Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. [1]
On average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States. [2]
Younger people are the highest risk of sexual violence, with the majority of sexual assault victims being under 30 years old. [3]
Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years of rape and sexual assault. [4]
Women and girls experience sexual violence at high rates. [5]
1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted). [6]
As of 1998, an estimated 17.7 million American women had been victims of attempted or completed rape. [7]
82% of all juvenile victims are female. 90% of adult rape victims are female. [8]
Females ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. [9]
Women ages 18-24 who are college students are 3 times more likely than women in general to experience sexual violence. Females of the same age who are not enrolled in college are 4 times more likely. [10]
Men and boys are also affected by sexual violence. [11]
Male ages 18-24 who are college students are approximately 5 times more likely that non-students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault. [12]
As of 1998, 2.78 million men in the U.S. had been victims of attempted or completed rape. [13]
About 3% of American men - or 1 in 33 - have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. [14]
1 out of every 10 rape victims are male. [15]
* For more statistics on sexual violence in the United States, visit https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence
With the statistics stated above, it's disheartening and astounding to think that acts of sexual violence among girls and boys & women and men live on. The statistics given are just in the United States alone - with these percentages and numbers only accounting for those who have reported their accounts with sexual violence, as some accounts remain under reported.
As the first statistic states, an American is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds.
Institutions, parents, state education boards, and people find themselves wondering which actions to take in order to prevent rape. Well, this blog post is dedicated to exactly that with rape prevention tips to protect my fellow women and men.
*For the sole purpose of acknowledging that both women and men are victims of sexual violence, I will be referring to one as "they", "them", and "their" in a singular sense.
1. Don't put drugs in people's drinks.
2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone.
3. If you pull over to help someone with their car, remember not to rape them.
4. If you are in an Uber, Lyft, or car and someone joins the ride, do not rape them.
5. Never lurk into someone's home through an unlocked door or window, spring out from behind a car, wall, or bush, or rape them.
6. When you encounter someone who is asleep, the safest course of action is to not rape them.
7. Use the Buddy System! If you cannot refrain yourself from raping someone, ask a trusted friend to accompany you at all times.
8. Carry a rape whistle. If you find yourself about to rape someone, blow the whistle until someone comes to stop you.
9. Don't forget: Honesty is the best policy! If you have every intention of having sex with the person you're dating regardless of how they feel about it, tell them directly that you are planning on raping them. If you don't communicate your intentions, they may take it as a sign you don't plan to rape them and negligently feel safe.
10. Don't rape.
The top 10 tips to end rape highlighted above are from Rape Crisis Scotland and take a paradigm shift in the approach and conversation about ending rape to what it should be:
We need to shift the conversation from teaching men and women how to not rape instead of teaching men and women how to not get raped.
Too many women and men are taught to be careful with what they wear and how they wear it, to be cautious with their words when discussing sexuality and promiscuity, and to refrain from engaging in certain behaviors such as drinking at the bar or casually making out with someone in order to prevent them from being sexually assaulted.
Because God forbid I wear a tube top with a tight skirt to the bar, engage in taking shots, and end up making out with a guy & stating my intentions are just to only make out while also giving nonverbal cues that I physically want nothing more, only to be sexually assaulted and told by various people that:
I was asking for it because of my clothes and should've worn something different.
If I didn't drink too much, that wouldn't have happened.
My nonverbal cues, despite verbally stating my intentions as well, weren't easily noticeable and would've only been apparent to the person giving them.
I shouldn't have made out with him in the first place.
In my high school, all the women were taught not to wear pants that were too tight and to button our shirts so we wouldn't "distract the boys from learning". If a woman had a curvy body and pants normally fit tight because of her natural body shape, she was shamed for having curves because boys our age would get "distracted". No boys were ever told "don't make inappropriate comments or innuendos verbally and with your body language because that'll distract the girls from learning and make them uncomfortable."
At home, I'm taught to be cautious of what I wear and what I post given my liberal mindset of "my body, my choice" and promoting promiscuity and openness because of the fear my mother has of me getting sexually assaulted.
And I shouldn't have to be taught what to wear and what not to say.
No one should be taught that.
We need to teach our girls, boys, women, and men how not to rape and respect others' bodies, boundaries, and nonsexual desires.
We need to stop blaming men and women who are survivors of rape or sexual assault for their rape or sexual assault.
We desperately need to shift the conversation to teaching our children, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, and peers on how to respect their partner or hookup and never make them feel uncomfortable & how to practice consent.
Too many of my fellow women and men have fallen victims to sexual violence. And it was at the hands of people who don't understand respect and consent or what it is to be a decent human.
The first approach to shifting the conversation is with you.
Will you shift the conversation of rape prevention to how not to rape to protect girls and boys & women and men from being a statistic of sexual violence & suffering from trauma?
Comments