authored by Tasia Muse, Fahrenheit Creative Group  Though April was designated and observed by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center as Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) for the first time in 2001, the call for recognizing and preventing violence against women began decades earlier. In the United States, protests for action started in the 40s and 50s, gaining momentum alongside the Civil Rights Movement. In 1975, a group of women organized the inaugural “Take Back the Night” march in London, England, to bring awareness to the occurrence of sexual violence that often took place during the evenings and nighttime. Seven years later, the first Take Back the Night event was held in the United States, which was part of a sustained effort to ensure women’s rights and safety were prioritized at every level. One of the first significant breakthroughs at the national level was the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) signed into law by President Bill Clinton. VAWA was a major milestone for the movement because it provided resources for the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against women, effectively criminalizing gender violence for the first time in U.S. history. Since it … Continue reading Reflecting on 20 years of SAAM