Myth of Facts Flashcards
Sexual assault is an act of lust and passion that can’t be controlled.
Myth
Sexual assault is about power and control and is not
motivated by sexual gratification
F
If a victim of sexual assault does not fight back, they must have thought the assault was not that bad or they wanted it.
M
Many survivors experience tonic immobility or a “freeze response” during an assault where they physically cannot move or speak
F
A lot of victims lie about being raped or give false
reports.
M
Only 2-8% of rapes are falsely reported, the same percentage as for other felonies
F
A person cannot sexually assault their partner or spouse.
M
Nearly 1 in 10 women have experienced rape by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
F
Sexual assaults most often occur in public or outdoors.
M
55% of rape or sexual assault victimizations occur at
or near the victim’s home, and 12% occur at or near the home of a friend, relative, or acquaintance
F
Rape does not happen that often.
M
There is an average of 293,066 victims ages 12 or older of rape and sexual assault each year in the U.S. This means 1 sexual assault occurs every 107
seconds
F
People that have been sexually assaulted will be hysterical and crying.
M
Everyone responds differently to trauma- some may
laugh, some may cry, and others will not show any emotions.
F
Men are not victims of sexual violence.
M
1.5% of all men have been raped and 47% of bisexual men have experienced some form of
unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime.
F
Wearing revealing clothing, behaving provocatively, or drinking a lot means the victim was “asking for it”.
M
The perpetrator selects the victim- the victim’s behavior or clothing choices do not mean that they are consenting to sexual activity.
F
If a parent teaches a child to stay away from strangers they won’t get raped.
M
60% of child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by
someone the child knows outside the family, and 30% are assaulted by family members.
F
Being sexually assaulted by someone of the same gender can make a person gay or lesbian.
M
The assault is typically not based on the sexual
preferences of the victim or rapist, and therefore does not necessarily change the victim’s sexual orientation.
F
People with disabilities are at low risk for sexual assault.
M
People with disabilities are victims of sexual assault twice as much as people without disabilities.
F
Sex workers cannot be raped because they are selling sex.
M
Sex workers have the right to give and withhold consent to any sexual activity, and therefore, can be raped just like anyone else.
F
Getting help is expensive for survivors of assault.
M
Services such as counseling and advocacy are offered for free or at a low cost by sexual assault
service providers
F
Rape happens only to young, attractive or desirable
women
M
Police records show that there is no typical woman victim. Any woman can be raped. Victims have included babies several months old and grandmothers. There is no regard for relation,
wealth, education, disability, pregnancy or even beauty when it comes to men raping women.
F
Rape is a crime of lust or passion
M
● Rape is not a crime of lust or passion but an abuse of power.
● Some perpetrators express the belief that their children are their property so that they are privileged to use them before any other man.
F
Rape involves the loss of a woman’s most prized
possession, her “chastity”
M
Rape is not about “chastity” lost but about the violation of personhood, dignity, and bodily integrity.
F
Men can have sex freely with women deemed to be of loose morals because these women have nothing to lose
M
Rape is a crime against the personhood of the victim,
regardless of her personal background, reputation or previous sexual behavior. Thus, prostituted women, sexually active or even married women can also be raped.
F
Rape is committed by sex maniacs or perverts
M
Rape can be committed by perverts and “normal” men.
F
Rape happens in poorly lit or secluded places
M
● Rape can happen to any woman, any time, at any place.
● In addition, it is the rapist who chooses the place and the time for the rape to occur– the victim has little to do with the situation other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
F
Sexy clothes incite men to rape
M
● No woman “deserves” to be raped, even if she happens to be wearing sexy clothing. This myth maintain the Adam-and-Eve syndrome of our culture, in which a man is believed to be the
innocent victim of the evil and seductive temptress– the woman.
● We blame women for rape if they are not wearing a bra or if they are wearing a short skirt.
F
When a woman’s chastity is threatened, she exerts every effort to protect it, whether by violent resistance, escape attempts or screams for help.
M
● The fact that the victim did not resist or attempt to flee or shout for help does not negate force or intimidation
● People react differently to a given situation and there is no standard form of behavioral response when one is confronted with a strange or startling or
frightful experience as heinous as the crime of rape
● The workings of human mind when placed under emotional stress are unpredictable and cause different reactions in people (People v Opelina, 412
SCRA 343).
F
When violated, a woman’s first reaction is to tell her family, particularly her menfolk– father, brother, husband- who must be informed of the assault upon the woman’s and thus the family’s honor
M
Delay in reporting rape should not diminish the credibility of the report because, given the usual circumstances of rapes, such delay is, more often than not, excusable.
F
Many women falsely cry rape. Rape charges are fabricated by women seeking to avenge a slight injury or to extort money.
M
There is no doubt that some women report rape when it has not occurred (for revenge or for other reason), but it would be a gross mistake to assume that the majority of rape cases reported to the police
are false. Historically, it has been more likely for women not to report rape that has occurred.
F
Rape is a crime controlled by an uncontrollable sex drive
M
● Some men incarcerated for serial rape often claimed that they felt such a compulsion to rape, that they could not control themselves.
● However, there is no verifiable evidence that men, as gender, are under such a psychological sexual compulsion that they cannot control themselves. Moreover, many perpetrators either are married
or have available sexual partners when they committed their crimes.
F
Strangers commit rapes
M
● Rapes are often committed by persons who know the victims. A US study has shown that women knew their assailant 84% of the time.
● Fewer than 1 in 3 rapists was a stranger to the victim (RAINN, 2006)
F
All women want to be raped
● This myth has been romanticized in the media. The paperback romance story often starts with the female resisting the advances and even the sexual attack of the rapist, only to melt in passionate acceptance (Crooks & Bauer, 1983).
● It is true that some women do have a sexual fantasy, but these fantasies typically do not center on the use of force but on feeling of being “swept off
one’s feet”, by a tall, dark, and handsome stranger into a sexual liaison that one would not ordinarily entertain in real life.
