Rape Crisis England & Wales is a national charity and the umbrella body for our network of independent member Rape Crisis organisations. The logo of rape crisis is suggested to be aimed at females.
Myth: Women are most likely to be raped outside, after dark and by a stranger, so women shouldn't go out alone at night.
Fact: Only around 10% of rapes are committed by 'strangers'. Around 90% of rapes are committed by known men, and often by someone who the survivor has previously trusted or even loved. People are raped in their homes, their workplaces and other settings where they have previously felt safe. Rapists can be friends, colleagues, clients, neighbours, family members, partners or exes. Risk of rape shouldn't be used as an excuse to control women's movements and restrict their rights and freedom.
Myth: Only young, 'attractive' women and girls, who are flirtatious and wear tight clothes, are raped.
Fact: People of all ages and appearances, and of all classes, cultures, abilities, genders, sexualities, races and religions, are raped. Rape is an act of violence and control; the perceived 'attractiveness' of a victim has very little to do with it. There is no excuse or mitigation for sexual violence and it is never the victim/survivor's fault. What someone was wearing when they were raped or how they behave is irrelevant.
Myth: When it comes to sex, women and girls sometimes 'play hard to get' and say 'no' when they really mean 'yes'.
Fact: Everyone has the legal right to say 'no' to sex and to change their mind about having sex at any point of sexual contact; if the other person doesn't stop, they are committing sexual assault or rape. When it comes to sex, we must respect the wishes of our sexual partner and believe what they tell us about what they do and don't want.
Myth: If two people have had sex with each other before, it's always OK to have sex again.
Fact: If a person is in a relationship with someone or has had sex with them before, this does not mean that they cannot be sexually assaulted or raped by that person. Consent must be given and received every time two people engage in sexual contact. It is important to check in with our sexual partners and make sure that anything sexual that happens between us is what we both want, every time.
Myth: Alcohol, drugs, stress or depression can turn people into rapists.
Fact: Drugs and alcohol are never the cause of rape or sexual assault. It is the attacker who is committing the crime, not the drugs and/or alcohol. Likewise, stress and depression don't turn people into rapists or justify sexual violence. There are no excuses.
Myth: Someone who has willingly drunk lots of alcohol or taken drugs shouldn't then complain about being raped.
Fact: In law, consent must be fully and freely given by someone with the capacity to do so. If a person is unconscious or incapacitated by alcohol or drugs, they are unable to give their consent to sex. Having sex with a person who is incapacitated through alcohol or drugs is therefore rape. No-one asks or deserves to be raped or sexually assaulted; 100% of the responsibility lies with the perpetrator.
Myth: It's only rape if someone is physically forced into sex and has the injuries to show for it.
Fact: Sometimes people who are raped sustain internal and/or external injuries and sometimes they don't. Rapists will sometimes use weapons or threats of violence to prevent a physical struggle or sometimes they will take advantage of someone who isn't able to consent, because they are drunk or asleep for example. Many people who are sexually attacked are unable to move or speak from fear and shock. Just because someone doesn't have visible injuries doesn't mean they weren't raped.
Myth: Men of certain races and backgrounds are more likely to commit sexual violence.
Fact: There is no typical rapist. People who commit sexual violence come from every economic, ethnic, racial, age and social group.
Myth: Once a man is sexually aroused he cannot help himself. He has to have sex.
Fact: Men can quite easily control their urges to have sex; they do not need to rape someone to satisfy them. Rape is an act of violence and control, not sexual gratification.
Myth: People often lie about being raped because they regret having sex with someone or out of spite or for attention.
Fact: Disproportionate media focus on false rape allegations perpetuates the public perception that lying about sexual violence is common when in fact the opposite is true. False allegations of rape are very rare. The vast majority of survivors choose not to report to the police. One significant reason for this is the fear of not being believed.
Myth: People who were sexually abused as children are likely to become abusers themselves.
Fact: This is a dangerous myth, offensive and unhelpful to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, which is sometimes used to explain or excuse the behaviour of those who rape and sexually abuse children. The vast majority of those who are sexually abused as children will never perpetrate sexual violence against others. There is no excuse or explanation for sexual violence against children or adults.
Myth: Men don't get raped and women don't commit sexual offences.
Fact: The majority of sexual assaults and rapes are committed by men against women and children but a small number of women do perpetrate sexual violence. Often people who've been sexually assaulted or abused by a woman are particularly fearful that they will not be believed or that their experiences won't be considered 'as bad' as being raped by a man. This can make it especially difficult for these survivors to access services or justice.
Men are also raped and sexually assaulted. While Rape Crisis focuses particularly on the needs and rights of women and girl survivors, we of course recognise that the impacts of sexual violence on men and boys are no less devastating and we believe all survivors of sexual violence deserve specialist support.
Find more information for male survivors here.
In law, the offence of Rape is defined as non-consensual penetration with a penis. Non-consensual penetration with something other than a penis is defined as Sexual Assault by Penetration. For those who've experienced sexual violence that involved penetration by something other than a penis, whoever the perpetrator was, these legal definitions can feel restrictive, and as if their experience is not considered as serious. When we work with survivors, we are led by them, encourage them to name and frame their own experiences, and use the language that they find most meaningful and representative, rather than strict legal terminology.
- Approximately 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales alone every year; that's roughly 11 rapes (of adults alone) every hour
- Nearly half a million adults are sexually assaulted in England and Wales each year
- 1 in 5 women aged 16 - 59 has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 16
- Only around 15% of those who experience sexual violence choose to report to the police
- Approximately 90% of those who are raped know the perpetrator prior to the offence
These figures come from An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales, the first ever joint official statistics bulletin on sexual violence released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Home Office in January 2013.
As well as this:
- 31% of young women aged 18-24 report having experienced sexual abuse in childhood (NSPCC, 2011)
- In 2012-13, 22,654 sexual offences against under-18s were reported to police in England and Wales with four out of five cases involving girls (NSPCC, 2014)
- Most women in the UK do not have access to a Rape Crisis Centre (Map of Gaps, 2007)
- A third of people believe women who flirt are partially responsible for being raped (Amnesty, 2005)
- Conviction rates for rape are far lower than other crimes, with only 5.7% of reported rape cases ending in a conviction for the perpetrator. (Kelly, Lovett and Regan, A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases, 2005)
Rape Crisis England & Wales headline statistics 2014-15:
- Rape Crisis member organisations across England and Wales responded to 165,000 helpline calls in the 12 months to 31st March 2015, an average over 3,000 a week
- Over 50,000 individuals received an on-going Rape Crisis service(s), an increase of 50% over the last two years
- Rape Crisis members provided in excess of 300,000 sessions of specialist support, including advocacy, emotional support, counselling
- 94 per cent of all service users were female.
- Three-quarters of all adult service users contacted Rape Crisis about sexual violence that occurred at least 12 months earlier; 47% were adult survivors of child sexual abuse
- Over half of the individuals that contact Rape Crisis prefer to self-refer, a pattern which has remained consistent over the past five years and continues to demonstrate the necessity for funded independent services
- Where age is known, those aged under 24 represented 25% of service users and 1,500 were aged 15 or under
- Where ethnicity is known, 23% of Rape Crisis services users were black or minority ethnic
- The Rape Crisis England & Wales website received nearly 12 million hits during the year; there was an average of 36,631 unique visitors to the site per month, up 23% from 2013-14
- Whilst the use of email support by service users has increased by 45% over the last 12 months there has been a loss of advocacy services due to local commissioning processes
This site has been really useful for me to gather factual data which is easy to understand I will be able to use this in my campaign.
