On April 14, dozens of advocates for women’s and children’s rights will march through the streets of Lompoc in observance of Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention month.
The candlelight vigil will begin at 7 p.m. at the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center, 511 E. Ocean Ave., and end at the Lompoc Grange on North G Street.
Also during April, the center will be holding several events to educate the public about preventing sexual assault and child abuse.
On April 22, Santa Maria High School will hold its second annual Denim Day. Carla Canby, program manager for the Santa Maria crisis center, said Denim Day is “an international outcry day” during which advocates wear denim in honor of a sexual assault survivor living in Italy.
“The judge ruled that the woman’s perpetrator wasn’t guilty of raping her because her jeans were so tight that physically he couldn’t have raped her without her helping him in some way,” Canby said.
The rally at the high school will help dispel myths about sexual assault, Canby said.
The Santa Maria crisis center will hold its own candlelight vigil on April 28. The march will begin at 7 p.m. at the crisis center, located at 301 S. Miller St., and end at the Santa Maria City Hall courtyard on the corner of Cook Street and Broadway.
Center staff members at each of the events will be available to talk about the free services provided in both Santa Maria and Lompoc, including a 24-hour emergency hotline for counseling, and education and prevention programs. The centers also offer child-care programs and self-defense classes.
For more information about the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center and upcoming events, visit sbcountyrapecrisis
.org. To report abuse, call the 24-hour hotline at 736-7273 (Lompoc) or 928-3554 (Santa Maria).
This article appears in Apr 9-16, 2009.