It's Time to Get Involved

Students of Washington, DC’s Benjamin Banneker High School got a visit from the Departments of Justice and Education last month to commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The afternoon was filled with an interactive discussion focused on healthy relationships, sexual assault prevention, early intervention and resources available to assault victims. Principal Anita M. Berger joined Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli; Susan B. Carbon, Director for the Office on Violence Against Women; Vincent Cohen Jr., Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney; Sunil H. Mansukhani, Deputy Secretary for Policy at the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights; local resource providers and community leaders for this important discussion. Associate Attorney General Perrelli reminded the students that it’s never too early to begin a dialogue about these issues and work to find solutions. “We at the Justice Department share a vision of a world where women, men, girls, boys and communities live without fear of sexual violence,” said Perrelli.  OVW Director Carbon discussed the ways that ways that the Department has been able to equip communities with resources to save lives and protect survivors, in the 16 years since the Violence Against Women Act was signed into law.  This month’s theme,  “It’s Time to Get Involved,” encourages everyone to become engaged, take action, and support the ongoing work done in the field of sexual assault.  “We hope to impress that same message upon the students here at Banneker High School,” Carbon said. Hundreds of students engaged in a lively question and answer session with department officials, Neil Irvin of Men Can Stop Rape, Tonya Turner of Break The Cycle and Melinda Coles of the DC Rape Crisis Center. For more information on the Justice Department’s commemoration of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and for more resources on sexual assault, visit the Office of Violence Against Women webpage at: http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov