April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and a local advocacy group illuminated the Riverwalk to shine a light on the issue.
Local group Reclaiming Me, lit up the Riverwalk with candles Saturday night to bring awareness about sexual assault to the Naperville community.
The event brought out around a dozen people for discussions of personal stories and a song about surviving and being a fighter.
Founder of the group, Meggie Zayas, planned the event to help educate and advocate about rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
“As we’re discussing, more and more people are going to come out and going to be sharing. Saying ‘this has happened to me, I didn’t know how to define this, now I know what happened to me.’ One in four women will be assaulted in college, one in six men will be assaulted before the age of 18, so it affects a lot of people,” Zayas said. “And I almost guarantee you that you know someone, whether they’ve talked about it or not, we all have someone in our lives who has been affected by this issue.”
Her goal is to talk to more of the Naperville community about these issues and hopefully reach the many people who have been affected.
Reclaiming Me also has a photo series that pictures survivors. To learn more check out their website.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
