Dear Joyful Heart Community,

Today marks another opportunity for us to shed light into the darkness that surrounds two of Joyful Heart’s issues. April has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month across the United States. For many of us, it will be marked by prevention and awareness-raising efforts, days of remembrance and calls to action.

There are so many advocates who have been working tirelessly in these fields for so many years and paving the way for advocates like me and for organizations like Joyful Heart. And I think we would all agree that there is so much left to be done.

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes in the United States. Only 30% of these assaults are reported to the police and only 6% of rapists ever spend a day in jail. Every day, four 4 children die as a result of child abuse or neglect; over 75% of victims are less than four years old. 40% never make it to their first birthday.

Joyful Heart is dedicated to ending sexual assault and child abuse. We seek to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues and change the response to these horrible acts to one that recognizes the importance of healing, justice and eventually reclaiming trust, possibility and joy.

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness to pull another hand into the light.  –Norman B. Rice

 

Since our beginning in 2004, Joyful Heart has provided healing and wellness that we hope not only brings light into the lives of survivors, but illuminates the darkness surrounding these issues and our collective response to them.

• Our retreat and support programs have offered approximately 4,300 survivors the opportunity to continue on their paths to heal from trauma by exploring different healing and wellness modalities in the safety and support of community.
• Our work with members of the healing community provide an introduction to the effects of vicarious trauma and a guide to sustainable self-care.
• Our advocacy work has brought together law enforcement, policy-makers, advocates and survivors across the country to change the response to sexual violence by ending the backlog of hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits, the evidence collected from victims of sexual assault that waits to be tested in police and crime lab facilities throughout the US.
• Our education, awareness and social media campaigns shed much-needed light on sexual assault and child abuse and create a strong and supportive community.

I express my deepest gratitude to all those who aid us in these efforts and to the people whose hands have reached out to us and others. Whether you’ve done that in one of our programs, by receiving issues of Reunion, engaging with us and each other here on this blog or our Backlog Blog, our Facebook page or Twitter account, or in your own daily acts of love and support, it is you we do this work for. This month, like every month, we will strive to deserve it.

Please check back here and on the backlog blog throughout the month for updates and information on child abuse and sexual assault. With gratitude,

Maile Zambuto