A vast number of people, particularly women and children, experienced sexual assault but instead of reporting the abuse, they kept their mouths sealed. There were so many reasons why they've made such choice but there was one common thing that pushed them thus far - fear.
Fear of rejection, abandonment and of being judged by others are nothing but a few reasons why victims did not report the sexual assault. Additionally, the public may not believe them and people may shove off the harassment, Scary Mommy learned.
In connection to that, the #WhyWomenDontReport trended on Twitter. It was coined by Liz Plank and she used this hashtag in asking her followers why they did not report their abuse.
It started with a revelation that @feministaulous also experienced a sexual assault. She did not report the incident because the perpetrator was the head of the department and she was scared of losing her job.
When I was sexually harassed, I didn't report because he was the head of the department and I didn't want to lose my job.
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) October 13, 2016
@pewcubed was told by her father that she'll be embarrassing the family for claiming the assault. Meanwhile, @TheRealDaniYell revealed that she was scared of the people of raped her and thought it was her fault.
@feministabulous My father told me I was embarrassing our family by claiming assault #WhyWomenDontReport — PewPewPew (@pewcubed) October 13, 2016
@feministabulous I was scared of the people who raped me and I thought it was my fault still have CPTSD 20 years L8R finally in therapy
— Queen of the nerds (@TheRealDaniYell) October 13, 2016
A lot of mind-blowing revelations about sexual assault came to surface following Donald Trump's controversial statement on how he treats women. This, in turn, enriched the knowledge of the public making them aware that it is real and it is happening.
Sexual Violence, or assault for the matter, is any type of unwanted sexual contact. This includes not only the actions but also the words of a sexual nature being applied to a person without our consent.
Sexual assault does not discriminate for it affects people of all age, race, size, gender, income, all sexual orientations, etc. The abuse comes in different forms - rape or sexual assault, child sexual assault or incest, sexual assault by a person's spouse or partner, unwanted sexual contact, sexual harassment, trafficking, exposing naked body without consent, masturbating in public, watching someone in their private act without permission - as reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
