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By on April 6, 2026

25 Years Stronger: What Sexual Assault Awareness Month Means for Prevention Today

For 25 years, Respect Together’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) has brought communities together around a shared commitment: ending sexual violence.

This year’s theme, “25 Years Stronger: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” invites reflection and asks how we carry that history into the work happening right now.

Over the past 25 years, SAAM has helped shift how we understand sexual violence.

There has been growing recognition that:

  • Violence is not inevitable
  • Prevention is possible
  • Communities play a central role in creating safety

These are not small shifts. They represent a movement toward seeing prevention as something we build together through relationships, environments, and shared responsibility.

This year’s SAAM campaign offers many ways to engage, including weekly themes, social media materials, and event planning tools that can help communities start conversations and build momentum. Prevention is a critical part of this. 

In fact, the theme for Week 3 is From Awareness to Action: Prevention is a Shared Responsibility. This highlights that prevention is not limited to programs, campaigns, or a single profession. It is visible in how communities create belonging and connection, how organizations respond to harm and build trust, and how society prioritizes safety and wellbeing. When prevention is understood in this way it becomes something people can see themselves in. The weekly themes can be used to guide co

nversations, share ideas, and help people connect prevention to their everyday roles. Whether it’s through a staff discussion, a community event, or a simple conversation, these moments can help move prevention from an abstract concept to something tangible and shared.

At the same time, the impact of SAAM depends on what happens after April. If awareness is not connected to ongoing action, it can be difficult to sustain momentum. When SAAM is used as a starting point, it can support longer-term efforts to strengthen prevention in meaningful ways.

The 25th anniversary of SAAM is both a reflection of how far prevention has come and a reminder that the work must continue. Find all of the SAAM 2026 resources here.