Now that Stop the Hurt is expanding to sexual assault/rape as well as dating abuse, I feel the need to go back to the basics for anyone who is not trained or educated in this subject. Also, April is SAAM (Sexual Assault Awareness Month)!
Typically, the difference between sexual assault and rape has to do with touching or penetration, respectively. Sexual assault can be defined as any sexual act that is used to threaten, coerce, or force a person to engage in an act against their will or without consent. Consent is absolutely necessary in order to have sex, or engage in any sexual activity.
So, what is consent? (Green light = Go!)
Consent is a willing and sober agreement to participate in specific sexual acts.
No means no, but it also means not acting until there is a willing yes.
The yes given must be out of excitement and THEIR choice, not submission, obligation, coercion, or manipulation.
If you are unsure, clearly communicate with the person.
Clearly express your comfort level and how far you will go at each escalation.
What is NOT consent? (Red Light = Stop!)
Consent is NOT silence, or submission.
Consent can be withdrawn at ANY TIME.
You cannot give consent legally if you are drunk or intoxicated.
Consent is NOT assumed, even if you have done something with this person before.
Consent is NOT not fighting off or resisting; victims of rape have identified with the feeling of paralysis or immobility when the assault occurred.
An important fact about sexual assault or rape is that everyone experiences, and copes with it differently. For most of you reading this if you haven't experienced this, it is easy to say, "Well I'd push them off" or "I'd fight back". In fact, 70% of women who are raped physically struggle at first but are overpowered either physically or psychologically. Some ways this can happen is through denial, or what's called Frozen Fright, which is when the person freezes or tenses up and is unable to move due to the shock of what is happening, or to protect themselves. It is also important to think about the correlation between alcohol and sexual assaults. Over 90% of the time, alcohol is present in a sexual assault whether it is by the attacker or the victim.
The most important fact about sexual assault and rape is that it is not merely about sex; it is about power and control (much like an abusive relationship). 99% of the perpetrators of rape are men. However, most men are great men and do not commit sexual assault or rape, but the men that do are often serial rapists. In fact, only 8% of men commit rape. However, this 8% are 95% more likely to commit the act again.
87% of sexual assault victims knew their attacker!
So, it is not usually the stereotypical "rape van" we must be wary of. Rather, we must be wary of the people we go on dates with, our classmates, our coworkers, friends, etc.
1 in 4 women is sexually assaulted or raped in her lifetime.
This is a similar statistic to dating abuse, and it is far too large a number. Every 2 minutes, a woman is sexually assaulted. And despite these large numbers of assaults, less than half of the crimes of sexual violence are actually reported to the police. This is due to a number of reasons I will go over in another post.
Here are some more facts about sexual assault and rape: http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php and http://www.rainn.org/statistics
I hope this post informed you on the basics of sexual assault! Please remember April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month! Do your part and stop the hurt!
Cara Mackler
Monday, April 8, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
VAWA
Although this is not new news anymore, I think it's important to talk about the new inclusive Violence Against Women Act. VAWA was originally enforced in 1994 as part of Title IV to protect victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual violence. This was an incredible progression for women's rights, but it failed to include members of the LGBT community. In 2012, VAWA was up for reauthorization and this resulted in a lot of political wars on what should and should not be included and funded. After much debate, it passed including rights for the LGBT community, Native Americans, and immigrants. VAWA has done wonders for victims of these crimes, and since it was enforced it has sparked a revolution of women's rights becoming human rights.
As a Gender Studies major, I find myself a humanist as well as a feminist because I find it necessary that everyone be treated equally. Violence should not occur in anyone's lives, and if we can provide advocacy and services to one group of people, we should provide it to all people. Without getting too political or analytical, I want to stress the importance of these human rights issues in our society as priorities.
I think our country took a great stride when they approved the inclusive VAWA that now protects the LGBT community as well as Native Americans and immigrants. I have said it before and I will say it again: it doesn't matter how different the experiences are or who is experiencing the abuse...abuse is abuse no matter what, and it hurts.
As well as providing services for victims of these crimes, VAWA has been able to fund programs in preventative efforts by engaging men and bystanders. Since I am going to pursue a career in prevention of these crimes I think this is fantastic. Ending the abuse (whether it is dating abuse or sexual assault or stalking) requires two independent but equally necessary parts:
1: We need to provide services and resources to victims of these crimes
2: We need to engage all members of the community in work to prevent these crimes
Obviously those are very broad expectations, but in essence these are the two primary focuses of ending abuse. In part 1, we are intervening when necessary to help those in need. In part 2, we educate the public about abuse as well as provide information to help prevent abuse. VAWA covers both of these parts by providing services for the victims as well as engaging bystanders and men in prevention efforts.
For those who are concerned with the money that funds VAWA...if we can decrease the number of victims of these crimes, our country would save billions of dollars. I'd hope that money would not be the most influential factor in wanting to stop violence against women, but it may help people better understand the impact domestic violence has on society (which means it includes all of us, not just those directly affected by the crimes!). Domestic violence alone costs the US over $5 BILLION in healthcare, medical costs, legal services, housing and shelters, and more. Healthcare and medical costs are the most detrimental, costing the US over $4.1 billion annually according to the CDC. So, it is worth funding VAWA if we can not only eliminate these heinous crimes but to save our country billions of dollars. Not so bad for a country in billions of dollars of debt.
If you would like to learn more about the costs of DV in the US, here is where I found my source of information: http://www.stopvaw.org/community_costs_of_domestic_violence
I hope you found this interesting as well as informative, and stay tuned for most posts about sexual assault since April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month! Please spread the word, and share Stop the Hurt's Facebook page!
Do your part and stop the hurt.
As a Gender Studies major, I find myself a humanist as well as a feminist because I find it necessary that everyone be treated equally. Violence should not occur in anyone's lives, and if we can provide advocacy and services to one group of people, we should provide it to all people. Without getting too political or analytical, I want to stress the importance of these human rights issues in our society as priorities.
I think our country took a great stride when they approved the inclusive VAWA that now protects the LGBT community as well as Native Americans and immigrants. I have said it before and I will say it again: it doesn't matter how different the experiences are or who is experiencing the abuse...abuse is abuse no matter what, and it hurts.
As well as providing services for victims of these crimes, VAWA has been able to fund programs in preventative efforts by engaging men and bystanders. Since I am going to pursue a career in prevention of these crimes I think this is fantastic. Ending the abuse (whether it is dating abuse or sexual assault or stalking) requires two independent but equally necessary parts:
1: We need to provide services and resources to victims of these crimes
2: We need to engage all members of the community in work to prevent these crimes
Obviously those are very broad expectations, but in essence these are the two primary focuses of ending abuse. In part 1, we are intervening when necessary to help those in need. In part 2, we educate the public about abuse as well as provide information to help prevent abuse. VAWA covers both of these parts by providing services for the victims as well as engaging bystanders and men in prevention efforts.
For those who are concerned with the money that funds VAWA...if we can decrease the number of victims of these crimes, our country would save billions of dollars. I'd hope that money would not be the most influential factor in wanting to stop violence against women, but it may help people better understand the impact domestic violence has on society (which means it includes all of us, not just those directly affected by the crimes!). Domestic violence alone costs the US over $5 BILLION in healthcare, medical costs, legal services, housing and shelters, and more. Healthcare and medical costs are the most detrimental, costing the US over $4.1 billion annually according to the CDC. So, it is worth funding VAWA if we can not only eliminate these heinous crimes but to save our country billions of dollars. Not so bad for a country in billions of dollars of debt.
If you would like to learn more about the costs of DV in the US, here is where I found my source of information: http://www.stopvaw.org/community_costs_of_domestic_violence
I hope you found this interesting as well as informative, and stay tuned for most posts about sexual assault since April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month! Please spread the word, and share Stop the Hurt's Facebook page!
Do your part and stop the hurt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)