25 Years Strong: Looking Back, Moving Forward

For 25 years, Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) has united survivors, advocates, and communities in the shared commitment to end sexual assault, abuse, and harassment. This milestone is both a celebration of progress and a call to keep moving forward.

The theme “25 Years Strong: Looking Back, Moving Forward” honors the history and growth of the movement while reaffirming our commitment to a safer future for all. Looking back, we remember the survivors and advocates who laid the foundation for change. Moving forward, we renew our focus on prevention, healing, and action.

As we celebrate 25 years of SAAM, we recognize how far we’ve come and the work still ahead. Together, we can continue to shift culture, strengthen prevention, and create a world free from sexual violence.

By standing in solidarity, we can build a future free from sexual violence and create a world where everyone is safe, valued, and respected.

25 years strong. Every voice matters. Every action counts. 

Sexual violence is an umbrella term that includes any type of unwanted sexual contact — including sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. 

Forms of sexual violence include:

• Rape or sexual assault
• Sexual harassment
• Sexual abuse
• Unwanted sexual contact/touching
• Sexual exploitation and trafficking,
• Exposing one’s genitals or naked body to others without consent,
• Nonconsensual image sharing
• Words and actions of a sexual nature against a person’s will and without their consent
• Sexual violence represents a range of behaviors 

Statistics show:

• Most women and men across all sexual identities who experienced contact sexual violence reported that the person who harmed them was someone they knew (Chen, et al., 2023).
• Over 53% of women and over 29% of men reported experiencing contact sexual violence  (Chen, et al., 2023).
• 1 in 5 male victims reported only male perpetrators, 1 in 2 had only female perpetrators, and about 1 in 6 had both male and female perpetrators  (Chen, et al., 2023).
• More than 1 and 4 non-Hispanic Black women (29%) in the United States were raped in their lifetime (Basile et al., 2022).
• 1 in 3 Hispanic women (34.8%) reported unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime (Basile et al., 2022).
• More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3%) have experienced violence in their lifetime (Rosay, 2016).
• 32.9% of adults with intellectual disabilities have experienced sexual violence (Tomsa et al., 2021).
• 47% of all transgender people have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives (James et al., 2016).

Awareness and Action during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

This April, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we reflect on 25 years of action and progress toward ending sexual assault, abuse, and harassment. The 2026 theme, “25 Years Strong: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” celebrates the resilience of survivors and the communities that have worked for change. We invite you to learn how to take meaningful steps toward prevention, support those around you, and create spaces where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected. Together, we can carry this movement forward for the next 25 years and beyond.

References 

Basile, K. C., Smith, S. G., Kresnow, M., Khatiwada S., & Leemis, R. W. (2022). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 report on sexual violence. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs/nisvsReportonSexualViolence.pdf

Chen, J., Khatiwada, S., Chen, M. S., Smith, S. G., Leemis, R. W., Friar, N., Basile, K. C., and Kresnow, M. (2023). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2016/2017: Report on Victimization by Sexual Identity. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. National Center for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf 

Rosay, A. B. (2016, September). Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and men,. NIJ Journal, 277. National Institute of Justice. http://nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence-againstamerican-indians-alaska-natives.aspx 

Prevention Institute & National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2021). A Health Equity Approach to Preventing Sexual Violence. https://www.nsvrc.org/resource/2500/health-equity-approach-preventing-sexual-violence  Tomsa, R., Gutu, S., Cojocaru, D., Gutiérrez-Bermejo, B., Flores, N., & Jenaro, C. (2021). Prevalence of sexual abuse in adults with intellectual disability: Systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1980. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041980