Raise awareness of sexual assault, ‘Paint the Town Teal’

Photo via ED
A rape occurs every
two minutes.

To help raise awareness of the silent epidemic of sexual assault, the St. Francis Counseling Service is inviting the public to “Paint the Town Teal” one canvas at a time. The teal-themed event in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month will be held inside the St. Francis Center gymnasium on Tuesday, April 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. Brittany Czekai, owner of Anchor Arts, will lead participants in step-by-step painting instruction. All materials, including canvas, brushes, paints, easels and aprons, will be supplied free of charge.

Individuals can either hang their canvas at work or home or donate the artwork to St. Francis for display in the counseling center.

“This event aims to not only raise awareness, but to share resources throughout our county, including St. Francis Counseling Service, which offers free counseling to survivors of sexual assault,” said Erin Borysewicz, sexual assault/abuse prevention outreach coordinator at the counseling service. “One of the biggest problems survivors have is that people ask, ‘Were you drunk? Why were you alone with him? Is that really what happened?’ Knowing that only 2 percent of reports made are false, we want our community to understand that it is not the victim’s fault and to start by believing. Our Confidential Sexual Violence Advocate Training trains advocates to accompany survivors right after an assault has happened to hospitals with the methodology to ‘not ask questions, believe and provide support for the survivor.’”

According to The National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused by their 18th birthday. It also reports that a rape occurs every two minutes.

As part of its month-long awareness activities, St. Francis is also hosting two self-defense classes for men and women 18 and older, led by instructors from Jersey State Martial Arts. One class will be held at Brick Township High School on April 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. The other will take place at Toms River South High School on April 22, from 7 to 9 p.m.

To register for any of these events, call 609-494-1554.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.