SEXUAL ASSAULT

Sexual Assault is non-consensual sexual contact. This includes rape, which is having sex with someone who does not want it or is incapable of agreeing to it. 

Sexual assault is one of the most terrifying, humiliating, and traumatic experiences one may ever face.  The person who has survived a sexual assault survived a life-threatening situation.  While the survivor may feel some sense of relief for having "made it through alive," this feeling is generally over-shadowed by the severe trauma of the actual assault.

Victims of rape are in a special category, because no other crime offers a similarly personal and intimate violation of the self.  The rape experience has been described as "involving a total loss of control over one's life, one's body, and the course of events."

Common myths of rape and sexual assault:

• Most sexual assaults are committed by strangers.
• Women provoke rape by their behavior and the way that they dress.
• If the victim does not fight back it is not rape.
• Rape victims should just forget about it and move on

If you have been sexually assaulted, please do not try to get through it alone.  There are resources available to help you through your healing journey.