Sexual assault victims deserve a voice

STAFF

Every 98 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted and 33 percent of women and 13 percent of men who are raped attempt suicide. These statistics compiled by RAINN.org shatters our feelings of safety considering how often it occurs.

And it happens to everyone adversely affecting children, men, women and the LGBT communities. The victims of sexual assault are incredibly diverse and it’s frustrating because anytime someone is assaulted, there are people willing to conspire to cover these things up whether it’s a loved one or an authority figure.

One of the most harrowing things besides the sexual assault itself, is that people don’t even feel comfortable speaking up about their experiences. Sexual assault often results in victim-blaming even if the offender is convicted.

According nsvrc.org, rape is the most unreported crime. Only 63 percent of sexual assault is reported to the police as wll as only 12 percent of child sexual assaults.

And since we’re at a collegiate level, sexual assault is a huge problem on college campuses. One in six women will be assaulted in their time spent in college and one in 16 men will be assaulted. 90 percent of those sexual assaults go unreported.

Some people feel guilt when these acts of violence are committed against them and there’s something incredibly wrong with that because regardless of the circumstances no one deserves to be violated.

And if you’ve been a victim of sexual assault, you don’t deserve to be silenced.

If you’re looking for local support, contact Bay Area Women Against Sexual Assault (BAWAR) or you can contact East Bay Area Survivors of Sexual Abuse Support Group at [email protected] or find their twitter page at twitter.com/SAsurvivors. For more stats and resources, visit nsvrc.org or RAINN.org.

All people deserve to be happy regardless of the heinous things that happen to them.