Thursday, February 28, 2013

Sexual Assault Awareness



So at my place of employment Sussex & Area Family & Early Childhood Inc. (till the ends of March then we become a new program…more to follow on that) all staff sits on community committees. The one I sit on is Sussex Sexual Assault Prevention Committee April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In light of that I wanted to start getting people to think about what they can do to prevent sexual assault.

In the United States, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men report that they have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. I’m assuming that Canadian stats are very similar.

Sexual violence is a serious public health problem. Statistics underestimate the problem because many victims are afraid to tell the police, family, or friends about the violence.

Sexual violence is any sexual activity where consent is not freely given. This includes completed or attempted sex acts that are against the victim's will or involve a victim who is unable to consent. It also includes abusive sexual contact and noncontact sexual abuse (such as verbal sexual harassment). Child sexual abuse is also considered sexual violence.
This type of violence can be committed by anyone - a current or former intimate partner, a family member, a person in position of power or trust, a friend, an acquaintance, someone known only by sight, or a stranger.
Sexual violence impacts health in many ways and can lead to long-term health and emotional problems. Victims may experience chronic pain, headaches, and sexually transmitted diseases. They are often fearful or anxious, and may have problems trusting others. Anger and stress can lead to eating disorders, depression, and even suicidal thoughts.



A fantastic poster has been made up in our area I just wanted to give you an overview of it:

Sexual Consent
Know the Rules of the Road

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Any sexual activity without consent is against the law. If you want to engage in sexual activity with your partner, it’s important that you communicate what you want, what you don’t want, and that you respect each other’s boundaries.

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Signs you should stop
You or your partner is too drunk or high to give consent.
Your partner is asleep or passed out.
You hope your partner will say nothing and go with the flow.
You intend to have sex by any means necessary.

Signs you should pause and talk
You are not sure what the other person wants.
You feel like you are getting mixed signals.
You have not talked about what you want to do.
You assume that you will do the same thing as before.
Your partner stops or is not responsive.

Keep Communicating
You and your partner come to a mutual decision.
You and your partner clearly express your comfort with the situation.
You and your partner feel comfortable and safe stopping at any time.
You and your partner are excited!

Sexual Assault Awareness Month in you community
Want to prevent sexual assault? Let’s Talk About It!
www.lets-talk-about-it.ca



2 comments:

  1. The "1 in 71 men have been raped" stat doesn't tell the whole story. It comes from the latest CDC survey which defines “rape” as the attacker penetrating the victim, which excludes women who use their vagina to rape a man (rape by envelopment) which is counted as “made to penetrate”. The very same survey says “1 in 21 men (4.8%) reported that they were made to penetrate someone else,” which is far more than 1 in 71. Also, the study says that 79.2% of male victims of “made to penetrate” reported only female perpetrators, meaning they were raped by a woman.

    The above, lifetime stats do show a lower percentage of male victims (up to 1.4% rape by penetration + 4.8% made to penetrate = 6.2%) than female victims (18.3%) although it is far more than the 1 in 71 you stated. However, if you look at the report’s stats for the past 12 months, just as many number of men were “forced to penetrate” as women were raped, meaning if you properly include “made to penetrate” in the definition of rape, men were raped as often as women.

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  2. That is definitely an unfortunate higher rate! Thank you for sharing!

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