Christopher Davis, Contributor

On March 28, 2023, Hulu released a documentary titled “The Untold Stories of Freaknik.” Eager fans could not wait to see the hidden footage on one of the greatest spring break parties that the city of Atlanta has ever seen. Viewers walked in expecting a positive film about the ultimate party scene, but they left utterly surprised and disgusted by the horror stories revealed in the documentary. This began to spark outrage across all media platforms.

Releasing this film at the end of March proved perfect timing. The beginning of April 2023 marked the 22nd anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Now, take a second a think to yourself: Did you know this piece of information before you read the earlier sentence? If not, then ask yourself why. It could be the fact that it never crossed your mind, or maybe you didn’t even know there was a month dedicated to the cause. Sexual assault has grown to become an increasingly prevalent issue over the last few decades. There are thousands of cases each year stemming from school campuses, work environments, and even your very own neighborhoods.

According to National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women in the United States experienced completed or attempted rape during their lifetime. When it comes to men, nearly a quarter (24.8%) of men in the U.S. experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime. To some of you, these statistics may come as a surprise. To others, this is an unfortunate truth that society has some how allowed to become a regularity. College campuses have become riddled with rape accusations and indictments, and it has started to leave students in fear as they move about their respective universities.

In an interview with Savanna Davis, who is currently a sophomore at Louisiana State University, she opened up about her personal experience of dealing with an on-campus stalker who did not even attend the university. “They never tell you about the locals when you first get to a college campus,” she said. “Some of them almost feen for young freshman and sophomore girls when they first arrive on campus. My stalker was simply a young man who was quite upset that I was not interested him, and he just could not seem to take no for an answer.” Weeks after Savanna initially turned him down, the young man broke into Savanna’s apartment, trashed her belongings, and even stole bras and panties from her dresser. The young girl was distraught when she first arrived at her apartment; but nonetheless, she was not surprised the least bit.

Now even though college campuses and universities have become a hot bed for sexual assault, work environments are not too far from being considered just as dangerous. On top of that, some of these same sexual predators can be your fellow co-worker or even friend. Over the past several years, so many assaults and rapes have been reported where the victim was assaulted by someone who they thought they knew well or could trust. According to the NSVRC, about half (51.1%) of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance. This can cause men and women to ultimately have a guard up as they go throughout their everyday lives. There is nothing wrong with being self aware, but no person should have to live a life where he or she is constantly looking behind to see if trouble is looming.

Alexis Kirk, a practicing RN, said, “The hardest part of getting over that terrible experience is the constant questions you ask yourself. Why me? What did I do to provoke that to happen? Or the worst, how will I be able to move on from this? Once you realize you have to forgive and let things go, the whole process becomes a little easier.”

In conclusion, go back and look at the very first question asked in this article: Did you know about Sexual Assault Awareness Month earlier? If your answer was no … it is never too late to take charge and be an advocate of sexual assault awareness rather than be a silent enabler.

Sometimes it can be hard to want to make a change involving an issue that you may know nothing about, right? Imagine this: What if it was someone that you loved and cared about dearly turned out to be a victim of sexual assault? How would you feel now? Would you feel enraged to inspire change then?

Who knows, maybe your acknowledgment of the problem can help open the eyes of others to that exact same issue. Displays, including garments like those described by victims of assault, have presented a powerful message around the question sometimes asked: “What were you wearing?”

While being interviewed, Cooper Morgan, a sophomore at NorthWest Arkansas Community College, had this to say about the impact that SAAM has had on him as of late, “These past couple of weeks have been filled with a lot of emotions because I did not know that some of my friends were actually victims of sexual assault and other sex crimes,” Morgan said. “I legit feel almost a certain guilt for not being there, but doing something now, and not just during Sexual Assault Awareness Month is how I can personally get rid of that guilt. After hearing so many speeches and stories of what people have been through, you almost have to not be human to not be able to feel any type of compassion and sympathy for these victims.”

Problems do not solve themselves. It takes brave people to first acknowledge that there is a problem in the first place, and it takes even stronger people to actually go out and do something about it. A wise man once said, “Before we can change the world, we must first change ourselves.”

Christopher Davis is a student in the spring 2023 Fundamentals of Journalism class at NWACC.