The Reality of Sexual Assault: A Story and Stats

I’ve been “Tuning” up the novels and since the Lawman series is grounded in the real world, we can expect sexual assault to rear its head. In the novel, Life on Mars, it does.

I’ll be adding the below to it as “Preface.” There’s a lot of boring statistics in it. BUT, and here’s the important question. Are you in there someplace? Or are you one of the numberless ones who have kept your quiet?

 The FBI has a program called NIMBRs. Sound scary and imposing, but it’s just statistics. Police departments are required to report certain information. All this goes into that program and crime statistics comes out of it.

 Life on Mars is about a sexual assault and the investigation of it. It follows how a rape case moves along once it’s reported.

Note that there’s a key word in that sentence. “Once.” A lot of them go unreported so that statistics don’t reflect that. And there’s a variety of reasons they aren’t reported. We’ll go into that in a bit, but before we look at statistics, let’s define what we’re looking at.

Webster’s defines sexual assault as:

Illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person incapable of giving consent due to age, or physical/mental incapacity. It also includes acts where the perpetrator is in a position of trust or authority. 

Key elements in this definition often include:

• Lack of Consent: The sexual act occurs without the permission or against the will of one or more parties involved.
• Force or Coercion: The act involves physical force, threats, intimidation, or pressure.
• Incapacity: The victim cannot give consent because of impairment, age, or incapacity. 

It is generally defined as a broad category of sexual offenses, which can include, but are not limited to, rape, fondling, and other forms of unwanted sexual contact. 

At its most basic, sexual assault is about one thing. Power. It’s the ultimate forcing of someone to the perpetrator’s will. The keywords in the definition above are “lack of consent.” The victim did not ask for this to happen to them. All this to say, anyone can be sexually assaulted, including sex workers.

Now, with that defined, let’s look at the numbers:

    NOTE: We’re looking at what’s reported in the United States. I’ve no stats for the rest of humanity.

• In the US, roughly 423000 people (ages 12 and up) are victims of sexual violence a year.
• Almost half of all women in the US have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. Of all the women in the US, 1 in 5 have experienced attempted or completed rape.
• Men aren’t immune either. 1 in 6 have reported unwanted sexual contact, and 1 in 33 have experienced attempted or completed rape.
• Over half of all sexual assault victims are between 18 and 34.
• 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys have experienced sexual abuse before age 18.
• 8 out of 10 sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows, such as a family member, friend, or acquaintance.
• 68.5% of all sexual assaults occur at or near the victim’s home.
• In 11% of rape and sexual assault incidents, the perpetrator used a weapon.
• College women are at higher risk for sexual crimes. 1 in 5 experienced assaults during their time in college.
• In 2016, almost 15000 military members experienced unwanted sexual contact.
• A whopping 47% of the LGBTQ+ community will experience sexual assault in their lifetime.
• The economic impact of sexual assault is measured in trillions of dollars.

Now, a statistic we really can’t measure. At least 1 in 2 assaults are never reported.

Reasons they aren’t reported include.

• Denial. Often we try to protect ourselves by simply saying it didn’t happen.
• Fear. Fear that we won’t be believed is another, or that the person might come back after them.
• My Fault. Or at least that’s what the victim thinks. This was a favorite defense years ago that the woman “led” the man on. Remember, it’s about consent.
• Not wanting friends or family to know.
• Who the aggressor is. After all, do you really want to send Dad to jail?
• Unattended complaints. We’ve gotten better at this, but sometimes it can simply be blown off.
• Men are less likely to report it.

In Life on Mars, what happens is more the exception than the rule. It’s a crime where the victim didn’t know the perp, and she at least thinks it’s partly her fault. After all, Mom warned us all never to take a ride from a stranger.

She didn’t ask for what happened to her. A weapon was used, and she had little choice.

Now, let’s talk about you.

In all the statistics I tossed out there, are you in there someplace?

Have you ever reported it?

Have you gotten help for it?

Most importantly, have you been honest with yourself and admitted you never asked for it?

Places to start:

• Law Enforcement–Even if the event happened years ago, a good investigator might make a case.
• Mental health\Pastor\Teacher-Remember, what happened isn’t your fault. If you can’t get there, a good counselor will help. Be advised that if you’ve never reported it to the police, they will have to.
• Veterans-The VA and the military are taking sexual assault complaints seriously. Let them know.