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Understanding Sexual Assaults
Sexual assault takes many forms including attacks such
as rape or attempted rape, as well as any unwanted sexual contact
or threats.
Usually a sexual assault occurs when someone touches
any part of another person’s body in a sexual way, even while
clothed, without that person’s consent.
Some Facts About Sexual Assault
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Rape is a violent crime motivated by the need to
control.
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Rape is not an aggressive act of sex but a sexual
act of aggression.
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Sexual assault can happen to anyone regardless
of physical appearance, dress, body language or age.
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Assailants don’t always fit the stereotypical
image of a menacing, sex-starved criminal jumping out of the bushes
late at night in an unfamiliar neighborhood.
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Assailants can be anyone-a delivery person, a colleague
at work, a neighbor, a physician or dentist, an uncle, an attractive
stranger met at a party.
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Roughly 1/3 of all rapes take place in the daylight.
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1/2 of all rapes take place at or near the survivor’s
home.
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Whatever the circumstances, no one asks or deserves
to be sexually assaulted
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Sexual Assault Myths |
- Women who are careful don’t get raped.
- Women secretly want to be raped.
- Most reports of sexual assault are false.
- Men needn’t worry about being raped.
- It can’t happen to me.
- If a child I know was being sexually abused
he/she would tell me right away.
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- Only the young and attractive are raped.
- Only those who are provocative are raped.
- Rape is not a big deal – it is only sex.
- Most rapes are interracial.
- Most non-acquaintance rapes are planned.
- Rapists are usually sexual deviants.
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What to
do if you are assaulted
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Get away from the attacker to a safe place and call 911 or the
police. |
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Call a friend or family member you can trust. Also call a crisis
center hotline. |
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Do not wash, comb or clean any part of your body. Do not change
clothes or touch anything at the scene of the assault. |
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Go to the nearest hospital emergency room. You need to be examined,
treated for injuries and screened for sexually transmitted infections
or pregnancy. |
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At the hospital you can file a police report.
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Ask the hospital to connect you with a local
rape crisis center if you have not already made contact. |
How to lower your risk
of being assaulted
| CHILD
MOLESTERS
In 75-80% of all cases involving children, the
offender is someone known to the victim
Physical force is not usually used
Often there is not actual intercourse
The offender usually makes the child promise
not to tell anyone
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CHILD
SEXUAL ABUSE
Talking to your child before an assault happens
is the best prevention
Knowing perpetrator tactics and how a child
may react can help you detect sexual abuse
Responding appropriately when your child is
victimized can make all the difference in her/his healing process
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Statistics
National Center for Victims of Crime - 2010
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Victims age 12 or older experienced a total of 188,380
rapes or sexual assaults in 2010.
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92% of rape or sexual assault victims were female.
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Of female victims, 25% were assaulted by a stranger,
48% by friends or acquaintances and 17% were intimate partners.
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49.6% of all rapes and sexual assaults were reported
to law enforcement.
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acts which fall under the category of sexual assault include:
- Forced sexual intercourse (rape)
- Sodomy (oral or anal sexual acts)
- Child molestation, incest, fondling and attempted rape
- Any sexual behavior a person has not consented to that causes
that person to feel uncomfortable, frightened or intimidated
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Examples
of Sexual
Assault Charges
- Sexual Abuse
- Sexual Misconduct
- Sodomy
- Lascivious Acts
- Indecent contact
- Indecent Exposure
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Hotline: (605) 996-4440 