Teen Survivors Week of Action: An Interactive Virtual Campaign During COVID-19

Press Release
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updated: Apr 24, 2020 12:45 EDT

NATIONWIDE,
April 24, 2020 (Newswire.com) –

Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault (US DOJ) and 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18 (CDC). While teens are the most at risk for sexual assault, Teen Survivors Week of Action (April 26-May 2) was created to help prevent these crimes with education and promote healing during the last week of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April.

Led by an advisory group of teens, two national nonprofits have joined together along with other leading organizations who work in the field. PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment works across the country to prevent sexual assault and help heal survivors has joined forces with the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA), a leading victims’ rights organization dedicated to empowering and supporting all survivors of crime. One of the teen advisory members is Abrianna Morales. After being sexually assaulted at age fifteen, Abrianna founded Sexual Assault Youth Support Network (SAYSN) and was crowned Miss New Mexico’s Outstanding Teen 2018. She is passionate about helping other teen survivors and working to prevent these crimes.

Abrianna said, “As a teen survivor, activist, and advocate, I understand what it feels like to overcome the adversity of sexual violence and the importance of educating teens about it. Making this information accessible means meeting teens where they are, which is online. This campaign—guided and supported by PAVE and NOVA, two of the leading national organizations tackling these issues—is led by teens, for teens. Teen Survivors Week of Action provides ways for students to remain socially involved while being physically distant and includes education about cyber safety, intersectional survivorship, and more!”

This week is dedicated to promoting and supporting the voices of teen advocates through engaging toolkits, live social media events and campaigns, and calls to action. This initiative also includes interactive videos and discussion points for parents to help talk to their teens about consent, healthy relationships, and online safety during quarantine. 

PAVE is a movement creating a world free from sexual violence and building communities to support survivors. PAVE empowers students, parents, and civic leaders to end sexual violence. Since 2001, PAVE has trained over 50,000 college students and 10,000 professionals including military service members and maintains over 50 chapters and affiliates across the country. For more information, please visit ShatteringTheSilence.org.

Founded in 1975, NOVA is the oldest national victim assistance organization of its type in the United States. NOVA’s mission is to champion dignity and compassion for those harmed by crime and crisis. For more information, please visit TryNOVA.org. 

To become the movement by bringing positive change to your community this Teen Survivors Week of Action, please visit: TeenSurvivors.org.

Source: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE)