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Fact Overview:

• An adult woman is raped every three minutes.
• Only three out of every ten rapes is reported.
• One is six males will be sexually assaulted by age 18.
• Ninety percent of sexually assaulted children are assaulted by someone they know.
• Sexual assault is a violent abuse of power.
• It is NEVER your fault if you are sexually assaulted or abused!

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Victims often know the person who sexually assaulted them.

​People who sexually abuse usually target someone they know.           

• Nearly three out of four adolescents (74%) who have been sexually assaulted were victimized by someone they knew well (Kilpatrick, Saunders, & Smith, 2003).
• One-fifth (21.1%) were committed by a family member (Kilpatrick, Saunders, & Smith, 2003).

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What is Consent?

Clear- Consent is active.

• Consent is expressed through words or actions that create mutually understandable permission.
• Consent is never implied and the absence of no is not a yes.
• Silence is NOT consent
• "I'm not sure," "I don't know," "Maybe" and similar phrases are NOT consent

Coherent- People incapacitated by drugs or alcohol cannot consent

• Someone who cannot make rational, reasonable decisions because she or he lacks the capacity to understand the "who, what when, where, why or how" of the situation cannot consent.
• People who are asleep or in another vulnerable position cannot consent.

Willing- Consent is never given under pressure.

• Consent is not obtained through psychological or emotional manipulation
• Consent cannot be obtained through physical violence or threat
• Someone in an unbalanced power situation (i.e. someone under your authority) cannot consent.

Ongoing- Consent must be granted EVERY TIME.

• Consent must be obtained at each step of physical intimacy. If someone consents to one sexual activity, she or he may or may not be willing to go further.

Picture is an infographic of above words explaining consent.

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Resources:
LoveIsRespect.org
NSVRC.org