In 2000, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and the Sharing Project had polled sexual violence coalitions. Both asked organizations what their preferred color, symbol, and month for sexual assualt awareness activities and events. They came to the conclusion and agreement of a teal ribbon to be the symbol. In 2009, President Obama was the first president to recognize April as Sexual Assualt Awareness Month.
Many survivors have suffered due to being ridiculed by people accusing them of lying when they speak up about what happened to them. The fact of the matter is that only 2.5% of people falsely accuse other people of sexually assaulting them. About 81% of women and 43% of men have experienced sexual harassment or assault. Women make up an estimate of 91% of survivors are women. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men are victims of this heinous crime.
In 2006, Tarana Burke, a New York City women’s rights advocate, began to use the phrase “Me Too” to raise awareness for women survivors. Eleven years later, in 2017, a famous actress, Alyssa Milano, tweeted about her assailant Harvey Weinstein, which grew the “Me Too” movement to a global level. Since then, survivors have adopted this phrase and used it for awareness, hashtags, and protests, and have done so much more.