Sexual Assaults in America: How to Prevent

According to a 2017 study by the National Women's Law Center, only 1% of girls ranging from the ages of 14 to 18 reported being sexually harassed or assaulted to the police (Armour). Sexual assault is an act in which a person intentionally touches another individual without their consent, or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. These repulsive assaults have been going on as early as the 1930s. Victims may experience many types of assaults including but not limited to rape, threats and unwanted sexual contact. Sexual assault is a critical problem in today’s society that affects countless individuals in America; accordingly, many groups are coming together to take action.

Sexual assault is a major issue that is happening everyday right in front of everyone’s eyes. On average about 1 in 5 U.S. women, or 23 million women, experience rape or attempted rape over their lifetimes (Krisberg). This is an immense number of women who unfortunately have been victims of sexual assault. Although it is crucial for women to report these assaults many do not even mention it to anybody. Most do not even attempt to speak up and talk to someone nor report the matter on hand. This is because of the very slim chance of their voice to be heard. Since the beginnings of these assaults, Women have been criticized and laughed at; “about one in four survivors report being abused and, of those who do, delayed reporting is 'definitely the norm,' said Scott Berkowitz, founder and president of RAINN” (Armour). This statistic is an example of just how rudely women get treated. Many people wonder in confusion if so many women get sexualy assaultefd then why are the numbers so low? Well exactly for this reason. Women do not get heard. Ultimately, Women need to be heard and punish individuals for these horrible actions.

One possible solution to prevent these assaults is to teach women skills to prevent it. Most assaults occur when women are by themselves. If they had knowledge of self-defense it is safe to say that assaults would possibly decrease. Many women just do not know how to speakup on this until it is too late; Even then the emotional complexity and vulnerability of issues discussed and exams performed during reproductive health care visits may be particularly difficult (Krisberg). No matter how small the assault was, Sexual assault takes a huge toll on women. But people can use this to learn how to protect themselves from predators. Teaching women how to defend themselves has proven to be a social-emotional learning that is empowerment-based training. Although this would be a great idea, many women do not have the type of money to pay for classes like these. It would be very expensive to teach every woman some basic skills. On top of this, a lot of women will not believe they need to know this because they think nothing like that could ever happen to them.

Another solution to prevent sexual assault is to create protective environments all around. People tend to easily trust places for they have been there before or it is their workplace. But sexual assault happens anywhere. According to Kate Ravenscroft,” she had been drinking at The Tote Hotel in Collingwood on a Sunday evening in January 2010. She thought taking a taxi would be safer than catching a tram, but she was raped by the driver outside her share house”. All Kate was trying to do was get home after a night out. Unfortunately, she trusted the taxi driver a little too much and the worst thing that could occur, occurred. A few ways to have a safer environment is by improving safety and monitoring in schools, establishing and consistently applying workplace policies and addressing community level risks through environmental approaches. All these ideas are thought out to make everywhere safer but there are some hurdles in doing so. Most schools do not have sufficient funds to fund extra monitoring nor do work places tend to obey the rules. It is greatly difficult to prevent assaults when most people can not financially do so.

Another solution to prevent sexual assault is to try a new approach to care for survivors with a trauma-informed approach. Without a doubt no one can 100% prevent sexual assault all the way but there are solutions as to how to help survivors so they wont be victims once again. Women who have experienced sexual assault are likely to experience both immediate and long-term physical and mental health consequences (Krisberg).Whether women do not want to get help or talk about it, they have to. In order for women to overcome this obstacle, they need to talk about it. Women need help so they can open up and feel cared for; Make them feel heard enough to get passed it. Unfortunately, this will not stop assaults from happening and most women still might not even want to talk about those tragic times. The Senate has even explained that it is not their problem. Society has severely damaged the confidence of survivors of sexual assault … to come forward to the authorities and talk openly about what happened to them (Blow). No woman wants to speak of a tragic time and have to defend herself so people can believe her. So, most stay quiet. But that should not be the case. Women have to be heard and have to stand up so no other adolescent or teenager is a victim of sexual assault.

All in all, by caring for survivors and protecting them, most will protect other people to prevent sexual assault. This is the best solution because sexual assault will forever happen. The sad truth is it is inevitable, but if women learn how to speak up and learn how to take action a lot of assaults will be prevented. This is the best solution to keep younger girls from being victimized. Women have come such a long way since the beginning of time, now it is time for us to fight for basic human rights. Sexual assault needs to stop happening.