Doris L. Williams
Mary’s Place of the Coastal Empire
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and for 2025, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has centered this year’s month-long initiative around the theme of “together we act, united we change,” a message Mary’s Place embodies by providing support to survivors of sexual assault and envisioning a culture void of violence.
Mary’s Place (formerly the Rape Crisis Center of the Coastal Empire) is the result of a survivor who experienced the lack of trauma-informed services available to help her in 1974. Because of her determination and the support of her secondary survivors, the first group of volunteers established a telephone crisis line in 1975 and began the work of advocating for survivors. Today, thanks to donors and volunteers’ generosity Mary’s Place is available to provide comprehensive sexual assault prevention, advocacy, counseling, and intervention services for residents of Bryan, Effingham, Chatham, Evans, Liberty, Long, and Tattnall counties.
Unlike most leaders of organizations, my dream is for an end to sexual violence and the need for Mary’s Place to exist. Sadly, we are a long way from achieving this ambition in the Coastal Empire. Last year, Mary’s Place handled nearly 549 crisis line calls and undertook 123 Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations. Because sexual assault can also be traumatizing for family, friends and partners of survivors of sexual assault, we helped 149 of these secondary survivors and advocated for 549 survivors who reported their assault.
Consider these statistics as highly significant as the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (www.rainn. org) estimate that 2 out of every 3 rapes go unreported and 975 out of every 1,000 perpetrators of sexual assault will not be imprisoned or convicted.
Mary’s Place provides a wide range of services including a 24/7 crisis line, SANE Advocacy Support, Forensics Medical Exam, Court Accompaniment, Counseling, Temporary Protective Order (TPO) Service, Prevention Awareness, Educational outreach, and more. The nonprofit understands that not only women face sexual violence, but all communities regardless of sex or gender identity.
Through education and prevention awareness, Mary’s Place hopes to reduce stigma around asking for help and ultimately reduce the number of assaults.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month was first formally recognized in 2001 by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. The campaign was established to promote education and prevention of sexual violence.
The first rape crisis center in the US was founded in 1971, and the first Take Back the Night rally was held in 1976. The National Coalition Against Sexual Assault mobilized groups across the country to take action at higher levels in the 1980s. In 1994 Act, the first legislation to require law enforcement to treat domestic violence as a crime. In 2009, President Barack Obama made the first official proclamation that April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
This April, Mary’s Place is offering a wide variety of ways to participate.
Any organization or business can join in our Jeans for Justice campaign by picking a day during the month of April when employees wear jeans to work and make a donation to support the work of Mary’s Place. Also known as Denim Day, this began in 1999 as part of an international protest of an Italian Supreme Court decision to overturn a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans. Utilize the symbolism of jeans to bring attention to sexual assault and to let others know that injustice will not be tolerated in your community. For more information, please visit https://marysplacega. org/jeans-for-justice/.
Another great way to have fun and raise money for Mary’s Place is to attend our third annual Find Your Voice” Lip Sync Competition at 7.00p.m. on Friday, Apr. 25 at Victory North in Savannah. This innovative fundraising event is to raise much needed funds and will offer guests delicious food and cocktails, a silent auction, and a chance to enjoy and vote for the lip sync teams competing for the 2025 ‘Find Your Voice’ awards. All proceeds benefit the organization’s mission to support survivors of sexual assault and provide prevention education. For more information, sponsorship and tickets please visit https://marysplacega.org/ gala/.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month represents an important opportunity to shine light on an issue that affects so many yet goes unspoken far too often. Our events this April are designed to spark conversation and empower individuals to know that there is a safe space where survivors can feel seen, heard, and supported.
It’s together that we can turn awareness into action.
Doris L. Williams is the executive director of Mary’s Place — Advocacy, Prevention & Sexual Assault Center of the Coastal Empire.