Sexual violence occurs when someone uses sex as a weapon to gain power or control over someone else. It may involve one or more persons forcing, pressuring, coercing, threatening or otherwise manipulating another person into sexual activity against his or her will. Rape and unwanted or forced sexual acts are forms of sexual violence, other forms include: unwanted sexual attention, fondling and inappropriate gestures, sexual language and exposure. Sexual violence can happen to anyone. It is never the survivor’s fault. Sexual violence affects us all. For survivors of sexual assault, the trauma doesn’t end with the abuse and reaches far beyond the impact of post-traumatic stress. As a society we share in an unhealthy response to sexual abuse and assault. Although we have made progressive strides, stigma continues to surround the topic of sexual violence. Through victim blame, avoidance, disparagement, and sexually violent media, we not only hinder the healing of survivors, but perpetuate the cycle of abuse and ultimately support abusive behavior. Sexual violence is a widespread issue. 1/6 women and 1/33 men in the United States have been victims of rape or attempted rape. 12% of girls and 5% of boys have reported being sexually abused before their 18th birthday (RAINN, 2009). These percentages are believed to be under representative due to shame, stigma, and insufficient information of what constitutes sexual abuse. Although reporting has increased by 33% percent since 1993, 60% of sexual assaults still go unreported and few survivors seek supportive services (RAINN, 2009). Deaf and hard of hearing survivors Survivors in the deaf community often face additional struggles in disclosing, reporting, and acquiring services. This is due to access barriers, cultural stigmas, the size of the community, and an insufficient understanding of Deaf culture in hearing society. SHARE advocates for deaf and hard of hearing survivors to bridge cultural and communicative gaps and address barriers to services deaf survivors face. SHARE works with deaf survivors to acquire culturally specific services and language interpretation for domestic and sexual violence services and related community events. Contact SHARE today to speak with an advocate fluent in ASL.
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