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About Sexual Assault

General Statistics:

  • In the United States, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape during their lifetime 
  • 44% of victims are under age 18 and 80% of victims are under age 30

Women:

  • 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape)
  • 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape
  • 9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003
  • Women ages 18-24 who are college students are 3 times more likely than women in general to experience sexual violence

Men:

  • About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime
  • In 2003, 1 in every ten rape victims were male
  • 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape

Children:

  • Every 8 minutes, child protective services substantiates, or finds evidence for a claim of child sexual abuse
  • 93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know the offender; 34.2% were family members, 58.7% were acquaintances, only 7% were strangers

Case Law Regarding “Force” Laws:

http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims  

    • Physical force is not required. Intimidation may substitute for force. Lack of resistance, induced by fear, is force, and may be shown by the victim’s state of mind from her prior experience with the perpetrator and subjective apprehension of danger from him.

      • Williams v. State, 304 Ga. App. 592 (2010)

      • Matlock v. State, 302 Ga. App. 173 (2010)

    • The testimony of the victim alone (without evidence of physical injury) is sufficient to establish rape and support of conviction for that offense.

      • Brown v. State, 293 Ga. App.  633 (2008)

    • Force element of rape is shown if a defendant’s words or acts were sufficient to instill in the victim a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, violence, or other dangerous consequences to herself or others.

      • Stover v. State, 293 Ga. App. 210 (2008)

    • Importantly, only minimal evidence of force is required in order to prove rape of a person under the age of 16, and intimidation may substitute for force.

      • Wightman v. State, 289 Ga. App. 225 (2008).

    • “Consent induced by force or fear is not the free consent required to prevent an act from constituting rape; it is equivalent to no consent at all.

      • Smith v. State, 287 Ga. App. 222 (2007)

      • Collins v. State, 267 Ga. App. 784 (2004)

    • Substantial violence by the perpetrator or vigorous resistance by the victim is not required to find rape if forcible intercourse is otherwise found.

      • Dorsey v. State, 206 Ga. App. 709 (1992)

Fact…

On average, it takes woman 10 years to disclose they have been sexually assaulted and men 20 years to disclose

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