Myth #1: Victims provoke sexual assaults when they dress provocatively or act in a promiscuous manner.
Fact: Rape and sexual assault are crimes of violence and control that stem from a person’s determination to exercise power over another, regardless of the way that person dresses or acts.
Myth #2: If something happens after going to someone’s room or house or goes to a bar, she can’t claim that she was raped or sexually assaulted because she should have known not to go to those places.
Fact: This “assumption of risk” wrongfully places the responsibility of the offender’s actions with the victim. Even if a person went voluntarily with someone and consented to engage in some sexual activity, it does not serve as a blanket consent for all sexual activity.
Myth #3: It’s not sexual assault if it happens after drinking or taking drugs.
Fact: Many state laws hold that a person who is cognitively impaired due to the influence of drugs or alcohol is not able to consent to sexual activity. Using alcohol to subdue someone in order to engage in non-consensual sexual activity is also criminal.
Myth #4: Most sexual assaults are committed by strangers. It’s not rape if the people involved knew each other.
Fact: Most sexual assaults and rapes are committed by someone the victim knows. During 2000, about six in ten rape or sexual assault victims stated the offender was an intimate, other relative, a friend or an acquaintance1. A study of sexual victimization of college women showed that for both completed and attempted rapes, about 9 in 10 offenders were known to the victim2. Sexual assault can be committed within any type of relationship, including in marriage, in dating relationships, or by friends, acquaintances or co-workers.
Myth #5: Rape can be avoided if women avoid dark alleys or other “dangerous” places where strangers might be hiding or lurking.
Fact: Rape and sexual assault can occur at any time, in many places, to anyone. According to a report based on FBI data, almost 70% of sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim, the offender, or another individual3. As pointed out above in Fact #4, many rapes are committed by people known to the victim.
Myth #6: A person who has really been sexually assaulted will be hysterical.
Fact: Victims of sexual violence exhibit a spectrum of responses to the assault which can include: calm, hysteria, withdrawal, anger, apathy, denial, and shock. Being sexually assaulted is a very traumatic experience. There is no “right way” to react to being sexually assaulted.
Myth #7: All sexual assault victims will report the crime immediately to the police. If they do not report it or delay in reporting it, then they must have changed their minds after it happened, wanted revenge, or didn’t want to look like they were sexually active.
Fact: There are many reasons why a sexual assault victim may not report the assault to the police including reluctance to relive the trauma by talking about it, fear of retaliation by the offender, fear of not being believed, fear of being blamed for the assault, fear of being “revictimized” if the case goes through the criminal justice system, belief that the offender will not be held accountable, wanting to forget the assault ever happened, not recognizing that what happened was sexual assault, shame, and/or shock. In fact, reporting a sexual assault incident to the police is the exception and not the norm. From 1993 to 1999, about 70% of rape and sexual assault crimes were not reported to the police4.
Myth #8: Only young, pretty women are assaulted.
Fact: Sexual assault is a crime of power and control and offenders often choose people whom they perceive as most vulnerable to attack or over whom they believe they can assert power. Sexual assault victims come from all walks of life. They can range in age from the very old to the very young. 34% of victims of sexual violence are under the age of 12.5
Myth #9: It’s only rape if the victim puts up a fight and resists.
Fact: Many law enforcement experts say that victims should trust their instincts and intuition and do what they think is most likely to keep them alive. Not fighting or resisting an attack does not equal consent. It may mean it was the best way she knew how to protect herself from further injury.
Myth #10: Someone can only be sexually assaulted if a weapon was involved.
Fact: In many cases of sexual assault, a weapon is not involved. The offender often uses physical strength, physical violence, intimidation, threats, or a combination of these tactics to overpower the victim. In addition, the offender may have intimate knowledge about the victim’s life, such as where she lives, where she works, where she goes to school, or information about her family and friends. This enhances the credibility of any threats made by the offender.
Myth #11: Rape is mostly an inter-racial crime.
Fact: The vast majority of violent crimes, which include sexual assaults and rapes, are intra-racial, meaning the victim and the offender are of the same race.6
Notes
1. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crime Characteristics: Violent Crime - Victim/Offender Relationship (last
revised Dec. 20, 2001)
2. Fisher, Bonnie S., Francis T. Cullen and Michael G. Turner, The Sexual Victimization of College
Women Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice
Statistics, NCJ 182369 (December 2000).
3. Snyder, Howard N., Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim,
Incident, and Offender Characteristics, Washington, DC: American Statistical Association and U.S.
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 182990 (July 2000).
4. Rennison, Callie M., National Crime Victimization Survey, Criminal Victimization 2000: Changes 1999-
2000 with Trends 1993-2000, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,
NCJ 187007 (June 2001)
5. Id.
6. Rennison, Callie M., Violent Victimization and Race, 1993-98, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 176354 (March 2001)