04/17/2026
Recognizing we are halfway through Sexual Assault Awareness Month, now is not only a time for raising awareness, but for reflecting on what it truly means to respond to harm with care, dignity, and accountability. Trauma-informed practice is not a buzzword, it is a commitment. A commitment to meet people where they are, to recognize the weight of what they carry, and to ensure that our systems do not deepen the harm they have already endured.
And this moment makes that commitment even more urgent.
We are seeing, once again, survivors speak up. From Dolores Huerta, Esmerelda Lopez, and Debra Rojas sharing painful, long-held memories about César Chávez, to survivors continuing to hold elected officials, from Trump to Swalwell, accountable. We continue to see harm inflicted by people in positions of power, by people who are admired, and sometimes by people who have led movements for justice and liberation themselves. And with the recent reporting on a R**e Academy and digital spaces for husbands to share drugging and ra**ng their wives, we bear witness to a painful reality: sometimes the greatest threats come from the people we trust most.
These disclosures can be difficult, even disorienting. They challenge narratives we may hold about who causes harm and where it happens.
But the truth is this--sexual violence is not perpetrated by any one party, one ideology or one community. It is pervasive. That is why trauma-informed approaches matter so deeply. Because they ask something different of us. They ask us to listen without judgment. To respond without causing further harm. To hold complexity without losing sight of the person in front of us.
And they remind us that healing and justice are not built alone. They are built in community, through showing up for one another, believing and prioritizing survivors, and creating spaces where care can thrive.
