GENERAL INFORMATION:

MYTHS & FACTS

Myth: Rape is a rare occurrence; "It will never happen to me."

Fact: There is a rape once every six minutes in the United States. One in four women and one in eight men will be the victim of a sexual assault or rape in their lifetimes. The United States has the world’s highest rape rate of the countries that publish such statistics--13 times higher than England’s, and 20 times higher than Japan’s. Every 21 hours on each college campus in the U.S. there is a rape.

Myth: Only young, beautiful women in mini-skirts or women with "reputations" get raped.

Fact: Rapists choose their victims for their vulnerability and accessibility, without regard to physical appearance or reputation. Victims are young and old, single and married, rich and poor, male and female. Victims of reported assaults have ranged from six weeks to 93 years old. Of note, however, is that women aged 16-24 run a greater risk of being raped than any other population group. More specifically, a woman is most likely to experience an assault during their first two months of college. Also, women have a right to dress any way they want. It is the rapist who makes the choice to rape them.

Myth: A rapist is more likely to be a masked, crazed stranger who jumps out of the bushes, than a good-looking college student.

Fact: Eighty-five percent of rape victims know their assailants. Thirty-five percent of sexual assaults occur within the family. It is estimated that incest occurs in one out of twenty families. Most rapists are ordinary males with no history of mental illness. 68% of rapes happen at a party, 32% in a dorm room, 28% in a fraternity house, and 29% in an apartment.

Myth: Rape is an act of sex and passion; for example, a sexually frustrated man sees an attractive woman and can’t control himself.

Fact: Ninety percent of all rapes are planned. The rapist has planned to have sex with a specific woman whether she wants to or not. Rape is a violent crime that uses sex as a weapon of power and control. The average rape lasts 2-4 hours.

Myth: It’s not your fault if you force someone to have sex or don’t get consent when you’re drunk.

Fact: If you’re drunk you are still responsible for your actions, just as in drunk driving. It is never OK to force someone to have sex. Furthermore, someone who is legally intoxicated cannot give consent. 90% of all rapes involve alcohol and/or drugs.

Myth: A woman could prevent herself from getting raped if she really wanted.

Fact: 85% of rapes involve physical force. In 87% of the cases the perpetrator either carried a weapon or threatened to kill the victim. 20% of rape victims are killed or permanently injured.

Myth: Many women say "No" when they mean "Yes."

Fact: If a woman says "No," that "No" must be respected. There is no such thing as "the point of no return" or "not being able to stop." If at any point a person says "No," you must stop. If someone tells you to stop, they may be uncomfortable for a variety of reasons, one of which might be that they have been assaulted in the past.

Myth: Women often lie about getting raped to get back at someone.

Fact: FBI statistics are that only 1-2% of reported rapes are false. This is the same percentage of false reports as for all other crimes. Also, only one in ten to twenty rapes are reported, and only one in one hundred are prosecuted.

Myth: Real men don’t get raped. If a man is raped, it’s by a homosexual male.

Fact: Same sex assault does occur, but it is estimated that less than 1% of men report their rapes. 96% of rapists are heterosexual and only 4% of same sex assaults are homosexual assaults. Same sex assault is typically more physically violent than opposite sex assault and there is usually more than one assailant and use of a weapon.

Myth: Rape is the victim’s fault if she slept around/was drinking/invited him to her room . . .

Fact: No one asks to be raped. Believe the victim. She might be pregnant or have contracted a sexually transmitted disease. She is probably experiencing loss of trust, confusion, self-blame, and shame and needs support.