As reported by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), more than 450,000 Americans experience sexual violence each year, a number which equates to one every minute and 8 seconds. While it can happen to anyone—one in 10 rape victims are male—women, especially young women and young transgender women, are vastly disproportionately affected.

Sexual assault also carries the highest degree of reported distress from victims of any crime: 94 percent of rape survivors experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in the two weeks following the attack; a third contemplate suicide; and approximately 13 percent attempt it. In contrast, per RAINN’s data analysis, for every 1,000 rapes, only seven result in felony conviction, and only six result in incarceration. 

The burden that sexual violence places on a survivor, and the number of survivors in the nation and around the world, is staggering. Fifty-one years after the creation of the nation’s first rape crisis center, the Bay Area Women Against Rape, the fight against sexual assault is just as vital as ever. This April, we’ve curated four of our most pressing stories on sexual violence, covering consent, sexual assault on college campuses, date rape and the obstacles facing hundreds of thousands of survivors each year. 

Giddy stands with survivors of sexual violence, and by continuing the work to educate and inform potential victims and bystanders alike, we believe we can bring down those horrifying numbers for good.