The statistics surrounding rape and sexual assault are cloudy, but they will astound you.

It’s estimated that every two and a half minutes, someone in America is either raped or sexually assaulted, and victims are overwhelmingly female. One in four women is sexually assaulted before she reaches 18, and one in three women is abused sometime in her life. Though on the decline from the 1990s, sexual violence is a huge problem that can lead to life-long physiological trouble, as well as physical consequences that can affect women and men for life.

Making matters worse, many women and men are afraid to come forward with their experiences, making statistics surrounding sexual violence hard to determine. According to a 2005 study by the National Crime Victimization Survey, around 60 percent of rape cases aren’t reported to police.

Because it’s presently an epidemic that seems almost engrained in our society, women and men have come forward to establish community-based organizations to aid victims and survivors of assault. In the Bay Area alone, there are numerous places to turn to, and the work done at these education and support centers helps victims gain the confidence to live with their experiences and help others with similar stories.

One such organization is San Francisco Women Against Rape (SFWAR), a prevention and treatment organization based in the Mission District. Each year, the non-profit comes into contact with thousands of people affected by sexual violence. Its staff uses prevention classes, counseling, medical and legal advocacy and support groups to assist victims and survivors.

“Violence against women is a huge problem,” says Amal Kouttab, the community initiatives director for the organization. Her job at SFWAR includes writing plans for outreach and prevention services. “We’re here to help solve it,” she says.

Though many believe that strangers commit the majority of rapes, statistics indicate that most reported cases involve someone the victim knows or has a relationship with.

“The man lurking in the shadows is a myth,” says Kouttab. “It’s hard to nail down the stats on sexual assault, but estimates are that about 75 percent of victims know their attacker.” Such an estimate seems high to many people, and common beliefs hold that women are plucked off of the street
and attacked in dark alleyway. It is much more common though, for assault to come from a boyfriend, family member or acquaintance.

“We do most of our prevention training with youth,” says Kouttab, estimating that girls ages 13 to 17 attend about 60 to 70 percent of their prevention courses. The organization teaches courses on sexual harassment, healthy dating, drug-facilitated violence and others that are particularly relevant to a younger crowd, which Kouttab says are most at risk.

“The stats are really staggering,” says Ashley Tan, the volunteer coordinator for Women Organized to Make Abuse Nonexistent (WOMAN), another San Francisco based non-profit that assists women in abusive relationships. Tan says that approximately every nine seconds a woman in America is domestically abused.

Because many victims need to speak with someone immediately after the incident, SFWAR and WOMAN run 24-hour hotlines that can be called any day of the week. The hotlines are run by staff members and trained volunteers that aid and comfort callers as well as instruct them on how to file reports of the crimes.

“Rape is seen by society as a women’s issue,” says Joseph Vess, the consulting and training coordinator for Men Can Stop Rape, a Washington D.C. based non-profit that works with men to help educate and train to prevent rape and domestic violence. “But there are things that men can do about this,” he says.

About two years ago, Vess learned through a personal relationship of the oppression many women feel in society. Shortly afterwards, a close friend of his was sexually assaulted.

“I began to draw some connections between these things,” he says, speaking of the relationship between fear of sexual assault and the way some women are treated. “Daily things like harassment and discrimination teach us that women aren’t as important as men, and it made me want to get involved.”

Vess got his start with the organization as a volunteer working with high school students and eventually became one of eight full-time staff members. Now he works alongside others committed to redefining masculinity, emphasizing equality of the sexes and working to eliminate violence against women. “Masculinity is played out on a day to day basis, and we need to change what it means,” he says.

Victims of sexual violence in San Francisco have numerous places to turn other than non-profit organizations and support groups. The City has its own Trauma/Recovery and Rape Treatment Center, a branch of the health services department located within San Francisco General Hospital. When rape victims call the police and request medical attention and counseling, they are brought to the trauma center.

Within the hospital, victims receive STD and pregnancy testing, forensic evidence collection and mental health services. Once released, they receive ongoing counseling and case management services.

“We won’t ever turn anyone away,” says Jon Dean Green, the division administrator for the Center. Since it falls under county jurisdiction though, cases from outside of San Francisco are eventually sent back to the county where the assault occurred.

Like Kouttab, Green believes that many rape and sexual assault cases go unreported.

“You might not ever come to us,” he says, explaining that many victims simply go other places for treatment and counseling. “Any competent Emergency Room physician or doctor can do what we do.”

Even victims that come into the trauma center don’t always file reports with police, according to Green. “A lot of time they’re still in shock,” he says.

“Lots of people don’t want to draw attention to themselves,” says Tan, explaining that abuse is particularly destructive to women and men that bear the brunt of discrimination, particularly people of color. “(It’s bad) especially for groups already experiencing oppression...it’s almost like bad PR.”

Because there is a large demand for services and prevention training in San Francisco, organizations such as SFWAR and WOMAN exist to offer free and confidential services for people who suffer these potentially life-altering circumstances.

Due to the work of these passionate people in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, women and men facing these problems and fears have a place to turn for help.

Until Violence Stuff

2007 marks the 10th anniversary of V-Day, the global movement to stop violence against women and girls created by Eve Ensler, the innovative genius behind The Vagina Monologues. The “V” stands for Victory, Valentine and, of course, Vagina.

The movement seeks to revitalize already existing anti-violence organizations and bring increased attention to the issues of rape, incest, battery, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery.

V-day hosts benefits, produces films, holds community meetings and creates anti-violence networks in an effort to change social attitudes toward women and increase awareness of their quality of life around the world. In Egypt and Israel V-Day funding opened the first women’s shelters; in Afghanistan they donated satellite phones to women’s networks to keep lines of communication open and anti-violence developments moving forward; and they host workshops and national campaigns in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In the United States volunteers and college students put on annual benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues with all proceeds going to women’s rights groups. In 2006 alone, V-Day hosted over 2,700 benefit events around the world.

Every year they focus on a particular group of women in the world experiencing violence with the aim of bringing a national spotlight to the area and increasing awareness of the problem as well as funding for groups trying to help. One such spotlight was shown on Juarez, Mexico, which is just over the border from El Paso, Texas. Hundreds of women, many of them factory workers for foreign-owned companies or students, have been found dead or reported missing in the city over the last fourteen years. Many refer to the tragedy as a “femicide.”

According to Amnesty International, nearly 400 of these women and girls—some as young as six—have been brutally killed, while many others are still missing. Most have been killed on their way to or from work or school. Human rights groups report that they are usually sexually abused before being murdered.

V-Day in Juarez turned into a gathering of thousands, many from across the border in Texas, marching through the city and then meeting for lunch and a bilingual performance of The Vagina Monologues, the first it had ever been performed in the city. A V-Day delegation of influential women—ranging from California Congresswoman Hilda Solis to Jane Fonda—met with families in Juarez and then participated in events at the American Consulate.

Less than a month after the V-Day events and activities, the State Attorney responsible for the Juarez area, including the investigation of fourteen-year-long femicide, resigned.

Some Facts about Sexual Assult

One in three women is sexually
assaulted in her lifetime.

One in four women is sexually
assaulted before the age of 18.

Every nine seconds, a woman in
America is domestically abused.

Studies estimate that anywhere
from 50 to 70 percent of sexual
assaults go unreported.

Similar studies estimate that
every two minutes, a woman
is raped in America.

Approximately 75 percent of
rape and sexual assault victims
know their attacker.

One in six males is sexually
assaulted in his lifetime.