KASAP’s member programs coordinated statewide outreach, education, and engagement efforts during Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
Across Kentucky, KASAP’s member programs engaged communities throughout Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month with a wide range of awareness, prevention, and fundraising activities designed to support survivors and strengthen community response to sexual violence.
Led by the state’s network of 13 sexual violence resource centers, April’s programming included events across urban and rural communities focused on education, engagement, and survivor support.
Statewide Community Engagement
Activities throughout the month included 5K races, motorcycle rides, awareness walks, coffee shop and community takeovers, art-based projects, survivor storytelling initiatives, and public education events. Many centers also hosted fundraising efforts such as benefit nights, auctions, and community campaigns to sustain direct services for survivors.
Several centers incorporated creative and participatory initiatives, including survivor-centered art projects and youth engagement efforts such as photovoice programming, which uses photography and storytelling to center lived experience and community perspective.
Awareness and Prevention Efforts
Prevention education and public awareness were key components of the month’s activities. Centers facilitated trainings, community presentations, and panel discussions focused on sexual violence prevention strategies, healthy relationships, and coordinated community response.
A number of centers shared the Green Dot with their local schools and communities. Green Dot a nationally recognized violence prevention model that focuses on reducing power-based personal violence through individual, bystander, and community-level action. Green Dot training emphasizes practical intervention skills and culture change to increase safety and accountability within communities.
Public Awareness Campaigns
Several statewide events also focused on visibility and solidarity with survivors, including Denim Day. Denim Day is an international campaign held in April that began in response to a legal case in Italy and has since become a symbol of opposition to victim-blaming. Participants wear denim to demonstrate support for survivors and raise awareness about sexual violence and misconceptions surrounding it.
Additional visibility efforts included community awareness walks, “Light the Night” and “Take Back The Night” events, and public installations designed to foster dialogue and reduce stigma.
Collective Impact
While programming varied by region and center, the collective effort reflected a coordinated statewide commitment to survivor support and violence prevention. Centers emphasized both direct service provision and broader community engagement as essential components of the response to sexual violence.
Fundraising activities held throughout the month also contributed to sustaining crisis intervention, advocacy, prevention education, and ongoing support services across Kentucky.
Continuing the Work
Although Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month has concluded, KASAP and our member programs continue our work year-round to support survivors and engage communities in prevention efforts.
The statewide effort reflects an ongoing commitment to building safer communities through coordinated advocacy, education, and survivor-centered services.
