SAAM is here!
Follow us on social media where we'll share educational and informative posts all month long - well, after that too, but this month is special!
Are you ready for Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month?! Can you believe April's already here? It seems like just yesterday we were all trying to figure out how to take our 2020 SAAM events fully virtual. Woo! Well, some things have changed since then, but some have stayed the same, such as the continued need for online engagement with communities, survivors, and other stakeholders during SAAM. To help you do that all month long, we've created this 2021 Sexual Assault Awareness Month Toolkit! This toolkit, now updated with ready-to-use graphics and captions in Spanish, is only made available to our members, as a benefit of your partnership with us.

To access: go to www.oaesv.org/Members and enter the password received by your agency's contact person. If you need help accessing the password, just email us, and we are happy to verify your membership and help you out.

The past year has been particularly difficult, and it’s more important than ever to educate our communities about sexual violence, services available for victims, and how we can work to prevent this violence. We need you to join us and Embrace Your Voice!
Renew Your Membership to
Avoid Missing Any Benefits
  • Free registration for best-practice advocate, prevention, legal, & social equity trainings
  • Access to digital and print resources via the Member Portal (Coalition Manager) on our website
  • Sexual Assault Awareness Month packet and materials sent directly to you
  • Legislative alerts and notification of special events
  • Free or reduced CEU’s at trainings, including the Annual Statewide Conference
  • Voice on public policy issues affecting Ohio
  • With your permission only, your name listed on the membership list on our website
Upcoming Trainings, Events, & Meetings
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and we have plenty going on around here!
  • First up is the First Friday legislative update, which will be posted today and available for replay.


  • Next is our webinar focused on Preparing for Advocacy Day, which will be released on Monday, April 12th. Watch for more information!


  • Join us for our April Member Webinar on April 14th.


  • The Thirsty Thursday call for SART Chairs and Co-Chairs will be on April 15th.


  • We need your help advocating for to join us for Advocacy Day on April 20th. See below for more info!


  • Registration for our Spring 40-Hour Advocate Training is now open!


  • The Ohio Co-Conspirators in Ending Oppression is hosting their monthly Putting Conversations Into Practice session on Wednesday, April 21st. Registration for this will be open soon.


  • We will continue to hold a space the 3rd Wednesday of each month for prevention staff to discuss their work. If you are working in prevention, consider joining us for our Critical Conversations online meetings. You can register on oaesv.org/Events. The next meeting is 4/21 from 2-3pm
Advocacy Day &
the Rape Crisis Programs Budget Line Item
We are working with lawmakers to advocate for an increase to the Ohio Attorney General Office Rape Crisis Programs Line Item in the state budget.

In the 133rd General Assembly, lawmakers allocated $4.8 million per fiscal year for Ohio’s Rape Crisis Center Fund. This allotment was calculated expand services to cover all 88 counties. Instead, it served to stabilize existing programs and services following VOCA cuts. In FY'20, VOCA recipient rape crisis programs experienced an estimated 22%-48% reduction in funding.

Although funding has decreased for Ohio's rape crisis programs, the demand for these services has increased during the pandemic - including child sexual abuse. Programs have had to shift service delivery models and purchase equipment for remote advocacy, emergency survivor needs, and program materials for survivors who lack access to technology.

It is crucial for lawmakers to make increased investments in the Rape Crisis Center Fund. Bolstering the RCF will rape crisis centers provide essential programs and services to meet the evolving needs of all Ohio sexual violence survivors.

An increase of $10 million per fiscal year will allow programs to proceed with level services and avoid cuts to pre-2015 levels.

Join us at our 7th Annual Advocacy Day as we advocate for this critical funding!
Learn more about VAWA's history and action steps to support passage through the Senate on OAESV's VAWA Reauthorization 2021 info page!
OAESV in the News
She left the corporate world to make a difference in the ...

CLEVELAND - Rosa Beltre is the executive director of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence. It's a federal coalition that advocates for survivors of sexual assault. Beltre left corporate America years ago as a banker to join the nonprofit...

Read more
www.news5cleveland.com
Joyce joins colleagues in calling for new sexual...

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) helped lead a bipartisan group of 32 congressional members in urging President Joe Biden to create a position of Special Advisor on Sexual Violence within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Read more
riponadvance.com
Employment Opportunities | Ohio Alliance to End Sexual...

Did you know that we post employment opportunities on our website? These include our own openings when we have them, as well as openings at rape crisis centers and allied organizations in Ohio. We sometimes post opportunities in other states as...

Read more
www.oaesv.org
Thanks for reading! Feel free to forward to a friend.
This project was supported by Grant No. OAESV 2019-SW-AX-0020 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice , to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.