More than 25 women and men walked with signs and t-shirts promoting    awareness on sexual assault  on Wednesday, April 6, at St. Francis, S.D. The ‘Walk With Us to Stop Sexual Violence’ was sponsored by White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Reservation, they offered sack lunches and gave away “NO means NO.” Other community walks are planned, one on April 13 at Parmelee starting at the St. Agnes Church at 5:30 p.m. and another walk on April 20 in Winner, starting at the community building at 5:30 p.m.

RST President Rodney Bordeaux signed a proclamation declaring April as sexual assault awareness month on the reservation. The proclamation sites statistics of 2010 where 53 calls to Rosebud dispatch reported sexual assaults, 75 victims were assisted by sexual assault advocates from WBCWS and 12 cases were indicted by the tribal prosecutor.  Also cited in the proclamation was the formation of a sexual assault protocol and response team in 2003 and the team was officially implemented in 2004. 

According to Amnesty International, Native women are 2.5 times more likely than other minorities to be victims of sexual assault. The purpose of the National Sexual Assault Awareness Month is to increase your community and the public’s understanding of sexual violence.