Information on Sexual Abuse

General Information

• Nobody has the right to touch your body without your permission, regardless of how much he or she loves you, how much money he or she has spent on you, or for any other reason.

• Anytime a touch makes you feel uncomfortable, you have the right to say no. You never owe another person the right to touch you. Trust your gut feelings. Pushing, manipulating, pressuring, exploiting, or abusing another person is never acceptable in any relationship.

• If someone touches you in a way you don’t like, tell the person to stop and get away, and then talk about it with an adult you trust.

• If an adult or older teenager has touched you in the past, it is not your fault. It is always the adult’s responsibility.

• It is very important that you get counseling for sexual abuse now, in order to prevent problems, as you grow older. If you have never talked with a counselor, seek help immediately.

Sexual Abuse and Assault Information

• The sexual abuse of a person occurs when a male or female is tricked, coerced, seduced, intimidated, forced into cooperating, or forced into not offering any resistance to sexual activity with another person. Sexual abuse can be defined as:

 1. Showing children pornographic materials

 3. Adult exposing himself or herself to the child or asking the child to expose himself or herself

 4. Fondling private areas of the body

• Sexual assault includes incest, molestation, rape, and “date rape.”

• Incest is sexual activity between any relatives (usually a father or stepfather, grandfather, uncle, cousin, or brother – occasionally a mother, grandmother, or aunt).

• Molestation is sexual activity with someone outside the person’s family. Only 20 percent of molestation acts are by strangers. Eighty percent of molestation acts are by someone the victim knows and trusts:

10. Baby sitter

• One study of adult females who were sexually abused as children indicates that the average time that victims suffered sexual abuse was over seven and one-half years - and that the abuse on average began at age six.

Rape Information

• Rape is forced penetration (by penis or any object) of the vagina, mouth, or anus against the will of the victim.

• According to the most recent information, in 2007, there were some 248,300 incidents of rape or attempted rape or sexual assault. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice. 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2007)This amounts to one incident approximately every 3 minutes!

• Rape is one of the most frequent violent crimes, and its incidence is steadily increasing.

• Victims range in age from small children to the elderly. They come from all lifestyles and socioeconomic groups.

• Rape is a crime of violence. The rapist uses force or threats of harm to overpower and control the victim.

• Although rape may or may not result in serious physical injuries, it almost always causes severe emotional distress.

• Acquaintance rape or “date rape” is rape by someone the victim knows or is dating. Date rapists generally use just enough force to gain compliance. A date rapist may use their physical power to coerce intercourse, taking advantage of a situation by using force, pressure, deception, trickery, or teen vulnerability. The date rapist is not a weird, easily identifiable person. They are just like anyone else except that they use force to get their way.

• About 75 percent of teen rapes are acquaintance rapes or “date rapes”.

• What to do if you are raped:

1. Get to a safe place.

2. Do not bathe, douche, or change clothes. Call a rape crisis hotline.

3. Have a friend or family member go with you to the hospital emergency room (take a change of clothes if possible):

 • To preserve the evidence (very important if you decide to prosecute)

 • To check for venereal disease and pregnancy

4. Report the crime to police.

• Making a police report will benefit you directly.

1. Reporting the assault is a way of regaining your sense of personal power and control.

2. Reporting enables you to do something concrete about the crime committed against you.

3. Reporting helps ensure that you receive the most immediate and comprehensive assistance available.

 • Making a police report will help prevent other people from being raped.

   1. Reporting and prosecuting the assailant are essential to the prevention of rape.

   2. Most rapists are repeat offenders.

   3. If the rape is not reported, the assailant cannot be apprehended.