“Building Connected Communities.”

For 2024, the national SAAM theme from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center is “Building Connected Communities.” This theme invites us to consider how we can create safe, equitable, and inclusive communities in order to prevent relationship and sexual violence. Communities may take many different forms, whether in person or online, and shape all of our experiences. According to the NSVRC, focusing on building connected communities is incredibly powerful because “community creates a sense of belonging and reminds us of how our beliefs, choices, and actions impact one another.”

This SAAM, SHARE invites you to reflect on the many communities that you may be a part of and how you can shape these communities to promote sexual citizenship. To do this, throughout April:

• We commit to centering specific communities that have worked to end sexual violence and support survivors, which is an annual part of SAAM. In previous years, we centered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-spirit folks, Asian American activists in the disability community, and Black women founders of the anti-sexual violence movement.

• This year, we are centering international students and their experiences, recognizing the ways in which international students may be underserved or unrecognized in campus resources and sexual violence discourses. We invite you to reflect on the ways in which we can include international student voices in campus sexual violence prevention discourse, and how we can ensure that our campus communities and resources are accessible to all. 

We encourage you to explore our website, Facebook, and Instagram to get involved and join us beyond SAAM.