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Anyone Can Be a Victim of Rape

black and white person

Health & Wellness

What do these people have in common?

  • A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY
  • A 3-YEAR-OLD GIRL
  • A 78-YEAR-OLD GRANDMOTHER
  • A 36-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF THREE
  • YOUR SISTER
  • YOUR BROTHER
  • YOUR TEACHER
  • THE BOY YOU MET ON THE BUS

The answer? They could all be a survivor of sexual assault or rape.

Rape is an act of violence. It is sex that one person does not agree to, and usually involves force of some kind. Rape is not about intimacy; rape is about power. It is the power a rapist thinks he/she has over their victim.

Rape does not only affect women. It is an issue that has no boundaries – one that impacts young and old, men and women, people of all different ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations.

It doesn’t matter what the victim was wearing, who he/she was with, or what he/she was drinking. Rape is rape.

Rape is an uncomfortable subject for many and a word many won’t say. However, when we are silent, we give more power to the rapist. We validate the rape. When we remain silent we continue to allow violence to become normal; and more importantly we allow the survivors of rape to continue to be invisible.  How can we break the cycle of silence?

There are many “myths” involving sexual assault. Among them: the assailant is usually a stranger, the rape involved a weapon, and the victim has a visible physical injury. The majority of adult sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. More than 75 percent of all assailants are known by the victim. There is usually no weapon used other than the weapon of physical force. Most survivors have no physical, visible injuries.

The Roxcy Bolton Rape Treatment Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital is available to help survivors in the healing process. Our medical professionals provide highly specialized care after a rape has occurred. The team, which includes victim advocates, assists survivors by providing them with the resources to assist in the healing process.

For more information, call the confidential helpline at 305-585-7273 or visit https://jacksonhealth.org/services-rape-treatment . Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.