The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) will recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) this April by launching short community video interviews to address myths about sexual violence, consent, and healthy relationships. MAPS will complement the social media prevention campaign with community outreach opportunities in partnership with local organizations.

Throughout the month, the health and social services organization’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault team will ask community members to be interviewed and speak on a series of scenarios relating to sexual violence, identifying whether they are myths or facts. The community at large will be able to see the videos and interact with the campaign on MAPS’ social media pages and website.

“There are many myths that persist surrounding these extremely sensitive and important topics, and it is vital that we try to clarify them,” said Dulce Ferreira, MA, Director of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at MAPS. “By bringing in our community members for these videos, we hope to make it easier for all of us, as a community, to comfortably talk about these issues and work towards a more informed, prevention-focused society.”

On April 29th, MAPS will join the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) and other organizations that form the Cambridge Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) for an all-day event at Cambridge City Hall focusing on the Clothesline Project. The national movement started on Cape Cod in 1990 and aims to break the silence surrounding sexual and domestic violence by asking survivors to decorate t-shirts and share their stories, transforming personal experiences into a visible call for change.

The MAPS Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault program offers free, confidential, and personalized support to victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, providing crisis intervention, safety planning, information, guided referrals, medical and legal advocacy, and related services. The program receives funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA; VSS Grant), the Executive Office of Public Safety (VAWA Grant), and the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (SASP/CSP Grant). To learn more about the program, please visit maps-inc.org/dvsa.