Call for better sexual assault education | Letter

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Dear Editor of the Journal of the San Juan Islands,

I am writing to draw attention to the need for education about sexual assault, sexual harassment, rape, and consent in our community. These issues affect everyone in our community. Though many students hear about these topics in school, it is brief, if ever, and in some schools, not at all. The information isn’t always clear, and teens usually get misinformation from friends or social media.

Our island is a small community where everyone knows each other, which makes it hard to speak up about a situation. The statistics show that 1 in 3 women, and 1 in 4 men, who have been raped were raped for the first time between the ages of 11 and 17. Overall, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the U.S experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime. 81% of women and 43% of men have reported some form of sexual harassment or assault in their lifetime. In 2025, an estimated 2,920,000 women in the U.S have experienced completed or attempted rape, with over 6 million women experiencing some form of contact sexual violence, and over 75% of assaults go unreported (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2026).

Though our island has some resources, they aren’t giving preventative education to teens. Instead, they only offer care after an assault has happened. Also, if you choose to get help, it isn’t anonymous. To help prevent all this on our island, education needs to be more accessible, proactive, and anonymous so teens can be safe, learn important information, and keep anonymous if wanted.

Vivienne Valkova

San Juan Island