We’d bet a good number of people passed by the Marquette County Courthouse in recent days and noticed the teal ribbons adorning trees throughout the courthouse grounds — and wondered what was going on.

The month of April as been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the state of Michigan.

The Marquette Women’s Center organized the display at the courthouse as a way to spread awareness about sexual assault and to honor survivors, their families and friends, a Mining Journal story on the matter related.

“It’s an awareness campaign that we do every year. We want to raise awareness for sexual assault by bringing awareness to the community,” Heather Clarke, sexual assault response team coordinator at the Marquette Women’s Center, said for The Mining Journal story. “This is something that is happening in our community, it’s not just something that happens in larger cities.”

The courthouse display is one of several in the area. There are also ribbons displayed at the Michigan State Police post in Negaunee, the Negaunee City Police station, along Ishpeming’s Main Street and Peter Nordeen Park in Gwinn, she said.

Lots is going on this month, in terms of outreach and education. Start with the Women’s Center hosting a skill-builder event related to the topic at Northern Michigan University on Wednesday.

A full list of this month’s events can be found on the Women’s Center website at www.wcmqt.org.

We absolutely urge readers to check these events out. Sexual assault is a plague that just will not go away. All of us need to get involved.