S

A

Vict

■ Preserve the clothes worn at

the time of attack.

■ Get a medical exam.■ Inquire about tests for possible

pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, andsexually transmitted diseases.

What are the facts aboutsexual assault?Rape in America: A Report to the Nation* estimates that683,000 women are raped each year and that—■ Every minute in America, there are 1.3 forcible

rapes of adult women. This means that 78 womenare forcibly raped each hour, and 1,871 womenare forcibly raped every day.

■ One out of 8 adult women, or at least 12.1 

million American women, has been the victimof forcible rape.

■ Sixty-one percent of forcible rapes occur before

victims reach age 18: 29 percent of all forciblerapes occur when the victim is younger than 11years old, and 32 percent occur when the victimis between ages 11 and 17.

■ The occurrence of “acquaintance rape” is much

higher than “stranger rape”—78 percent of rapesinvolve a person the victim knows.

■ Rape has a devastating impact on victims’ psychological health, with 31 percent of all rape

victims developing posttraumatic stress disorderat some time in their lives.

■ Only 16 percent of rapes are reported to police.■ One in six men will experience a sexual assault

in his lifetime. (Intimate Partner Violence.

Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics,2000)

* Rape in America: A Report to the Nation (Arlington, VA: National

Center for Victims of Crime and the Crime Victims Research andTreatment Center, 1992) is based on two national studies of 4,008adult women and 370 rape crisis centers conducted by the NationalCenter for Victims of Crime and the Crime Victims Research andTreatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Resources for Information

and Assistance

National Center for Victims of Crime

1–800–FYI–CALL or 1–800–394–2255

www.ncvc.org

National HIV/AIDS Hotline

1–800–342–AIDS or 1–800–342–2437

TTY 1–800–243–7012 Spanish 1–800–344–SIDA

National Organization for Victim Assistance

1–800–TRY–NOVA or 1–800–879–6682

www.try-nova.org

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

717–728–9740

www.nsvrc.org

Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center

1–800–627–6872

TTY 1–877–712–9279

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ovcres/welcome.html

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network

1–800–656–HOPE or 1–800–656–4673

www.rainn.org

Violence Against Women Office

202–307–6026

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo

This brochure was developed by the National Center for 

Victims of Crime under a project supported by Grant No.

97–VF–GX–K007 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime,

Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view in this document are those of the author

and do not necessarily represent the official position

or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
What is sexual assault?

“Rape” and “sexual assault” are terms used interchangeably to describe crimes that involve unwanted and illegal sexual acts. The legal definitions of rape and sexualassault vary from state to state. Most commonly, a rapeinvolves the use or threat of force to penetrate a victim’s vagina, mouth, or anus. A sexual assault involvesthe use or threat of force but may not involve penetration. Fondling someone’s breasts or genitals withoutconsent is an example of sexual assault.Many of the assumptions people make about sexualassault and rape are not true. Some people think that ifsexual assault or rape happens to you, you must have“asked for it.” The truth is that no one asks to be rapedor sexually assaulted. You have the right to say “no” atany time to any sexual act. “No” means no. Power,anger, and control are the motives for rape—not sex.Some people think that you will be raped or sexuallyassaulted only if you act or dress a certain way or go tocertain places. That’s not true. These crimes can happen to anyone, no matter how old you are, what yourracial or cultural background may be, what type of education you have, or how much money you make.Some people think that you can be raped or sexuallyassaulted only by strangers. The truth is that only 22percent of rape cases involve strangers. The rest arecommitted by someone the victim knows well. Rape bysomeone you know is still rape, and it is still a crime.Even in marriage, when a spouse is forced to have sexagainst her will, it is a crime of rape.Some people think that you cannot be forcedto have sex against your will. The truthis that you can be, either by physicalforce or threat of injury or death.Cooperation does not mean consent. Fearing serious injury ordeath during a rape, many victims do not resist the attack anddo not sustain any bruises, marks,or other visible physical injuries. Youcannot always tell someone has beenraped just by looking at her.

Can males be raped or sexually assaulted?Men can be raped or sexually assaulted and are lesslikely to report their assaults than women. Many menfeel their community would ostracize them if it wereknown that they were sexually assaulted or raped.Many men deny or hide the crime. They do not dealwith the serious impact the assault has on their lives.Being raped or sexually assaulted by another male doesnot mean a victim is bisexual or homosexual or that hewill become bisexual or homosexual. Heterosexual andgay men alike are victims of sexual assault. However,most abusers of adolescent and adult males are heterosexual men. If you are a male who has been raped orsexually assaulted, you are not to blame. The offenderhas full responsibility for the assault.If You Are a Rape or Sexual Assault SurvivorIf you do not have visible physical injuries from theassault, friends and family may think you are okay.Many people do not understand the extent of traumaendured by rape and sexual assault victims. Your bodymay look fine, but you still need time for emotionaland spiritual healing.As time passes, you may have a variety of feelings,thoughts, and reactions to what has happened—mostrape and sexual assault victims do. At times, you mayfeel guilty about what happened, even though you didnothing wrong. You may feel shocked that somethingso terrible could have happened to you, and sometimesyou may even pretend or deny that it happened at all.You may feel embarrassed that you are a victim of rapeor sexual assault, and you may worry that people youdo not want to know will find out what happened.At times, you may feel very angry—angry at the personwho hurt you, angry at the police and court system fornot doing enough about what happened to you, angryat your family and friends for not understanding, andmaybe even angry at the world for letting such a terrible thing happen. Sometimes you may feel depressed orhopeless and lack interest in people or things you onceenjoyed.

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