What is Sexual Assault?
By Vasanthi Menon

“Sexual violence” is a term used to encompass all violent acts that are sexual in nature. Sexual assault can be verbal, visual, or anything that forces a person to have or endure unwanted sexual contact or attention. It includes forced behavior such as unwanted exposure of sexual organs, kissing, fondling, and sexual intercourse. Sexual assault can also be voyeurism (when someone watches private sexual acts), exhibitionism (when someone exposes him/herself in public), incest (sexual contact between family members), and sexual harassment.

Sexual assault is most often not about the sex, and can be a way for the offender to gain a sense of power and control. Most delinquents use manipulation and coercion in which physical force, verbal threats, intimidation, and/or blaming is used to force someone to perform or endure sexual acts. In North Carolina criminal sex offenses include acts of non-consenting vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral sex, and sexual touching with objects.

Sexual assault knows no discrimination, and anyone can become a victim of sexual assault regardless of gender, race, age, ability, sexual orientation, or economic status. Adolescents and college students are most at risk for attempted rape.*

According to the Surgeon General, violence is the leading cause of injury to women age 15–44. Here are a few of the facts related to rape. One out of every three women will be raped in her lifetime, out of which 77% will know their attacker. These include rapes committed by relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, and boyfriends. 57% of rapes occur on a date. 71% of rapes are planned in advance. 98% of all sexual assault survivors fail to see their attacker caught, tried, and imprisoned. Over one half of the rape cases brought to prosecution are dismissed before trial or end in acquittal, with one half of those persons who are convicted serving less than one year in prison. Research shows that rape within marriage is the most common completed rape and often occurs more than once. One in every seven married women will be sexually assaulted by her husband. 51%–60% of college men report they would rape a woman if they were certain that they would get away with it.

A survivor of sexual assault is nine times more likely to attempt suicide than a person not assaulted.

More than 80% of women who are raped try to physically resist. Studies show that women whose response to an assault is to physically resist or try and run away are half as likely to be raped as those who do not—and are not injured more often. Conversely, begging, pleading, and reasoning are related to a greater severity of sexual abuse.

50%–85% of women in the U.S. can expect to be sexually harassed during their academic or working life.**

What to do if you have been sexually assaulted?
The first thing to do is to get away from the attacker to a safe place as fast as you can, and call 911 or the police. Do not touch or change anything at the scene of the assault. It is important to not wash, comb, or clean any part of your body, and to not change clothes, if possible, so that the hospital staff can collect evidence pertaining to the assault. You should go to your nearest hospital emergency room as soon as possible. You will need to be examined, treated for any injuries, and screened for possible sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or pregnancy. The doctor will collect evidence using a rape kit for fibers, hairs, saliva, semen, or clothing that the attacker may have left behind. You may also want to call a friend or family member you trust to be with you. You also can call a crisis center or a hotline to talk with a counselor. Feelings of shame, guilt, fear, and shock are normal and it is important to get counseling from a trusted professional.

The National Crime Prevention Council has put together a list of tips to help reduce your chances of being sexually assaulted.† Most of them are common sense preventives, but it is important to be conscious of them.

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