On Thursday, The Family Sunshine Center held a balloon release to honor victims of sexual assault.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and a campaign to raise public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it is in full swing.

The campaign theme, I Ask, stresses the importance of consent.

While one month alone isn’t enough to solve the issue of sexual violence, the attention April generates is an opportunity to energize and expand prevention efforts throughout the year.

We must remember all those that we know that are sexual assault victims.

The goal of the campaign is to empower everyone to put consent into practice. We hope that everyone will recognize victims and the ways to prevent these assaults from happening again not only in April but year-round.