Sexual Assault Awareness Month (#SAAM) Oak Hill’s Center for Relationship and Sexuality Education (CRSE) & Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence
Guests: Brenna Doyle, Coordinator for CRSE, Oak Hill & Beth Hamilton, Executive Director, Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence
April is national Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and at Oak Hill, we are working to raise awareness about this issue and how it impacts individuals with disabilities and to help support survivors.
Discussions about sexual assault and its impacts are becoming more common. What is often left out of this conversation is the fact that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities face a rate of sexual assault that is at least seven times higher than those without those disabilities.
We all have a role to play in ending this epidemic. It is vital that we understand how some of the very systems and strategies we have created to support individuals with I/DD can contribute to a culture that allows this type of abuse to be so prevalent.
One of the strongest tools we have for preventing sexual abuse and assault is making sure everyone has access to comprehensive, accessible information about their bodies, health, and relationships. We believe that everyone has the right to this critical information. That’s why Oak Hill’s Center for Relationship and Sexuality Education (CRSE) provides education materials for teens and adults with disabilities. Learn more HERE
Overview of Center for Relationship and Sexuality Education (CRSE):
The Center for Relationship & Sexuality Education (CRSE) broadens access to important sexual health information and addresses the overwhelming vulnerability to sexual abuse experienced by the intellectual and developmental disability community. We do this by providing learning materials and professional development to members of the disability community, their families/guardians, medical professionals and the educators who support them.
Our goal is to support sexual health and safety for adolescents and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
To learn more visit: OakHillCT.org or EndSexualViolenceCT.org
