Governor Proclaims Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, sexual violence is defined as any unwanted sexual contact, verbal or physical, including sexual assault, harassment, or abuse that can occur in-person, online or through technology, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center; and

Whereas, consent is a clear, affirmative, voluntary, informed, and mutual agreement to engage in sexual activity and must be freely given, can be withdrawn at any time, and cannot be obtained through force, coercion, manipulation, threats, or intimidation; and

Whereas, Sexual Assault Awareness Month calls attention to the impact of sexual violence in communities across the state and nation, raising public awareness and educating communities how to prevent it, and to support survivors; and

Whereas, sexual assault affects people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, yet it remains one of the most underreported crimes; and

Whereas, from July 2023 to June 2024, rape crisis centers funded by the North Carolina Department of Administration’s Council for Women and Youth Involvement provided remote or in-person services to 8,577 individuals, including 1,577 children under the age of 18, and responded to more than 27,000 hotline calls and online chats; and

Whereas, in 2024 then-Attorney General Josh Stein announced that North Carolina had ended its sexual assault kit backlog and tested all previously untested kits to help breathe life into cold cases, hold offenders accountable, and get justice for victims; and

Whereas, individuals from marginalized communities experience disproportionately high rates of sexual violence and often have more limited access to services that support meaningful pathways to healing and justice. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), American Indians are twice as likely to experience a rape/sexual assault compared to other races; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and rape crisis advocates across the state remain committed to ending sexual violence in our communities by continuing to commit to effective violence prevention efforts; and

Whereas, education and prevention are essential tools in reducing and ultimately eliminating sexual violence, as evidenced by research showing that increasing awareness about consent, bystander intervention, and healthy relationship skills reduce sexual violence perpetration by up to 40 percent;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim April 2025, as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this nineteenth day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.