The month of April is national Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Prospect High Schools’ Knights for Consent Club is bringing awareness to this topic from April 24-April 28. T-shirts will be sold throughout the week for $10 which students can wear on Friday.

“I’m really excited for the last week of April,” senior Maia Johnson said. “Knights for Consent has a plan for every day of the week to spread awareness.” 

On Monday, positive affirmations will be written on the sidewalks outside of doors 6 & 30 to give students a warm welcome into the week.

On Tuesday, self defense classes will be provided during gym classes and the classes will be continued onto Wednesday. Johnson was the one who came up with the idea for the self defense classes.

“Self defense classes can be very helpful and empowering for many people,” Johnson said. “Although I hope no one ever needs to use the skills that they learn, I think it’s still important that we’re prepared in case something does happen.”

Focus Martial Arts will be running the self defense workshop. The workshop will be focusing on Krav Maga Force to help defend against assaults and confrontations. 

Wednesday is “Denim Day”, which is nationally known as a day were many wear jeans in support of the woman who was denied justice for her Supreme Court rape case because of what she was wearing, which was jeans. 

On Thursday, teal ribbon stickers will be handed out to help spread awareness for the month.

“The teal ribbons symbolize the month and the focus as a whole. It’s a visual reminder of what topics we are trying to make a more common topic of conversation,” senior Hannah Lifton said.

On Friday, students are encouraged to wear teal to spread awareness.

This year the club is very focused on not just spreading awareness but also educating others. They want many to feel safe and feel able to speak out since many became uncomfortable after the situation at last year’s homecoming. 

“I think that nobody really talks about it because it’s kind of an awkward [topic and it] makes people feel uncomfortable. But I think it’s important that we talk about it. So we can know what’s right, what’s wrong, [and] even be able to identify it,” club sponsor Carrie Black said.

During this month/week Knights for Consent will be partnering with Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault (NWCASA), which is a great local resource for anyone of any age that is struggling with any form of sexual violence. If you or someone you know is struggling please don’t hesitate to reach out to get the help that you need.

“I think bringing awareness to this topic is important because it’s something that’s acknowledged, but never really discussed,” Lifton said. “Being a girl more specifically, growing up I had learned about how I should be keeping myself safe, but never really what to do if something did happen to me.”