Honoring Stories: Reflections for Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, time to raise our collective consciousness, to support survivors, and to challenge the harmful narratives that silence or shame those who have experienced harm. It’s also a time to center healing and the many ways people reclaim their stories after trauma.

In this post, I want to close out the month by exploring some of the myths that make it harder for survivors to speak up, the complex layers of trauma that often accompany sexual assault, and what trauma-informed support really looks like. I’ll also share some practices that can offer grounding and care during the healing process.

Dispelling the Myths: Naming the Lies Survivors Are Told

Myths about sexual assault don’t just distort public understanding, they shape the internal worlds of survivors. They plant seeds of shame and self-blame that can linger for years. Breaking these myths open is a step toward truth and justice. Here are a few that come up often:

• “Victims lie about being assaulted.”

In reality, false reports of sexual assault are rare—no more common than with other crimes. Yet this myth is deeply rooted in our culture and frequently weaponized to discredit survivors.

• “It’s not really assault unless it’s violent.”

Sexual assault takes many forms. It can happen through manipulation, coercion, or when someone is incapacitated. Lack of physical force doesn’t make the experience any less valid or traumatic.

• “If they didn’t fight back, it must not have been that bad.”

Our bodies respond to fear in many ways: freezing, shutting down, or going into autopilot are all common and involuntary survival responses. The idea that someone must scream or fight in order for it to “count” is both harmful and false.

Letting go of these myths allows space for more honest, nuanced conversations, ones that honor the complexity of survival.

When Trauma Intersects: More Than One Wound

Sexual assault often doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Many survivors have also lived through other forms of trauma, such as childhood abuse, neglect, or intimate partner violence. These experiences can compound over time, creating deep layers of pain and shaping how someone sees themselves and the world.

Healing means addressing all of it, not just the most recent or visible wound. It means holding space for the stories that have gone untold, recognizing patterns of survival that once made sense, and slowly beginning to untangle the beliefs trauma may have etched into someone’s identity: I should have known better, I deserved this, I can’t trust anyone.

Unraveling these layers isn’t easy, but it is possible, especially when people are met with compassion and curiosity rather than judgment.

What Trauma-Informed Support Really Looks Like

Healing from sexual assault requires more than just talking about the event. It requires safety, agency, and a space where survivors feel seen, not analyzed.

Trauma-informed care is rooted in a few key principles:

• Safety first. Emotional, physical, and relational safety must come before anything else.

• Choice and control. Survivors have the right to decide how, when, and whether to share their stories.

• Collaboration. Healing isn’t something that happens to someone, it happens with them. Survivors are the experts of their own experiences.

• Non-pathologizing approach. Behaviors that may seem “irrational” often made perfect sense in the context of survival. A trauma-informed lens honors those responses and explores them with empathy.

When people are met with care that respects their pace, boundaries, and truth, healing becomes more than possible, it becomes empowering.

Self-Care as a Form of Resistance and Restoration

Healing doesn’t just happen in a therapy room. It happens in the quiet moments of everyday life, in the ways survivors care for themselves, set boundaries, and begin to listen to what their bodies and hearts are asking for.

Here are a few self-care practices that can be especially supportive:

• Mindfulness and grounding. Simple techniques like deep breathing, naming five things in the room, or placing a hand on the heart can help bring the nervous system out of fight-or-flight and into the present.

• Journaling. Writing can be a powerful tool for expression and clarity. Try prompts like, What does safety mean to me? or What parts of my story still need to be heard?

• Creating a supportive environment. This might mean surrounding yourself with people who respect your boundaries, limiting exposure to triggering content, or cultivating small daily rituals that feel nourishing.

Self-care doesn’t need to look a certain way. It’s not performative, it’s protective. It’s about reclaiming your right to exist, rest, feel, and heal.

In Closing: You Deserve to Be Heard

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, know this: your experience is real. Your responses were valid. And your healing is not on anyone’s timeline but your own.

There is strength in survival. There is power in your voice, even when it shakes. And there is no expiration date on your right to be supported, believed, and held in compassion.

If you need immediate, confidential support, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or at rainn.org.

If you’re seeking counseling services, New Light Counseling is here to help. 

Your story matters. You matter