Sexual Abuse, Assault, and Rape Awareness
Facts and Myths
>Due to the secretive nature of sexual crimes, society believe many of the myths that surround these crimes. In an effort to spread awareness, I have chosen to provide you with many commonly believed myths. I have also provided the "real truth".
Myth
-Rape is a crime of sex/passion.
Fact
-Rape is experienced by the victims as an act of violence.
-It is a life-threatening experience.
-While sexual attraction may be influential, power, control and anger are the primary motives.
-Most rapists have access to a sexual partner.
-Gratification comes from gaining power and control and discharging anger.
-This gratification is only temporary, so the rapist seeks another victim.
Myth
-Women incite men to rape them.
Fact
-Rape is the responsibility of the rapist alone.
Myth
-There is a "right way" to respond to a rape situation.
Fact
-Since rape is life-threatening and each rapist has his own pattern, the best thing a victim can do is follow her instincts and observe any cues from the rapist.
-If the victim escapes alive she has done the right thing.
Myth
-Rapists are non-white. Rapists are lower class. Rapists are "Criminal types".
Fact
-Rapists that fit the myth are more likely to be prosecuted but a rapist can be anyone: doctor, policeman, clergyman, social worker or corporate president.
Myth
- Sexual assaults are rare deviations and affect few people. After all, no one I know has been raped.
Fact
-Sexual assaults are very common. Most likely, someone close to you has been profoundly affected by sexual assault. Not only are victims reluctant to discuss their assaults but many succeed in totally blocking the assault from conscious memory. However, the trauma remains and may come to the surface at another crisis or when the opportunity to discuss it with a sympathetic person arises.
Myth
-You can tell a rapist by the way he looks.
Fact
-Rapists are not physically identifiable. They may appear friendly, normal, and non-threatening. Many are young, married and have children. Rapist types and traits however can be categorized.
Myth
-A man can't rape his wife.
Fact
-Non-consensual sex is Rape. It does not matter what relationship the victims has with the perpetrator. Many states now have laws against rape in marriage. The idea that a man can't rape his wife suggests married women do not have the same right to safety as do unmarried women. Most battered women have experienced some form of sexual abuse within their marriage. It is also known that estranged or ex-spouses sometimes use rape as a form of retaliation.
Myth
-Rape is just unwanted sex and isn't really a violent crime.
Fact
-Rape is a lot more than an unwanted sex act, it is a violent crime. Many rapists carry a weapon and threaten the victim with violence or death.
Myth
-Rape only occurs outside and at night.
Fact
-Rape can and does occur anytime and anyplace. Many rapes occur during the day and in the victims' homes.
Myth
-Sexual assault usually occurs between strangers.
Fact
-By some estimates, over 70% of rape victims know their attackers. The rapist may be a relative, friend, co-worker, date or other acquaintance.
Myth
-Rape is a crime of passion.
Fact
-Rape is an act of VIOLENCE, not passion. it is an attempt to hurt and humiliate, using sex as the weapon.
Myth
-Only women and gay men get raped.
Fact
-The vast majority of male rape victims, as well as their rapists, are heterosexual. Rapists are motivated by the desire to have power and control over another person, not by sexual attraction. Male rape is not homosexual rape. Many male victims do not report the assault because they fear further humiliation.
Myth
-If the assailant, victim, or both are drunk, the assailant cannot be charged with rape.
Fact
-Forcing sex on someone who is too drunk to give consent is second degree rape. Rape is a crime. People who commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not considered free from guilt.
Myth
-Rapists are abnormal perverts; only sick or insane men are rapists.
Fact
-In a study of 1300 convicted offenders, few were diagnosed as mentally or emotionally ill. Most were well-adjusted but had a greater tendency to express their anger through violence and rage.
Myth
-Rape is a minor crime affecting only a few women.
Fact
-It is estimated that 1 in 8 women will be raped in her lifetime. Because of low reporting rates, it is not known how many adult men are assaulted. It is also estimated that 1 out of every 4 girls, and 1 out of every 6 boys are sexually assaulted in some way before they reach adulthood. Rape is the most frequently committed violent crime in this country.
Myth
-Women secretly enjoy being raped.
Fact
-No woman/ man/ child enjoys being raped. It is a brutal intrusion on the mind, body and spirit that can have lasting trauma.
Myth
-If a person doesn't "fight back" she/he wasn't really raped.
Fact
-Rape is potentially life-threatening. Whatever a person does to survive the assault is the appropriate action.
Myth
-A person who has really been assaulted will be hysterical.
Fact
-Survivors exhibit a spectrum of emotional responses to assault: calm, hysteria, laughter, anger, apathy, shock. Each survivor copes with the trauma of the assault in a different way.
Myth
-It is impossible to sexually assault a man.
Fact
-Men fall victim for the same reasons as women: they are overwhelmed by threats or acts of physical and emotional violence. Also, most sexual assaults that involve a male victim are gang assaults.