolled at an institution of higher education, and engages in acts pursuant to this subsection with a perpetrator who is an employee of the institution of higher education of which the victim is enrolled.
o "Employee of an institution of higher education", for purposes of this section, means faculty, adjunct faculty, instructors, volunteers, or an employee of a business contracting with an institution of higher education who may exercise, at any time, institutional authority over the victim. Employee of an institution of higher education shall not include an enrolled student who is not more than three (3) years of age or older than the concurrently enrolled student and who is employed or volunteering, in any capacity, for the institution of higher education.
o Rape is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a male or female who is the spouse of the perpetrator if force or violence is used or threatened, accompanied by apparent power of execution to the victim or to another person.
· Slight Penetration is Sufficient to Commit Rape
· 21 O.S. § 1113
o The essential guilt of rape or rape by instrumentation, except with the consent of a male or female over fourteen (14) years of age, consists in the outrage to the person and feelings of the victim. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime.