Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign Underway in Southwest Riverside County

The following is a news release submitted by Brian Connors, director of marketing for Southwest Healthcare System:

Murrieta, CA – Southwest Riverside County’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) is governed by the non-profit Circle of Safe-T and was formed originally in 2002. It is a coalition of community leaders including professionals in the fields of law enforcement, healthcare and family services and partners with Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta. Nationally, nearly 1 in 5 women (or 22 million) have been raped at some point in their lives in the United States and nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced sexual violence other than rape at some point in their lives.

The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the Circle of Safe-T is asking our communities to “Stand up to sexual violence!” Now through July 31, the “Denim Days” sexual violence prevention and education campaign is your opportunity to benefit the efforts of the Circle of Safe-T SART program and increase awareness by letting our communities know that anyone can be a victim of sexual assault. They will be selling “Denim Days” stickers for $2 each. (For the story on Denim Days: http://denimdayusa.org/about/history/ )  You can get more information by logging on to www.denimdayusa.org or www.circleofsafe-t.com. To order stickers, please call Nicole Yadon (SART Coordinator) at 951-600-4334 or Ginny Ince (Director of Volunteer Services) at 951-696-6104.

No one has the right to violate your body. The Circle of Safe-T Sexual Assault Response Team offers 24-7 forensic care for sexual assault survivors in Southwest Riverside County. This is a confidential, safe place you can call or go where you will be treated with dignity and support by medical professionals, including a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE), and physicians.  You’ll get the protection of law enforcement and the district attorney’s office, and you can receive rape crisis counseling and on-going support. The 24-hour Rape Crisis Hotline is 951-686-7273 or 1-866-686-7273 or 911. For additional information, please log on to www.circleofsafe-t.com.