Awareness in April | Sexual Assault & COVID-19
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. For the last two years, The Village has participated by hosting a one-day seminar at The 210 involving many of our members and others in the community. The aim of those seminars has been to not merely let the church speak into sexual assault with a distinctly gospel-centered worldview, but to speak into the church itself about the signs, prevalence, and impact of sexual assault. We want to mature as a safe, responsive, and proactive people, for the sake of our brothers and sisters already within The Village and for the sake of our neighbors who aren’t.
Even apart from the stay-at-home restrictions here in Ohio, the number of new and varied weights brought about by the current pandemic has led us to forego any form of this month’s regularly-scheduled seminar, in-person or otherwise. We know a number of us are bearing extra burdens right now, and the number and severity of those hardships within The Village and throughout our community will likely only increase over the coming weeks. As a church, we get to put our time and attention towards the immediate and inevitable needs facing one another and our close neighbors. And as a friend and pastor of several survivors - and as a survivor myself - we would likely be doing a disservice to those directly affected by sexual assault if our treatment of the topic felt more like a token activity rather than a wise and timely way to love, shepherd, and grow our community in Christ.
This isn’t to say that sexual assault and other forms of abuse are any less prevalent, immediate, or important now in the midst of the coronavirus. On the contrary, school closures, job loss, shelter-in-place orders, and other policies and practices that aim to separate people for their own safety can actually isolate those in an unsafe home environment from the people and places that are safest for them. Reports of abuse of all kinds are reportedly on the rise worldwide, an unintended effect of strategies meant to protect lives. If anything, our awareness of sexual assault is all the more necessary in these times.
So more than not making sexual assault the emphasis of this month, we want to make sure that sexual assault is one of the things on your radar as you check on friends, family, and neighbors. If you want to take a next step towards learning more or pursuing your own healing, here are just a few resources for you:
Information: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) COVID-19 Support | In this relatively short post, RAINN offers a number of ways they’re still supporting victims and supporters of sexual assault via their national hotline, online chat, safety planning strategies for those at home, and more.
Videos: Valued Conference | Jacob and Rachael Denhollander, Boz Tchividjian, Dr. Michael Horton, and more speak to various aspects of sexual assault, especially in and as the church. There are currently five sessions online to watch from last year’s Valued Conference.
Local Support: Women Helping Women (WHW) | Despite the name, Women Helping Women offers support to both men and women. This link is for the Facebook Page of the local office that serves Butler County. They’re continuing to offer support groups digitally through Zoom. Details are on their page.
Book: Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault | This book by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb offers a wonderfully gospel-saturated treatment of sexual assault. Here’s the blurb:
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The statistics are jarring. One in four women and one in six men are or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. But as sobering as the statistics are, they don’t begin to speak to the darkness and grief experienced by these victims. Because sexual assault causes physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual pain, victims need clear help, hope, and healing. In Rid of My Disgrace, a couple experienced in counseling victims of sexual assault explains how the grace of God can heal the broken and restore the disgraced.
Of course, The Village is always here to offer our support as a gospel-formed community. If you’d like to talk with someone (male or female), you can securely reach out to us via info@myvillagechurch.com and we’d be happy to get in touch with you.
Much love to you all. Grace & Peace.
-Scott