It is known that sexual assaults occur in the United States, but exact numbers and figures are difficult to determine based upon the suspected number of unreported sexual assaults that occur (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network [RAINN], 2014). Approximately 60% of all sexual assaults are never reported to police (RAINN, 2014). Despite the lack of sexual assault reporting, it has been determined that a sexual assault occurs every 2 minutes in the United States resulting in over 230,000 sexual assaults each year (RAINN, 2014). 1 in 6 women will be a victim of sexual assault within their lifetime resulting in over 17 million American women that have survived a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault (RAINN, 2014). Men can also be survivors of sexual assault. It is thought that many sexual assaults that occur among men go unreported, more often than sexual assaults against women (After Silence, 2011). Approximately 1 in every 33 men in the United States will experience sexual assault in their lifetime (RAINN, 2014). Among all sexual assaults, 90% occur between acquaintances, meaning that most survivors of sexual assault knew the assailant (RAINN, 2014).
Recently, the Department of Education published updated requires for higher education institutions regarding the reporting and handling of sexual assault cases among college students. These new regulations can be attributed to the high number of sexual assaults that have occurred on college campuses for a number of years (Franklin, Boufford and Pratt, 2012). About 1 in 4 college women and 3% of college men have reported surviving sexual assault after the age of 14 (One In Four USA, 2011). In fact, 25% of all reported sexual assaults occur among women aged 18-25, ages of a traditional college student (RAINN, 2014). The culture of college campus and the behaviors of college students may be attributed to these high rates (Franklin, Boufford and Pratt, 2012). Acquaintance or date rape tends to be the most prevalent form of sexual assault among college students (Franklin, Boufford and Pratt, 2012). This can be linked to high rates of alcohol and drug use among college students than individuals aged 18-24 not attending college (Franklin, Boufford and Pratt, 2012). The new federal regulations from the Department of Education will enforce increased education and prevention efforts provided to all college students and help regulate the reporting and judicial processes colleges and universities take when addressing sexual assault claims/reports among students (Not Alone.gov, 2014).
The effects that sexual assaults have adverse effects in survivors' lives (RAINN, 2014). Survivors of sexual assault are 3 times as likely to suffer from depression than someone who has not experienced sexual assault (RAINN, 2014). Even more alarming, survivors are 26 times more likely to abuse drugs and 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol as a result of sexual assault (RAINN, 2014).
The effects of sexual assault on survivors and the alarmingly high rates of sexual assault among men and women are validation that sexual assault is a public health issue that needs to be addressed through education and prevention efforts. Increased efforts to educate the public about the incidence of sexual assaults and ways that they can be prevented will help reduce the number of survivors battling the lasting effects of sexual assault.
References
After Silence (2011). Male Surviviors. Retrieved from http://www.aftersilence.org/male-survivors.php
Franklin, C.A., Boufford, L.A.. and Pratt, T.C. (2012). Sexual assault on the college campus: Fraternity affiliation, male-peer support and low self control. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39, 1457- 1480. doi: 10.1177/0093854812456527
One In Four USA (2011). Sexual assault statistics. Retrieved from http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php
Not Alone (2014). Title IX compliance requirements. Retrieved from https://www.notalone.gov/schools/
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (2014). Who are the victims?. Retrieved from
https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims
Kacey,
ReplyDeleteI find your topic quite interesting and want to learn more. I am familiar with RAINN and their statistics that are quite intense. I hope you can shed light on some of these and talk about prevention strategies.
Have you looked into the "Green Dot Project"? It's a campus awareness program some universities have added and I think it's interesting for safety and cases of sexual assault on campus.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI have heard on Green Dot and really like their program. I hope to attend some trainings that they provide. We are implementing Haven, created by EverFi, next fall. It is an online sexual assault education program that offers some of the same learning approaches as Green Dot.
Kacey,
ReplyDeleteGreat topic! For my undergraduate internship, I worked in a health and wellness clinic for women and many of the individuals I worked with were college women who had been victims of sexual assault but refused to report it. Many of these women experienced depression & anxiety because of the events. It is alarming the amount of individuals that find themselves in these situations and feel helpless because they don't feel that reporting would help them or the situation. After reading your comments about the Haven program, I am very interested in learning more about the program. Is there a website that I could visit to research it more?
Kacey,
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing statistics about sexual assaults of men. Sometimes we forget men are victims too. I have always felt media plays a role in how women are treated and portrayed. I don't think it helps that some movies show violent acts against women.Women mostly play the victim and being less powerful than men. It is getting better but we have a ways to go. I think we as a culture have become desensitized to seeing violent acts towards women and that is frightening. No woman or man needs to be subjected to such a horrible act. Thank you for choosing this as a topic. I'm looking forward to reading more in future blogs.