April 24th

In the upcoming week of April 18-24, there was a lot of stir and discussion within the TikTok community within the United States. For the US, April is sexual assault awareness month, where there is a lot of discussion to aid those who have been impacted by any form of SA and bring awareness to those who may not be sure of the signs or know what SA can look like. There were many videos made which brought up talk about how some men were marking their calendars for April 24 and claiming the day as ‘National R*pe Day’ sending women not only on the TikTok platform, but also other social media platforms into a scare. Sadly enough, this is not the first year where this day had been branded for such heinous events, but it has been in circulation for a few years now. If someone were to look up April 24^th in the Urban Dictionary in 2019, it would have ben defined as “the day when it’s legal to r*pe people,” which is not true or the case at all, and due to the uproar from the community, Urban Dictionary proceeded to remove this definition from their website.

With the circulation of the rumor, both men and women were in a concerned state, vocalizing their worries and the immorality to those who were putting this idea and “holiday” out into the public. There were multiple videos that were put out for self-defense in case there were any women who were put in a situation against a larger predator. When the situation started to get more attention, there was a rise of support from the male community on TikTok in support and defense of women , showing their support and encouraging self-defense.

There have been multiple people and organizations, like USA Today and TikTok itself, that have been in search for the original video but have claimed to find no evidence on the platforms, but every institution that has caught wind of the rumored situation has urged the public to keep safe and to stay inside of the day if it was possible.

This situation comes back to the discussion of “it’s not all men” who are dangerous, but when it comes to publicized instances and situations like this, then many women must be warry of every man because there is never any true way to determine which individual is dangerous. Through this month and the widespread concern of April 24^th, there was an higher rise of SA discussion within communities and social media forums to help victims and prevent dangerous situations from occurring.

Troubling message about ‘National Rape Day’ has EPD and other officials concerned | KVAL

April 24th on TikTok: The Meaning Behind the Disturbing “National Day” (distractify.com)