| If the assailant, victim, or both are drunk, the assailant cannot be charged with rape. |
Forcing sex on someone who is too drunk to give consent is second degree rape in most states. Rape is a crime. People who commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not considered free from guilt. |
| If the survivor was not physically harmed, it will be easy to get over a sexual assault without any long-term effects. |
Even if there is no evidence of a sexual assault, trauma can be caused by threats, verbal abuse and fear. These can often have serious effects on a person's emotional health. The reactions can appear immediately, or days, weeks and sometimes months after the assault. |
| Most rapes are committed by strangers in a dark place at night. |
More than 80% of all rapes are committed by someone the victim knows. Rape can take place anywhere, at any time. |
| Individuals provoke rape by how they behave, dress, or where they choose to go. Rape is the victim's fault. |
Rape is never the survivor's fault. |
| Many reports of rape are false. |
According to the FBI, less than 3% of reports are false, which is the same percentage for the false reporting of other crimes. |
| In a dating situation, when a woman says "no" she really means "yes". All men want to have sex with any woman any time. |
This notion is based on outdated sexual stereotypes and no matter what, "no" means NO. Communicate with your partners. |
| An individual who agrees to go to their date's house should know that sex is usually part of the deal. |
Going to a date's house does not mean that you agree to have sex with them. If a woman agrees to allow a man to pay for dinner, drinks, etc., then it means she owes him sex.No one "owes" sex for anything, no matter how much money has been spent. |
| Men can't be raped |
There were approximately 20,000 sexual assaults of males ages 12 and over in the United States in 1991. (Bureau of Justice statistics, 1992 |
| A person who doesn't fight back has not been raped. |
Rape occurs when an individual is forced to have sex against their will, whether they have decided to fight back or not. |
| Intimate kissing or certain kinds of touching mean that intercourse is expected. |
Everyone's right to say "no" should be honored, regardless of the activity which preceded it. |
| Once a man reaches a certain point of arousal, sex is inevitable and they can't help forcing themselves upon a woman. |
Men are capable of exercising restraint in acting upon sexual urges. |
| Most survivors lie about acquaintance rape because they have regrets after consensual sex. |
Acquaintance rape really happens — to people you know, by people you know. |
| Rape is a crime of passion. |
Rape is an act of VIOLENCE, not passion. It is an attempt to hurt and humiliate, using sex as the weapon. |
| It's not really rape if the victim isn't a virgin. |
Rape is rape. Regardless of whether or not the woman is a virgin, or whether she has consented to sexual acts with the man before. |
