*Cover photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
Written by Brittney Herman of We Will
Sexual assault is all too common. Every 73 seconds an American is assaulted (RAINN, 2020). Unfortunately, survivors of sexual assault experience numerous negative effects caused by the trauma of their assault. Mentally, survivors commonly experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, flashbacks, and even suicidal thoughts. Emotionally, a survivor may blame themselves, engage in self-hatred, or dissociation. Physically, a survivor could have contracted STDs, become pregnant, engage in self-harm and substance abuse, and develop eating or sleep disorders (RAINN, 2020). While it is possible to heal and survivors often heal, it is not without substantial suffering. When one member of the community suffers, we all suffer. In order to create healthy communities, we need mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy individuals. Allowing sexual assault to remain a rampant issue prevents the continuing health of individuals, and therefore healthy communities.
The Importance of Education
However common, the efforts to eradicate sexual assault are not without hope. We can prevent sexual assault (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Studies show that where there is sufficient sexual education, there are far fewer sexual assaults (Herman, 2020). Changing sexual education standards ensures every student receives proper education proven to reduce the rates of assault. While formal sexual education is an important contributing factor in state sexual assault rates, informal education is critical and can also make a substantial difference (We Will, 2019). Informal education takes place through families, social media, and everyday conversations.
The focus of sufficient sexual assault prevention education is not on potential victims. Rather than teaching self-defense, safety practices, or other techniques, proper sexual assault prevention education focuses on teaching would-be perpetrators what is wrong. While safety practices for would-be victims are important, addressing the would-be perpetrators attacks the problem of sexual assault at its root (Herman, 2020). Victims and survivors of sexual assault are not the problem with assault, the problem lies only with the perpetrator.
Most sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance or someone else with a relationship to the victim (Saint Mary’s College of California, n.d.). This is a large reason why teaching safety practices are ineffective measures to completely eradicate sexual assault. This is why we must address what is going wrong in situations with perpetrators known to the victim. Oftentimes in these situations, it is a lack of consent or the use of coercion which leads to a sexual assault (Saint Mary’s College of California, n.d.).
Crucial Terms
Proper sexual assault prevention education includes teaching consent, coercion, and refusal skills (Herman, 2020). Consent is the enthusiastic permission of both parties to engage in an activity (Project Respect, 2020). Coercion is forcing someone to engage in an activity through threat, force, or intimidation (Coercion, 2020). Refusal skills teach individuals how to say no, and teach others to recognize a no when it is given (Warzak, & Page, 1990).
When we teach consent, we teach that consent cannot be obtained from someone who is asleep, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated. This helps to prevent an extremely common form of sexual assault (Fifth of sex attack victims ‘asleep or unconscious’, 2015). Just because consent existed in the past does not mean that consent exists in the present situation. This will help to prevent confusion between couples that can lead to sexual assault. We can teach that consent can be withdrawn at any time, which makes it clear to the individual who wants to move forward that they cannot move forward. People will learn that consent is a normal and necessary part of sex and that consent must be obtained in order to engage in an activity (Consent – Let’s Talk About It, 2020). Learning the term coercion teaches would-be perpetrators that threat, force, and intimidation can never produce legitimate consent (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 2020). Further, while refusal skills teach would-be victims how to say no and have a plan for if they are put in an uncomfortable situation, * teaching refusal skill also focuses on making sure would-be perpetrators recognize a no (Herman, 2020).
As we teach consent, coercion, and refusal skills not only will individuals realize what actions are wrong and be deterred from taking such actions, but survivors of assault will also more easily recognize when they are assaulted and seek help more effectively and quickly (Herman, 2020). Today, many survivors take a long time to recognize that what happened to them was assault (Ro, 2018). This can lead to engrained feelings of trauma or self-blame (Ro, 2018). Making it clear to survivors what qualifies as sexual assault means that an assault can be more easily recognized, reported, and the harmful effects mitigated. Additionally, parents, teachers, and other authorities will have the same vocabulary as the survivor, so when she or he describes their assault, these authorities can understand them. Standardizing vocabulary puts everyone on an even playing field and clarifies discrepancies that can occur when meanings of these words or concepts are confusing or based on opinion (Herman, 2020).
We Can
Through teaching these concepts in our schools, encouraging caretakers to teach these concepts to future generations, talking about sexual assault prevention on social media, and discussing these concepts in everyday conversation, we can and we will prevent sexual assault and help survivors feel supported and loved coming forward (Herman, 2020). Through preventing horrific trauma of sexual assault either through prevention of the assault itself or through proper mitigation, we will create healthier individuals and communities.
*It is important to note that even if a survivor was taught refusal skills or had a plan and was unable or felt uncomfortable using these skills or plan for any number of reasons, it is still not the survivor’s fault.
Why does consent matter for YOU? Write down your answer, and then share with someone you love.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, January 17). Prevention Strategies|Sexual Violence|Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/prevention.html
Coercion. (2020). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Coercion
Consent – Let’s Talk about It. (2020). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.letstalkaboutit.nhs.uk/other-services/sexual-assault/consent/
Fifth of sex attack victims ‘asleep or unconscious’. (2015, February 12). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31434555
Herman, B. (2020). Sexual Education as a Form of Sexual Assault Prevention: A Survey of Sexual Education Among States with the Highest and Lowest Rates of Rape. [Forthcoming Publication], on file with author.
Project Respect. (2020). Consent. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.yesmeansyes.com/consent/
RAINN. (2020). Effects of Sexual Violence. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.rainn.org/effects-sexual-violence
RAINN. (2020). Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence
Ro, C. (2018, November 06). Why most rape victims never acknowledge what happened. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181102-why-dont-rape-and-sexual-assault-victims-come-forward
Saint Mary’s College of California. (n.d.). Acquaintance Rape and Sexual Assault. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/files/acquaintance-rape-and-sexual-assault.pdf
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. (2020). Definitions. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.umassd.edu/sexualviolence/definitions/
Warzak, W. J., & Page, T. J. (1990). Teaching refusal skills to sexually active adolescents. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 21(2), 133-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(90)90018-g
We Will. (2019). Formal and Informal Education. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.wewillorg.com/formal-and-informal-education
Brittney Herman graduated in April, 2020, with a law degree from Brigham Young University. She primarily studied tax law, but also had the opportunity to study sexual education laws during her years there. Brittney started the non-profit