Public Art Installations Will Go On Display For SAAM

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The Berkshire Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force’s “One Book, One Community” Celebration 2021 includes varied public art exhibitions from activist-artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, author of “Stop Telling Women to Smile: Stories of Street Harassment and How We’re Taking Back Our Power.”

Locations for the exhibits include Park Square in Pittsfield, the lawn in front of City Hall in North Adams, and in front of Charles Castranova Park and Town Hall in Great Barrington.

The anti-street harassment portraits will go on display around Park Square in Pittsfield March 31 or April 1. The display on the lawn of City Hall in North Adams will go up at 12:15 pm on Friday, April 2 and Task Force member Mayor Tom Bernard will participate in the set-up.

In North Adams and Pittsfield the displays will be up throughout the month of April. Portraits will be installed in front of Castranova Park and Town Hall in Great Barrington from April 11-24.

Here is information on Sexual Assault from the Elizabeth Freeman Center.
Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact, activity, or attention that you did not want to happen or that happens when you are unable to consent.

Sexual assault is motivated by a need to control, to humiliate, and to harm. Almost 3/4 of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. More than 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in the US are sexually assaulted.

If you were forced, pressured, manipulated into, or involved in sexual activity that you did not want, you experienced sexual assault. This is true even if you did not fight back, did not tell anyone, or if the incident happened a long time ago.

It is not your fault. No one asks to be raped or assaulted. No matter what you wear, where you are, whether you know the person, whether you’d hooked up with the person before, whether you are or were in a relationship with the person, whether you were using drugs or alcohol, you are not to blame, the perpetrator is.

You did NOT do anything wrong. And you are not alone. Help is available anytime through our hotline, (866) 401-2425.

Healing from sexual assault takes time. Every person responds differently after a sexual assault. You may feel detached, angry, fearful, depressed, or guilty, and you may experience flashbacks, a loss of control, mood swings, avoidance, and post-traumatic stress. All emotions are fair and normal responses to a rape or sexual assault.

If you have just been assaulted, we are available to talk or to come with you to the hospital or police station if you choose. Call our hotline to ask a physical responder to meet you.