Acquaintance Rape
Rape can be challenging to identify, especially when the perpetrator is a friend, boyfriend, or acquaintance. It can be someone you have known for 15 years or 1 hour, once any type of relationship is established this is considered acquaintance rape. A rape does not need to occur for a sexual assault to take place, but rape is always sexual assault. Doesn't make sense yet right? Well let's see if this helps... sexual assault is any unwanted sexual contact. Whether you are fully clothed or undressed if you ask to not be touched some where or do not give consent than this is sexual assault. Rape is any penetration that is coercedor unwanted, this can be vaginally, orally, or anally.
Some Myths/ Realities Of Sexual Assault:
MYTH: SA is committed by strangers lurking in the bushes.
REALITY: 80% of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim/survivor knows.
MYTH:No one can be assaulted by his/her partner. After all, they’ve probably had sex before.
REALITY: It doesn’t matter what the relationship is and whether or not there has been consensual sex in the past…what matters is whether it was consensual this time.
MYTH:A person deserves to be sexually assaulted if she or he is using alcohol or drugs.
REALITY: If intoxicated or high this person is NOT ABLE to give consent ... the person who commits the assault takes advantage of someone who is not able to give consent.
MYTH:Most reports of SA are false
REALITY: FBI stats show that only 3% of rape calls are false reports. This is the same rate for other kinds of felonie
