Governor Stein Proclaims Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month

Sexual Assault Prevention And Awareness Month

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, sexual violence is any unwanted sexual contact, including sexual assault, harassment, or abuse, which can occur in person, online, or through emerging technologies, such as non-consensual sharing of sexual images, 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affirmative, voluntary, informed, and mutual agreement to engage in sexual activity, must be freely given, can be withdrawn at any time, and cannot be obtained through force, coercion, manipulation, threats, or intimidation; and 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 Prevention and Awareness Month calls attention to the prevalence and impact of sexual violence in communities across North Carolina and around the nation, educating the public on prevention, promoting survivor support, and encouraging community action; 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 2024 to June 2025, rape crisis centers funded by the North Carolina Department of Administration’s Division for Women & Youth provided remote or in-person services to 10,400 individuals, including 2,823 children under the age of 18, and responded to more than 48,000 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, helping breathe life into cold cases, hold offenders accountable, and achieve justice for victims; and 

Whereas, the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and rape crisis advocates across the state work to raise awareness of sexual violence and support efforts that promote responsive interventions, healing, prevention, and education; and 

Whereas, all North Carolinians share a responsibility to promote safe, respectful environments and to support individuals affected by sexual violence;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as “Sexual Assault Prevention And Awareness Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance to all residents.

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 seventeenth day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.