Gregory K. Moffatt, Ph.D.
Statistics regarding sexual abuse and
sexual assault are chilling. Nearly a million children are abused
each year, but we've drilled the risk of sexual abuse into the
heads of anyone who works with children to the point that the
incidents of abuse are actually on the decline. I'm grateful.
Back when I started my clinical work, there were no mandated reporting
laws and many people - even those who worked directly with children
- didn't even recognize abuse when it was in front of them. When
they did, they weren't sure what they were supposed to do. That
has all changed, thank goodness, but I'm seeing something else
that is eerily familiar.
Sexual assault and rape of teens and young women is the new "mystery"
phenomenon. People are aware that girls get raped, but for most
people it is theoretical. They don't realize how close this is
to home. Let's look at some data.
By the time women graduate from college, nearly a quarter of them
will have experienced sexual assault or rape at some point in
their lives. By self-report, 20% of high school girls acknowledge
being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner and well
in their 20's, the victims of rape and sexual assault are most
likely to be assaulted by their dates or people they trust. For
this reason college students are MORE likely to be raped in a
dormitory than in their own apartment or home.
Sadly, 38% of women who have been sexually assaulted during their
college years, were also victims in their earlier years. Therefore,
being a victim in the teen years is the most reliable predictor
of being a victim in college.
As if these data weren't discouraging enough, we know that most
victims of rape never tell anyone; therefore, less than 1% of
all rapes ever end in conviction. For those who choose to seek
legal help, half of those cases will be dismissed before trial,
and only about 23% of those cases that do go to court end in conviction.
For that small percentage who are convicted, average jail time
is 11 months.
I see rape and assault victims almost every week. They are consumed
with misplaced shame, embarrassment, and guilt. When they have
the courage to pursue legal action, they are often chastised and
ostracized by their friends and family - as if the rape was their
fault. They have to re-live this horrible experience many times
over - in the ER while evidence is collected, in front of a police
officer as a case is opened, for detectives and the prosecutor
as the case progresses, and again at trial and sentencing. Repeatedly
victims have to manage their humiliation - sometimes in front
of a smug perpetrator in court while an accusatory defense attorney
does everything he or she can to make the victim look responsible.
In one study, only about 20% of the women who reported rape were
glad that they did. Over 60% later wished they had said nothing.
These victims' lives are changed forever. Their relationships
with their parents, friends, boyfriends, spouses, and children
are deeply affected by sexual assault.
The only way these discouraging statistics will change is for
attitudes about sexual assault to shift in the same way they already
have regarding child abuse. Sexual abuse and assault have to be
on everyone's radar. Awareness, prevention, and intervention are
starting points. Our young women need to be taught early in life
that their sexuality is their own. No one deserves to be raped.
Even more importantly, the mood of culture must change so that
one who has been sexually assaulted is never seen as responsible.
No means no at any point in a relationship.
I would love to see a change in the data in the future where only
a very small percentage of women regret reporting their rapes
or assaults. Men who do this will do it again. They are empowered
by their victims' silence and the complacency of the public. This
has got to change.