FARMINGTON – The 12th Annual Peace in Our Families March for Violence-Free Communities was held today with a march through downtown Farmington and ended with a program and speakout.
The keynote address was given by Tina Panayides, a Maine lawyer who has worked to address issues of sexual violence in her work. In addition, an awards ceremony was held to recognize individuals who have shown exceptional dedication to reducing and preventing violence in the homes of Franklin County in the last year.
This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month with a nationwide theme for 2009 of, “Respect Works!,” which seeks to focus on ending sexual violence in the workplace.
Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services, Franklin County’s sexual assault crisis response center is commemorating Sexual Assault Awareness Month by encouraging participation in the Paper Clothesline Project by inviting businesses and schools to display paper T-shirts adorned with a message against violence.
“The t-shirt symbol ties in with the Clothesline Project, which began in 1990 as a way for victims and survivors to design a T-shirt to express their experiences with violence and recovery,” said Judy Rawlings, SAVES’ executive director.
“We hope to extend to our community the ability to design for itself what its safer space might look like,” Rawlings said. “And to say to anyone who has experienced sexual violence: ‘We are sorry that this happened to you and we want to help ensure it doesn’t happen anymore.’”
To learn more about SAVES or to get involved, contact SAVES at 778-9522 or visit SAVES’ Web site at www.savesrapecrisis.org. If you would like information or support related to any type of sexual violence, please call the 24-hour confidential helpline at 1-800-871-7741. If you are a cell phone user in Franklin County, you may call 1-866-740-9516. TTY is available for the Deaf and hard of hearing at 1-800-458-5599.
