April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, bringing increased visibility to the problem of sexual assault in our communities. Estimates suggest that nearly one in three women and one in six men experience sexual violence throughout their lifetime.
On Friday, April 15, local sexual assault survivor’s network OurWave is hosting a Shop for Good Pop-Up Shop from 6:00 – 9:00 pm at Durty Bull Brewing located in Durham, NC.
Our Wave is an online platform designed to empower survivors of sexual assault to safely and anonymously share their stories. Since the website’s launch in September of 2019, we have collected over 350 survivor stories from 40+ states and 20+ countries.
OurWave seeks to empower survivors to share their stories. At the same time, the organization leverages the aggregated data from tags in the stories to better understand the prevalence of sexual assault and share localized resources with survivors in need.
By educating society on the scope of the problem, OurWave creates a forum for discussion outlining potential prevention and partnership strategies. The group intends to mobilize our communities to create evidence-based strategies for prevention and survivor support in order to create a wave of change.
Director of Development Alexa DeFalco says about OurWave’s operations, “We have an amazing community of supporters assisting us along the way. Our key team of volunteers includes engineers, designers, researchers, and advocates who graciously give their time to help the organization succeed. We also have wonderful student interns and volunteers who assist us with various projects and operations.”
Partnerships include other key organizations in the space, such as It’s On Us, End Rape On Campus, USA Gymnastics, #MeToo Movement, and more.
Interested in volunteering? OurWave is always looking for passionate community members to volunteer. Currently, they’re in need of the following roles:
- Grant-Writing Partner
- Google Analytics Specialist
- Director of Social Media/Marketing
You can also support Our Wave through financial contributions on their website directly or by purchasing a variety of handmade items that benefit the organization.
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