Almost every public bathroom in Unalaska has at least one thing in common. 

Somewhere in the room there are flyers for Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence.  The name seems pretty self-explanatory, but if you attended their awareness luncheon yesterday, they might have surprised you.

A six-person panel of law enforcement, healthcare providers, and advocates fielded questions on everything from in-school bullying and LGBTQ community resources to elder abuse and domestic violence statistics. 

USAFV director and panelist M. Lynn Crane said the event was supposed to get people talking.

"We need to make it okay to talk about this stuff.  We need to demystify it, we need to de-stigmatize it.  It should be common conversation."

The luncheon generated lots of questions, particularly about how to communicate with kids about these issues.  Crane encouraged parents to take initiative.

"Practice, practice, practice.  Role-play with your daughter or your son.  Let them figure out what they can say when that comes up so that when it does come up, they're not sort of "What do I here? What do I here? "  Maybe they've thought about it.  And if you can’t practice with them, send them to USAFV or find other safe adults they can talk to about it.”

USAFV does community outreach and provides support services for survivors.   

In the last 12 months there have been 72 reported instances of sexual assault and domestic violence in Unalaska.