April is recognized as Sexual Assualt Awareness Month (SAAM) an important month to acknowledge victims who’ve had the unpleasantry to experience such a trauma.
Since the beginning of time, sexual assault has been a thing, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. It’s very important to be aware that not everyone has reported or come out about it due to fear of slander and ridicule. 63% of completed rapes and 65% of attempted rapes have NOT been reported. Only an average of 34.8% of rapes/sexual assaults have been reported with only about 6% of those assailants being charged and getting jail time. For centuries, the world has been run by men, leaving women to fend for and fight for themselves. With men running the world, they have put in place ideologies that benefit them and put women at odds. Women only got voting rights in 1919, and that was just the white ones. Black and colored women didn’t even get that right til 1965. Women weren’t allowed to work for the government until 1923, weren’t allowed to own property until 1848 (again, just the white ones), and couldn’t join the army til 1948. So for as long as we can remember, we’ve been pushed aside and withheld from our rights to just about anything.
SAAM was observed nationally in 2001. Movements for social change became dominant and noticed in the 1940s and 50s. This movement mostly consisted of black and colored women, which included Rosa Parks, advocating for gender violence, which advocate and professor Kimberle Crenshaw, would later call “intersectionality”. This brought about more survivors speaking up and heightened awareness. The following years and decades mobilized survivors and advocates to call for legislation and funding that would support the survivors. An example of this would be the Violence Against Women Act of 1993, which provided $1.6 billion towards the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women. Even before SAAM, advocates had been holding marches and protests related to sexual violence during the month of April, sometimes being a week-long “Sexual Assualt Awareness Week”.
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.
By IHS High Arrow Staff The IHS High Arrow Staff would like to thank everyone for a wonderful 2023-2024 reporting season! Take a look at the link below for our “year in review.” See you next school year! High Arrow Year in Review 24-25
By Samantha Aljoe Beloved IHS teacher Mr. Eric Brocious is retiring after teaching for 32 years. Mr. Brocious has been a wonderful educator at IHS. He taught Computer Applications, Personal Finance I, Personal Finance II, and Web Page Design. He also advised the Senior Career Seminar and Future Business Leaders of America. Mr. Brocious strives to make sure his classroom is a safe and helpful place in the school. He is always providing students with constructive criticism. Mr. Brocious was able to see his students grow into wonderful people. After Mr. Brocious retires, he has plans he’s looking forward to. He shares that some of his goals are to “work in my business and travel with my wife, and be an IASD school board member.” He is also looking forward to “having some free time to do stuff that I would like to do.” Mr. Brocious has made many memories
By Ella Mosco and Cheyenne Rayba It is finally time at IHS to spring into the new sports season with Spring sports. The season has just begun and the teams have a great season ahead. The Boys’ Lacrosse team currently holds a record of 5-4. The boys’ team has continued to push forward in their season, trying to obtain a good WPIAL playoff seeding. Junior Domonic Lonetti mentions, “We are about to hit a very tough stretch of games, but we feel confident as a group that if we continue to take it one game at a time and do the little things right, those wins will come.” To accomplish this, the team is putting all of their efforts into practice to tie up any loose ends they may have. The Boys’ and Girls’ track team currently hold a record of 1-4. This year, the team seems to be at
By Emma Buterbaugh Many IHS students made the trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, this year to compete at the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference (SLC). They competed for the chance to go to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Anaheim, California, in June. FBLA is a national organization that prepares students for careers in business. IHS’s FBLA chapter is the second largest club in the school, behind Key Club. Mr. Eric Brocious and Mr. Brian Schreyer, along with a group of officers, run the club. Students in the club often go above and beyond what is required or expected from them. Rocco Cosentino, a senior and the president of IHS’s FBLA chapter, expressed, “The students that made it to the state conference are often motivated and hard working. They go above and beyond to give effort by taking an objective test or making a presentation.” The
By Gabi Isenberg IHS welcomed a new attendance officer this month, Ms. MarCha Ellis. Ms. Ellis will be the new friendly face students encounter when they walk into the attendance office. Ms. Ellis, an IHS alumni, has joined the staff as the attendance officer, a change from her previous occupation as a direct care worker (DCW)/direct support professional (DSP), a profession in which she assisted people with disabilities. Ms. Ellis shares, “Working with people who are younger, going off into the real world afterward is kind of a career switch for me.” At IHS, Ms. Ellis’s daily duties consist of checking in students who come in late or get dismissed early. Additionally, she emails the coaches of student-athletes to inform them whether their athletes are in school for the day. She also commented, “The main purpose of this job is to keep track of kids’ attendance and find ways to
By Cheyenne Rayba IHS is welcoming Mrs. Stephenie Armstrong as the new administrative assistant in the main office. Armstrong joins the staff at the beginning of February and is excited to be part of our school community. Mrs. Armstrong grew up not far from Indiana, in Homer City. She graduated from Homer Center in 1996. After high school, Armstrong attended IUP where she graduated in the class of 2007, with a degree in art education. Prior to working here at IHS, Armstrong worked at REA Electric as a front office manager. Outside of IHS, Armstrong spends most of her time with her two sons and husband. Currently, Armstrong is working to train the family dog to become a bird dog for her sons. She also enjoys skiing in her free time with her family. Previously, she also ran and owned a sugar cookie business. Armstrong hopes to be able to
By IHS High Arrow Staff The IHS High Arrow Staff would like to thank everyone for a wonderful 2023-2024 reporting season! Take a look at the link below for our “year in review.” See you next school year! High Arrow Year in Review 24-25
By Samantha Aljoe Beloved IHS teacher Mr. Eric Brocious is retiring after teaching for 32 years. Mr. Brocious has been a wonderful educator at IHS. He taught Computer Applications, Personal Finance I, Personal Finance II, and Web Page Design. He also advised the Senior Career Seminar and Future Business Leaders
By Ella Mosco and Cheyenne Rayba It is finally time at IHS to spring into the new sports season with Spring sports. The season has just begun and the teams have a great season ahead. The Boys’ Lacrosse team currently holds a record of 5-4. The boys’ team has continued
By Emma Buterbaugh Many IHS students made the trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, this year to compete at the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference (SLC). They competed for the chance to go to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Anaheim, California, in June. FBLA is a
By Gabi Isenberg IHS welcomed a new attendance officer this month, Ms. MarCha Ellis. Ms. Ellis will be the new friendly face students encounter when they walk into the attendance office. Ms. Ellis, an IHS alumni, has joined the staff as the attendance officer, a change from her previous occupation
By Cheyenne Rayba IHS is welcoming Mrs. Stephenie Armstrong as the new administrative assistant in the main office. Armstrong joins the staff at the beginning of February and is excited to be part of our school community. Mrs. Armstrong grew up not far from Indiana, in Homer City. She graduated
