It Won't Happen to Me:
Substance Abuse-Related Violence Against Women for Anyone Concerned About The Issues

Module 6: Alcohol, Drugs and Sexual Assault (Date Rape) - Page 1 of 9

Introduction

Did you know?
Every minute in the United States, a woman over 18 is raped.

Contrary to popular belief, rapists are usually not strangers. Friends or acquaintances commit nearly half the rapes and sexual assaults reported to police.1 When someone you know forces you to have sex, it is still rape. Even if it's a date, a steady boyfriend, a friend, or somebody from work. Date rape is about power, control, and anger, not romance and passion. It is a serious crime and a hurtful act that can leave long-lasting emotional injuries.2

In spite of how often date rape occurs, many people continue to think of the "typical" rape as a stranger jumping out and dragging the victim into an alley at night. In fact, a very small number of rapes actually happen this way.3 On college campuses, as many as 95 percent of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows.1

If you think sexual assault isn't a problem, think about this: Every minute in the United States, a woman over 18 is raped. That comes out to 683,000 rapes per year. And those are only the rapes that are reported. Over 80 percent of rape victims do not report the rape to the police.4

Fact Sheets
A condensed version of this module is available as a Fact Sheet in both HTML, PDF Adobe Acrobat PDF Icon and PDF Espaņol Adobe Acrobat PDF Icon formats.

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