Date of Award

Spring 5-15-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

History

College

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

First Advisor

Keira Williams

Abstract/Description

Sexual assault and sexual violence is a problem in our society, with one in four college women report surviving rape (15 percent) or attempted rape (12 percent) since their fourteenth birthday, and about 42% of survivors did not tell anyone about their rape. Research on the subject is being done and information in a special report, Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Rape Victimization: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), conducted by American Prosecutors Research Institute and Boston College Connell School of Nursing, exposes some alarming statistics. The study reveals that over half of female victims and nearly seventy five percent of male victims are sexually abused or assaulted before turning 18 years old. Also, the NVAWS report estimates that nearly 17.7 million women and 2.8 million are forcibly raped at some point in their lives. Even though these numbers seem extreme they are in all probability low due to the fear of reporting these cases and incidents. Due to the personal nature of sexual assault incidents, the police department relies heavily on SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) and SART (Sexual Assault Response Teams) for help in the investigation and prosecution of these cases. For my research, I read literature on sexual assault and SANE, and later I conducted several different interviews with people in our community that work with sexual assault victims. I wanted to find out more about sexual assault in my community, and whether there is a SANE program in my area because they are beneficial to the communities in which they are in.

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