Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Online Resources

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), an annual public health campaign. As the Community Health & Engineering Librarian, I worked with Yen Ho, an intern at the Biomedical Library, to put together the linked guide for online resources on sexual assault, rape, and sexual violence.

The University of Pennsylvania is known for its high research output. Many Penn authors choose to make their research publications available to the general public via the Penn Libraries’ repository, ScholarlyCommons. The SAAM guide showcases publications about sexual assault, rape, and sexual violence authored by students, staff, faculty, and alumni dating back to 1994.

The guide also points to more recent consumer health information resources, freely available health websites intended for the general public (including MedlinePlus, FamilyDoctor, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline). If you are interested in finding additional consumer health information resources, please contact me directly.

Yen compiled a list of relevant local organizations in the Philadelphia area for the guide. The list includes Women Organized Against Rape, one of the nation’s first rape crisis centers. Founded in 1971, WOAR’s current services include counseling, education, and an outreach department which specializes in working with Philadelphia’s Latino communities.

In addition, within the guide, you can access WOAR Newsletters dating back to its first issue in 1973 — along with other relevant online journals and databases within the Penn Libraries' collection available to Penn students, faculty, and staff.

Lastly, all of the e-books highlighted within this guide were published within the last four years and offer a wide range of perspectives around issues of sexual violence and trauma, including health sciences, social work, education, and law. If you're interested in finding additional scholarly resources, ask a librarian.

If you are a student or know a student who has been affected by sexual assault, interpersonal violence, sexual violence, relationship violence, sexual harassment, or stalking, please contact Penn Violence Prevention and/or the Penn Women’s Center.