1 in 6 women have been sexually assaulted in her lifetime.

1 in 10 men will have been sexually assaulted in his lifetime.

Every two minutes, somebody in America is sexually assaulted.

(https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-vi...)

The numbers are alarming. I wish I could say the numbers are exaggerated. I wish I could say it's not real. I wish I could say the math is wrong. But I know it's all real.

Sexual assault can happen to anybody, and odds are, you probably know somebody close to you who has been victimized. Your classmate, your neighbor, your best friend, your sibling, your parent. You?

I was sexually abused as a child. I was either six or seven years old, but I don't remember the exact age. My mother's boyfriend would molest me, and sometimes he had me touch him inappropriately. Because the touch did not hurt, I didn't think anything was wrong; I thought this was a normal relationship.

The abuse ended when I was 15. He took a plea deal and got an 18 month prison sentence (he only served 14 months). Even though the abuse was over, I knew I wasn't the same person. You live with the abuse the rest of your life, the scars, the trauma, the inability to trust.

But I knew I had to do something with my pain. I survived the sexual abuse, and I needed to do something with it.

April is sexual assault awareness month. Since 2012, I've celebrated by painting my nails teal (the awareness color). Painting our nails is such a simple task and hardly gets attention; we only notice when the nails are painted a unique color, like teal. I paint my nails to calm my anxiety. Our hands connect us to people, both the good and the bad. I paint my nails to take back control. I paint my nails to give a voice to the silent victims.

When I decided to invite friends to participate, an overwhelming number of people joined the cause, men included. The total number of participants? 530 people. From survivors, to friends, to strangers, the event has helped a lot of people, and given some light to this horrible issue.

I've been continuing the campaign ever since. I'm currently up to 44 participants, the smallest number so far. It could be 44 people, 4 people, or 400 people, it's all about those people getting the message out there.

I will continue to fight sexual violence, one fingernail at a time.

To join this year's 30 Days of Teal:

https://www.facebook.com/events/434306750241322/

If you or someone you know needs resources for sexual assault, there's a 24 hour hotline:

National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673