April was officially established as Sexual Assault Awareness Month by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center in 2001. The month wasn’t random; it was already filled with campaigns like Child Abuse Prevention Month and National Youth Violence Prevention Week, all focused on interpersonal violence, prevention, and supporting survivors. On paper, it makes sense: combine efforts, amplify the message, and reach more people.
At the University of Iowa, Take Back the Night, a day-long event, has been spreading awareness to college students since 1979. The annual tradition will return to campus on April 28.
But if awareness is working the way it’s supposed to, why don’t the numbers clearly reflect that?
According to a data brief from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released in 2026, sexual violence in the U.S. is still extremely widespread and shows no real sign of meaningful improvement. The report finds that nearly half of women, about 45 percent, and more than 1 in 6 men, about 17 percent, have experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime.
On top of that, millions of people reported experiencing sexual violence even within just the 12 months before the survey, showing this isn’t just a past issue, but it’s going on in real time.
Awareness campaigns encourage people to speak out, and while that matters, the original goal was never just visibility. It was prevention. It was protection.
What makes this data even more concerning is how sexual violence has expanded with technology. Nearly 1 in 4 women report forms of sexual harassment in public or workplace settings, according to the CDC’s data brief, and a significant share also report tech-based abuse in their lifetime, such as unwanted sexual messages, images, and online harassment. This shows that sexual assault is adapting and moving to digital environments, where it can be just as invasive and harmful.
For Annabelle Muñoz, a third-year University of Iowa student, this topic is rather personal.
“These campaigns do increase awareness. However, in practice, these campaigns only tend to provide support in the short-term following an incident,” she said. “While this is a good start, in my personal experience, the hardest parts of dealing with sexual assault come well after the incident. Even then, this short-term support is only given if a victim of sexual assault is in a position to come forward.”
According to a March 2026 report from LegalClarity, roughly three out of four sexual assaults in the U.S. are never reported to police. The article also notes that in 2024, only about 23.6 percent of rape and sexual assault cases were reported, a sharp drop from the previous year.
Even when cases are reported, the system still struggles to deliver outcomes. Only a small fraction of cases actually lead to serious legal consequences, with about two to three percent of all sexual assaults resulting in incarceration for the perpetrator.
“Real change means more than simply being aware that sexual assault happens, and support in the short term. It means long-term support by all members of the community, not just close friends or relatives,” Muñoz said. “I think that it is great that institutions have tried in recent years to increase awareness and provide surface-level support. However, in my experience, they offer little help beyond that.”
Awareness can encourage conversation, but if the reporting process still feels unsafe, overwhelming, or ineffective, most cases will remain hidden, and the statistics will continue to reflect that silence.
People often struggle to fully grasp the trauma sexual assault leaves behind and how deeply it can reshape a person’s everyday life. For Muñoz, her experience changed the way she moves through the world, especially around people she once felt completely comfortable with.
“I was what some would call a hugger; however, in the months following my sexual assault, I would flinch at the tap of a finger from a friend or an accidental brush from a passing stranger,” she said. “Sure, it changes your perception of others, but what is more jarring is the change in your perception of self. I think we as a community need to take a step back and re-evaluate how we perceive sexual assault survivors.”
If the systems meant to support survivors still feel inaccessible, dismissive, or ineffective, then awareness isn’t leading to real change. Instead, it’s just repeating the same message every year without fixing the problem.
Real change means building systems and communities that don’t just hear survivors, but actually support them, protect them, and work to prevent these crimes from continuing.