|
Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual contact or attention achieved by force threats, bribes, manipulation, pressure, tricks or violence. Sexual assault may be physical or non-physical and includes rape and attempted rape, child molestation and incest, and sexual harassment. Sexual assault is committed by strangers and, more often, acquaintances, friends or relatives. Anyone can become a victim of sexual assault, regardless of age, race or income level Research indicates that 1 out of every 3 women, 1 out of every 6 men and 1 out of every 4 children is sexually assaulted. Sexaul assault is a crime of violence, anger and control that hurts both victims and those who love them.
MYTH: Rape is sex.
FACT: Rape is not sex. It is a crime motivated by a need to control, humiliate and harm. Rapists use sexual violence as a weapon to hurt and dominate others.
MYTH: Women ask to be raped.
FACT: The way people look, act or dress does not invite sexual assault. Victims are selected because they appear vulnerable. Sexual assault is an act of violence.
MYTH: Rapists are lonely, sexually unfulfilled men.
FACT: Studies of convicted male rapists indicate that more than 60% were married and virtually all had normal sexual relationships with women at the time they committed the assault.
MYTH: Boys and men cannot be sexually assaulted.
FACT: Almost as many boys as girls will be sexually assaulted by age eighteen. One in nine men will be sexually assaulted as an adult. If a male is sexually assaulted it does not mean he is or will become gay. A person's sexual orientation is not determined by a sexual assault.
MYTH: No one can be sexually assaulted against her or his will.
FACT: Most adult victims, even those who are not physically harmed, fear injury and death during a sexual assault. Children who are assaulted are often confused, unable to question the power and authority of the abuser, and do not know how to get help. Survivors of sexual assault do not consent; they submit to avoid further harm.
MYTH: It will not even happen to anyone I know.
FACT: In the U.S., The odds are better than one in fifteen that a woman will be raped in her lifetime.
MYTH: An offender probably assaults one time …so it is better to just forget the whole episode.
FACT: In a study of convicted offenders, rapists committed eleven to twenty-two assaults before being convicted.
|
