April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On Saturday April 3, 2010, to kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month, The Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia will hold a benefit concert with KneckDown at 7p.m. at the Rome City Auditorium. Tickets are $10 each and may be purchased by contacting the center or the day of the show at the door. All proceeds benefit The Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia. A speak out will be held on April 29, 2010 at 7:00pm at The Forum Rotary Plaza.

The FBI and the Journal of Traumatic Stress estimates that one-in-three women, one-in-four girls, one-in-six boys and one-in-eleven men in America will be victims of at least one sexual assault in their lifetime. In 2009, there were 265 crisis calls and 85 Forensic Medical Exams along with 175 victims who received crisis intervention. These statistics leave little doubt that most Americans know at least one sexual assault survivor. Yet, only about 30% of survivors report the violent crime of rape to the police.

Although sexual assault is a violent crime with personal, social, economic and public health con-sequences, 70 percent of survivors do not report the crime to police or seek support services. When survivors delay the utilization of mental health, medical and legal assistance due to fear about what other people think, they are more likely to experience severe depression, suicidal thoughts, and long-term post traumatic stress. Conversely, survivors recover a sense of well being more quickly when they feel fully supported by family, friends, and members of the community. Speaking out against sexual violence helps survivors come forward and get the help they need to heal.

No one person or organization can eliminate sexual assault on their own. To Strike Out Sexual As-sault is a decision that each individual can decide to do. Statistics suggest that we all know a survi-vor of sexual violence. If every person in Rome/Floyd County takes one action during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, survivors will feel safer coming forward, and would-be attackers will know that our community strongly opposes sexual violence in all of its forms. Please join the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia on April 3, 2010 for the benefit concert with KneckDown to “Strike out Sexual Assault.”

The entire moth of April, The Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia joins rape crisis cen-ters statewide, the Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault, and The National Sexual Violence Re-source Center in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.