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Every three minutes a woman is raped in the United States. According to figures derived from FBI statistics, one of every three
women will be raped in her lifetime and forcible rape is one of the fastest growing violent crimes committed in this country. In 1993, 1,405 sexual assault survivors sought assistance from sexual assault programs in New
Hampshire.
Sexual assault is forced, manipulated or coerced sexual activity. It includes stranger rape, acquaintance rape, marital rape, child molestation and incest. Sexual assault is a violent crime, not a
sexual one. Assailants use sex to humiliate and to inflict violence on victims, or to exert power and control over them.
The victim of sexual assault can be any age, race, or social background. Victims have
been as young as six months and as old as ninety three. The threat of rape is a reality for all women.
Rapists can be anyone. Most are married or have ongoing relationships with women. The rapist is motivated by
the need for power and the need to dominate someone weaker.
In over half of all reported rapes, the victim and the rapist know each other. Child victims know the rapist in 80% of all cases. Two thirds of
all rapes are planned in advance and more than eight out of ten rapists have raped before.
The causes of rape are rooted in a society that teaches men to seek power through domination of others and that has
traditionally presumed that the victim has a role in provoking the sexual assault. Many men rape because they so often can get away with it, and many women do not prosecute because they are afraid that the rapist will
retaliate, that the prosecution will be unsuccessful, or that they are somehow to blame for the rape. Until society begins to hold rapists account able for their acts of violence, rape will continue to be a daily fear
in every woman's life. |
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