Purdue News
Purdue News
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March 26, 1999
Anti-rape group marks April as Sexual Assault Awareness MonthWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Look at the majority of magazine covers and the cover stories, or check out late-night television, and you might conclude that America has become just so sophisticated about sex. Not so, according to one expert, because when it comes to sexual assault, all the old stereotypes are alive and well."The myths of who is raped, and by whom, prevail, as do the misconceptions of what constitutes rape and how rape is prosecuted," said Sue Hancock, state coordinator for CARe: Communities Against Rape Initiative. April is national Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CARe links youths and adult education specialists, sexual assault counselors, university health professionals, school teachers and others who work to prevent rape and assist victims. The program is administered by Mary Pilat, a 4-H youth specialist in the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. Most rape fears center on an attack by a stranger while the victim is in an unfamiliar place, but in reality, most rapists are known to their victims, and home is the scene of the crime. Teens are most at risk for sexual assault -- three and a half times more likely to be raped than a member of the general population. Up to 80 percent of the time, the attacker by someone they know, Hancock said. In an effort to determine prevailing social attitudes toward rape, a CARe youth advisory council surveyed teen-agers in 19 communities. Even among young people, sexual assault myths already were gaining ground, Hancock said. "Community standards can send an unmistakable message to men on what the community finds objectionable or understandable. For example, the youth survey showed one 15-year-old girl thought girls get raped only because of what they wear. And a 17-year-old boy said girls who flirt owed the boys," Hancock said. The Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault (INCASA), a CARe partner, is coordinating a statewide public awareness campaign. Director Kathy O'Brian said the group will publicize information about sexual assault, local crisis and resource centers, and RAINN, a national network that runs a hot line for victims of sexual assault. People who call (800) 656-HOPE are connected to the rape crisis center nearest them. INCASA also will distribute community planning guides for groups that want to help raise awareness of sexual assault. Supporters will be wearing purple ribbons to recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month. O'Brian said youth-oriented public service announcements already are running on television stations. A poster campaign will debut in April, and a radio campaign is planned for June. In one series of television ads, some young men are standing in a school setting discussing young women. When one spouts a sexual assault myth such as "She's asking for it," a group of girls douses them with a pail of water. In another ad, a young man who has raped a classmate grows smaller and smaller as he walks down a school hallway under the disapproving glare of his peers. "These are dramatic messages, one in fun, the other not, that are designed to help youths think about their attitudes toward rape and sexual assault. That's how myths die," O'Brian said. Rapes in Indiana in 1997, the most recent year for which numbers are available from the FBI Uniform Crime Report, numbered 1,928, down from 1,992 in 1996. Arrests declined from 178 in 1996 to 159 in 1997. Hancock said law enforcement officials believe that two-thirds of rapes go unreported. The Indiana State Department of Health funds the effort through a Preventive Health and Health Services federal block grant.
Sources: Sue Hancock, (765) 494-6871; sh@four-h.purdue.edu Kathy O'Brian, (317) 568-4001 Writer: Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; sig@ecn.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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