COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the Ohio Statehouse Atrium on Thursday morning, dozens matched in teal and light blues, marking the 11th annual advocacy day to end sexual violence in Ohio.
The Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence hosted the event, bringing in other advocates from across the state.
"The sad truth is that most people in this country know someone who is a survivor of sexual violence whether they are aware of it or not," said State Rep. Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park).
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an American is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds.
For this year's advocacy day, there was a big focus on changing the laws around the statute of limitations for sexual assault survivors, especially for those abused as a child.
Lawmakers are looking to extend the window where survivors of child sexual abuse can sue their assailant from 12 years after turning 18 years old to 37 years after turning 18 years old through House Bill 124.
"Most survivors of child sexual abuse wait until age 55 to report and we want our laws to reflect that," OAESV's Director of Public Policy, Emily Gemar. said.
Some laws are reflecting a path to change.
Erin's Law was passed last year, educating children about sexual abuse in hopes of creating more prevention. It was introduced multiple times over the years but finally passed in 2022.
"Really, when it comes to changing the laws around child sexual abuse, it's not really about justice, it's about prevention," survivor and advocate Chris Graham said. "You can't give an adult that was raped as a child justice, you can't fix anything."
Graham shared his story of being a survivor of priest child abuse.
"It's taking the worst thing that ever happened to me by far and moved it in the direction of being the best thing that's ever happened to me," Graham said, "Me being able to advocate here for survivors who are not in a spot to come forward or not able to do this, it's also advocating for survivors who are not with us anymore and a survivor of priest sexual abuse that hits really close to home to me because not all my friends made it out of that church alive."
There is a call for more resources and change for all ages when it comes to helping survivors.
"Rape crisis services are the least funded of all gender-based crimes," Gemar said.
In his recently-proposed state budget Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine included $30 million in rape crisis funding.
Gemar said there were more than 45,000 calls to local rape crisis hotlines in 2022 and that there needs to be people there to answer those calls.
"These survivors they were not just raped, they were robbed, their voices were stolen," Graham said. "When you have an opportunity get your voice back, it's awesome, it's healing and that's why I come, that's why I show up here."