What To Do If You Are
a Victim of Sexual Assault

1-800-656-HOPE

First of all, realize that whatever you did to survive was the right thing.
Second, understand that you did nothing to deserve to be raped.
It was not your fault!

What to Do:

• Go to a safe place: Contact a friend, relative, neighbor, teacher, counselor, etc. Do not feel that you are alone; there are people who can give you the emotional support you need.
• Report the attack to the police: Don't wait until you've decided whether to press charges. Rarely do rapists attack only one person; they may get away with it and continue to do it. You will have an opportunity at a later time to decide whether to press charges.
• Seek medical attention: DO NOT SHOWER OR CLEAN UP. As soon as possible, go to a hospital or health center for an examination and treatment of possible venereal disease and pregnancy. You may have internal injuries of which you are unaware.
• Contact the local rape crisis center: You have been through a traumatic event. Most areas have a local center that can provide you with support and assistance. Getting help early can help you begin to deal with the pain of the assault. Find a Rape Crisis Center on our site at www.gnesa.org, or call 1-800-656-HOPE (1-800-656-4673).

• Near all forcible rapes (99%) involved a female victim.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• Females were the large majority of victims in incidents of forcible fondling (82%).
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• In the later juvenile years (ages 14 to 17), the female victimization rates are at least 10 times greater than the male rates for similar age groups.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• Overall, 23% of sexual assault offenders were under the 18 and 77% were adults.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• Nearly all the offenders in sexual assaults reported to law enforcement were male (96%).
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• Most (70%) of the sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim, the offender, or the residence of another individual. Young victims were generally more likely to be victimized in a residence than were older victims. The age of the victim was strongly relate to where the assault occurred.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• The year in a male's life when he is most likely to be the victim of a sexual assault is age 4.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• The risk of being the victim of forcible rape increased dramatically form age 10 to age 14, where it peaked.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• Over two-thirds (67%) of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies, were juveniles (under the age fo 18 at the time of the crime). More than half of all juvenile victims were under age 12. That is, 33% of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement were ages 12 through 17 and 34% were under age 12. Most disturbing is that one of every seven victims of sexual assault ( or 14% of all victims) reported to law enforcement agencies were under age 6.
  —Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
  7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
• 4 in 10 child victims of violence suffered either a forcible rape or another injury.
  —BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991.
• About 80% of rape victims were under age 30--about 1/2 of these were under age 18. Victims younger than 12 accounted for 15% of those raped, and another 29% of rape victims were between 12 and 17.
  —National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• For nearly 90% of the youngest victims of rape, those younger than 12, the offender was someone known to them.
  —National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• 94% of child rape victims under the age of 12 were abused by a family member or an acquaintance/friend.
  —The Arizona Rep. 3/30/97.
• Victims of rape were about evenly divided between whites and blacks: in about 88% of forcible rapes, the victim and offender were of the same race.
  —National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• Just over 40% of the rapists were age 30 or older, while 1 in 8 was under age 18. In 9 out of 10 rapes in which the offender was under 18, so was the victim.
  —National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes.
  —U.S. Department of Justice.
• In 1996, 307,000 women were the victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
  [National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]
• Between 1995 and 1996, more than 670,000 women were the victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
  [National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]
• In 1996, only 31% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials - less than one in every three.
  [National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]
• Approximately 68% of rape victims knew their assailant.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• Approximately 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
  
• One of every four rapes take place in a public area or in a parking garage.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• 29% of female victims reported that the offender was a stranger.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• 68% of rapes occur between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• At least 45% of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• In 29% of rapes, the offender used a weapon.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• In 47% of rapes, the victim sustained injuries other than rape injuries.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• 75% of female rape victims require medical care after the attack.
  [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]
• In 1995, local child protective service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of either substantiated or indicated sexual abuse; of these, 75% were girls. Nearly 30% of child victims were between the ages of 4 and 7.
  —Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Maltreatment, 1995.
• Approximately one-third of all juvenile victims of sexual abuse cases are children younger than 6 years of age.
  —Violence and the Family. Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996.
• According to the Justice Department, one in two rape victims is under age 18; one in six is under age 12.
  —Child Rape Victims, 1992. U.S. Department of Justice.
• While 9 out of 10 rape victims are women, men and boys are also victimized by this crime. In 1995, 32,130 males age 12 and older were victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
  —National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.
• Teens 16 to 19 were three and one-half times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
  —National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.
• Those with a household income under $7,500 were twice as likely as the general population to be victims of a sexual assault.
  —National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistic

Don't be another statistic!