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David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and here's something to take in and stew over:
State reports indicate over 11,000 sexual assaults take place in Michigan each year. That's among the highest rates per capita anywhere in the nation. Women in the workplace experience sexual harassment at an alarming rate. One in four college-aged women will experience a sexual assault. Juvenile victimizations are seen at a rate seven times higher than adults, and that's just the documented cases. I'm David Fair and it's estimated somewhere between 10,000 and 75,000 children and adolescents are sexually assaulted each year in Michigan. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and here in Washtenaw County, survivors have a place to go for support and assistance. It's called SafeHouse Center. Our guest this morning is the Center's Executive Director and, Christine Watson, Thank you for being here and thank you for another WEMU conversation.
Christine Watson: Thank you for having me.
David Fair: I'm curious, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and advent of the Me Too movement, awareness was on the rise, we were having more conversations, we were increasing our collective willingness to believe her, which is so vitally important. I sense we may have regressed since then. How do you see it?
Christine Watson: I think that's a very fair assessment of where we are. I think over the years, there's been a lot of progress made in terms of, yes, believing people when they come forward and say that something happened to them. I think for too long, people have been stuck in focusing on victim behavior versus offender actions. And I think the Harvey Weinstein movement, the Me Too movement really put a spotlight on and challenged us to change those views. I think we came a ways. I think, we still have some way to go because, like you just said, I think we’ve also regressed a little bit and now we're back to again, kind of challenging people's experiences and challenging their narratives about what it is that actually happened to them.
David Fair: With that in mind, the 2026 Sexual Assault Awareness Month theme, nationally, is “25 years Stronger: Looking back, Moving Forward.” First, how much stronger are we 25 years down the line from the first awareness month?
Christine Watson: I think we are stronger today and I think we should be proud of the accomplishments that have been made over the last 25 years. For starters, here you and I are sitting and having this conversation on radio. I think back 25 years ago, this was still very much taboo subject and people wouldn't want to be discussing it in public. So, I'm really proud of that fact that you, once again, are inviting us in to have this conversation and spotlight the fact that this is something that happens in our community. And it’s something that impacts a lot of people who walk amongst us every single day.
David Fair: Then can we say the foundation over the past 25 years has been set firmly enough to truly move us forward?
Christine Watson: I think it has, and I think that's exactly what it is. It's a foundation that we should be building on every single day. That is our aspiration and what we strive to at Safe House Center. When we make sure that we show up every single day for survivors in the way that they need it, we are a place where they can come, they can feel comfortable, they can feel protected, they feel safe to share their stories, but also receive the resources that do exist in our community and the support that they would like.
David Fair: And that's really what this is all about. It's the personal toll of sexual assault and the ripple effect that has through our community. To look at it statistically, it looks to me like we've not made a whole lot of progress in preventing sexual assault. Please tell me I'm wrong.
Christine Watson: I think it's a layered question because to your point, also when you did the introduction, sexual assault continues to be one of the most under-reported crimes. So, as we look at statistics, we're not seeing a full picture. We're not seeing how much it actually does impact people in our community. But I think what the statistics show us is that some people are choosing to come forward now where maybe they didn't 25, or even just five years ago, because of the in community. Understanding and the community's acceptance of believing people where they're at.
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU and we're talking with Safe House Center Executive Director Christine Watson as Sexual Assault Awareness Month begins tomorrow. A number of women I know, including one of my daughters, have been sexually assaulted. We often talk about it, even here on WEMU, in a societal or community kind of way. Seeing and watching the devastation of that up close is something else entirely. Is that part of the conversation is that point adequately being made in the public discourse around sexual assault?
Christine Watson: We have to understand that when somebody experiences a sexual assault, of course it impacts them, but it also impacts the people around them and it can have devastating consequences. I sit in conversations with survivors who have had their lives torn apart by the abuse and the violence that they've experienced. I also sit with family members who have lost survivors. Who maybe were not able to cope with the devastation of the assault that occurred to them and maybe decided to end their life or do something that put them in harm's way. And I think that's the devastating thing that we don't always talk about, the fact that it's a ripple effect. It doesn't just impact one person, it impacts families and it impacts friendships, it impacts... Communities at large and I think that's what we really need to keep remembering. This is not something that survivors should sit in in isolation. We have to, as a community, stand up and ensure that everybody is taken care of when something like this happens.
David Fair: PTSD is real. Triggers are real. Right now, there's so much focus on the Epstein files and much of the conversation focused on exposing the men involved, calling for their punishment, which is perfectly fine. But when the survivors and the victims are discussed, there is less attention to it, less care about their post Epstein lives and more concern about politics and ramifications for the people involved. What does that do to the women you encounter and help at SafeHouse Center?
Christine Watson: I think you can overshadow survivors and their survivorship. I think it's important that we, again, always center the survivors in these conversations, their well-being, and the trauma that has happened to them. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't be held accountable, absolutely. And we should be rooting out the aggressors and the perpetrators that continue to roam in our communities. We need to talk about how we hold people accountable, but we always have to remember that, behind that, is a survivor who has a story to tell and who has an experience that they're still sitting with.
David Fair: And we have some work to do on that front, I think.
Christine Watson: I would agree that we do, yes.
David Fair: Is there any reason for these survivors to trust being public and involve law enforcement and the court system, with that in mind?
Christine Watson: I think again it's hard. Everybody has their own personal experience. Some people come through the system, traditionally speaking, law enforcement, civil lawsuits. They're quite happy to come out publicly to talk about what it is that has happened to them to try to hold somebody accountable and seek justice that way. But not everybody is able to do that. Not everybody has the opportunity to do so or may feel safe in doing so. That goes back to, we still see a lot of victim blaming in our community. Again, are we focusing on what victims or survivors did versus the perpetrator? And so that can really be a barrier for people feeling safe to come forward to speak to the police, speak to the prosecutor's office, even speak to somebody like us at SafeHouse. As much as we try to remove those barriers, they do still exist.
David Fair: Once again we're talking with Christine Watson from Safe House Center on 89.1 WEMU. She is here in advance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month which begins tomorrow. How is the center going to take this opportunity to raise awareness through the month?
Christine Watson: So, we are going to be promoting and raising awareness just like we always do in the month of April. There's a couple of different community events that we're going to be hosting. One of them is going to be more public than maybe you've seen us in the past. We're going to be doing ribboning in certain areas in Ypsi and in Ann Arbor. We're grateful for our partnerships with those municipalities that will allow us to show the fact that This happens in our community and how can we talk about it in a way that takes it out of the shadows and makes it more of a public, it's a public health crisis in that respect. So, you will be seeing teal ribbons in certain places in our communities, but we're also hosting some events internally at Safe House for Survivors and their support people. If you're interested, please check out our website, safehousecenter.org for more details. And then, as always, April is also the time of year where we bring our work into the community through our annual breakfast, which is the Fresh Start Breakfast. And that is taking place on April 23rd. Tickets and sponsorships are still available on our website. That event is really an opportunity for people to come in and learn more about our impact into the Community. It brings together community partners, community members, survivors. People who are interested in learning more, but also just people who're interested in showing their commitment to uplifting survivors and their voices.
David Fair: Well, there's going to be a lot of focus during the course of the next month. What do you want all of us to take the year round when it's not at the forefront of attention?
Christine Watson: I think it is important, and we talk about that, you know, there's so many months, there's many days these days that gives us an opportunity to highlight these subject matters, but we have to remember that they're happening every single day. So I think what I always want to encourage people is make sure people know that we're here. SafeHouse Center operates 24-7. We have a 24-hour helpline that people can call if they just wanna check in and chat with somebody. It's free. It's confidential. All you have to do is just reach out. So, help us spread that word. Make sure that people know that we exist and that we're here just to support in whatever way people would like us to.
David Fair: Well, thank you so much for the time in the conversation today. I always appreciate when you share your perspective.
Christine Watson: Thank you, David.
David Fair: That is Christine Watson, executive director of SafeHouse Center in Ann Arbor, serving all of Washington, all county. If you are in need of emergency help, call 9-1-1. If you need help, support and guidance, call the SafeHouse Center 24-hour helpline at 734-955-5444. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and there's much to learn, much to talk about and work to be done. You can stop by our website at WEMU.org and we'll have all the contact information and links you need readily available. I'm David Fair and this is your community NPR station 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
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