Adult Sexual Assault
- Facts & Statistics
- An estimated 1 million rapes or attempted rapes occur annually in the United States: 876,000 in women and 111,000 in men, meaning that 1 in 6 women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.
- Most rapes are never reported to either the police or healthcare providers, with adolescents and males the least likely to report.
- The majority of males who rape males are not homosexual and the majority of males who are raped are not homosexual.
- Youths and adolescents are sexually assaulted in disproportionate numbers compared to the population.
- A reported 22% of women are raped by strangers, 29% by acquaintances, 9% by ex-husbands, 11% by stepfathers, 10% by boyfriends, and 16% by other relatives.
- Victims who know their assailant are less likely to report the crime or receive medical care.
Information from "Quick-Reference Sexual Assault" by Giardino, Datner, Asher, Girardin, Faugno, and Spencer
- Fear of being blamed
- Fear of family, friends, and others finding out
- Fear of the assault being made public by the media
- Fear of retaliation
- Perceived shame or stigma associated with being the victim of a sexual assault
- Victim does not fit into the "classic" definition of a rape victim as a woman raped by a stranger
- Get to a safe place.
- Do not shower, bathe, wash your hands, brush your teeth, use the toilet or clean up in any way. You could destroy evidence.
- Do not change or destroy clothing. Your clothes are evidence.
- If it was in your home, do not rearrange and/or clean up anything. You could destroy evidence.
- Get medical attention as soon as possible. (Evidence should be collected when you get to the hospital.)
- Contact a friend or family member you trust or call the local rape crisis center hotline.
- Notify and report to law enforcement.
- Most of all, know this is not your fault.
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