What is Sexual Assault?

Sexual Assault is sexual contact upon a person without consent. No one regardless of dress or behavior deserves to sexually assaulted. Sexual assault is never the victim’s fault.

Sexual Assault includes the following:

  • Rape and attempted rape
  • Unwanted sexual touching
  • Voyeurism or exhibitionism
  • Child sexual abuse or incest
  • Exposing children to sexual acts or pornography
  • Electronic abuse–using technology to harass, monitor, and control

Important Facts About Sexual Assault

  • Rape is an act of power, control, and domination
  • No one deserves to be sexually assaulted
  • No one is immune from the possibility of sexual assault. Victims have been as young as few weeks old and as old as 95
  • Men as well as women can be sexually assaulted

If you have been a victim of sexual assault, Susan B. Anthony Project can help

A sexual assault counselor can offer support, answer questions, help you develop a safety plan, and offer shelter, if needed.

  • 24 hour crisis line
  • Counseling for survivors and their families
  • Support groups
  • Day and evening appointments
  • Support at hospital during a sexual assault exam
  • Help with restraining orders
  • Medical and legal support and advocacy
  • Emergency shelter
  • Transitional housing

Facts and Statistics about Sexual Assault

  • Nearly 1 in 5 women (19.3%) and 1 in 59 men (1.7%) have been raped in their lifetime.
  • „78% of incidences of sexual violence involved an offender who was a family member, intimate partner, friend, or acquaintance.
  • Fewer than 50% of sexual assault victims report the assault to police
  • 23% of rape or sexual assault victims received help or advice from a victim service agency.
    (from Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization—National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2011; U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau op Justice Statistics, 2013)