April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Let’s admit it: sexual assault is not your typical dinnertime conversation. But during the month of April, Project Sanctuary (PS), Mendocino County’s domestic violence and sexual assault crisis and support center, along with hundreds of agencies like it throughout the country, join together to raise awareness about sexual assault. At Project Sanctuary, we see approximately 200 sexual assault survivors each year throughout the county, and the demographic breakdown of the those survivors mirrors that of our county as a whole: approximately 20% of those clients are Latino/a, two-thirds are Caucasian, and 4% Native American (Project Sanctuary Data, 2014-2015). Agencies like PS want to educate the public about what defines sexual violence, and want to encourage you to consider the issue and discuss the importance of sexual assault prevention with those around you (and especially to the young people in your life). Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) also gives us an opportunity to dispel common misconceptions about what sexual violence is and how the average person can prevent a sexual assault from happening. 

Let’s Define Sexual Violence/Assault

There are several common misconceptions about what constitutes sexual assault or violence. The most commonly held myth is that sexual assault is defined only as rape, and rape happens when women are out alone at night on a deserted street with poor lighting and a stranger jumps out at them from the dark corner of an alley.  These are the stories that we are warned about when we are young.  The fact of the matter is, sexual assault is defined much more broadly than rape; sexual assault includes: child sexual abuse and incest, intimate partner/marital sexual assault, unwanted sexual contact/touching, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and trafficking, showing one’s genitals or naked body to other(s) without consent, masturbating in public, and watching someone in a private act without their knowledge or permission (“peeping Tom”).

What Is Consent?

In short, sexual violence can occur whenever someone “forces or manipulates someone else into unwanted sexual activity without their consent” (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2016).  The key factor in the above definition is the absence of consent.  It is important to know that in California, consent cannot legally be given under any circumstances in the following situations: the person is under age 18 and the adult is 18 or older the person is mentally disabled, the person is intoxicated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Furthermore, in California in 2014 the Governor signed the “Yes Means Yes” affirmative consent law which requires affirmative (that is, saying the word ‘yes’), “conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity”.  Currently, this law only applies to sexual encounters that occur on college campuses in California, but it’s a law that many people can see translating into the general population as well.  In addition, what many do not realize is that this law also requires that California school districts teach their students about the “Yes Means Yes” law and provide sexual violence prevention education in high school health classes (NY Times, 10/1/2015).   Take a look at this short video created by Project Sanctuary’s Youth Leadership Team illustrating the definition of sexual consent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VG25kzGkfw       

Facts About Sexual Assault Survivors

Here are some other facts about sexual violence that might surprise you:

1) Chances are that you know someone who has been sexually assaulted. Approximately one in five women are raped during their lifetime (NSVR website, 2016). The statistics around sexual assaults in this country are jarring.  By the age of 18, 1 in 6 women have experienced an attempted or completed rape; more than half occurred before a woman turns 18, and 22% before the age of 12 (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000).  By the age of 18, 1 in 6 boys will be sexually assaulted (Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis & Smith, 1990).  Using the definition of sexual assault found in the above section, and taking into consideration the statistics cited above, it is no wonder that many of us would know someone who experienced sexual assault in one form or another.

2) Victims usually know their assaulter.

A 2005 study by Maston and Klaus found that 73% of adults who were sexually assaulted knew the attacker, 38% were friends with the attacker, 28% were in an intimate relationship with the attacker, and 7% were related to the attacker.  Likewise, about 40% of sexual assaults take place in the victim’s own home, while another 20% occur in the home of a relative, friend or neighbor (Greenfield, 1997).

3) Rape is the least reported and convicted violent crime.

An estimated 63% of sexual assaults are never reported to law enforcement (Rennison, 2002). Although the prevalence of false reports in cases of sexual violence is low (Lisak et al., 2010), when survivors come forward, many fear scrutiny or encounter barriers to making the report or conviction. There are many reasons why someone may choose not to report to law enforcement or tell anyone about an experience including:

• Concern about not being believed
• Fear of the attackers retaliating against them
• Shame or fear of being blamed
• Pressure from others not to tell
• Distrust of law enforcement
• Belief that there is not enough evidence
• Desire to protect the attacker (Remember, 73% of victims know their attackers.)

Silence is the enemy when it comes to preventing sexual assault;  silence and secrecy perpetrate further assaults and allow abusers to re-offend. Use Sexual Assault Awareness Month as an opportunity to spread the word and discuss why it’s important to be able to discuss the issue openly.

Here are some other important ways that you can help prevent sexual assaults in our community:

• Be an active bystander! Intervene to stop problematic and disrespectful behavior when you see it.
• Help attack the root causes of sexual assault. Promote and model healthy attitudes, behaviors and relationships.
• Believe survivors, and help them find resources like Project Sanctuary. Project Sanctuary provides free services to sexual assault survivors throughout the county at our Fort Bragg, Ukiah, and Point Arena offices. Call 961-1507 (coast) or 462-9196 (inland) for more information about our hours of operation. PS provides confidential crisis counseling, individual counseling, support groups, information/referrals, legal advocacy, and shelter services to survivors. Learn more about Project Sanctuary by visiting projectsanctuary.org

REFERENCES

Associated Press, California: sexual consent lessons now required, New York Times, October 1, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/us/california-sexual-consent-lessons-now-required.html?_r=0

Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., Lewis I.A., & Smith, C. (1990). Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: Prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors. Child Abuse & Neglect, 14, 19-28.

Greenfeld, L.A. (1997). Sex offenses and offenders: An analysis of data on rape and sexual assault (NCJ 163392). Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Lisak, D., Gardinier, L., Nicksa, S. C., & Cote, A. M. (2010). False allegations of sexual assault: An analysis of ten years of reported cases. Violence Against Women, 16, 1318-1334. doi:10.1177/1077801210387747

Maston, C., & Klaus, P. (2005) Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2003 statistical tables: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCJ 207811). Retrieved from Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/ pdf/cvus03.pdf

Project Sanctuary, Data Collection, 2014-15.

National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2016 www.nsvrc.org         

Rennison, C. A. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 [NCJ 194530]. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics: http:// www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf

Tjaden, P. and Thoeness, N. (2000). Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women: finding from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183781.pdf

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Rachel Kradin, MSW, has been the Coast Services Director at Project Sanctuary since March 2013. Prior to that, she worked with the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County, Mendocino Coast Clinics, and the Alliance for Rural Community Health (ARCH). She moved to the Mendocino Coast 11 years ago. Her interests include counseling, youth empowerment and mentoring.