Rape and Sexual Assault
Legally, sexual assault is any unwanted sexual act a person is forced to perform or receive that includes touching of the genitals or breasts. This includes rape, sodomy, touching or oral sex where the victim is unwilling or unable to give verbal consent -- including being under 16 years old, intoxicated, drugged or unconscious. If you have been raped or sexually assaulted and need help call our 24-hour Hotline or access the I Need Help section of the website.
The number of rapes and sexual assaults are staggering.
- Every day two people report being raped or sexually assaulted in Austin.
- 90% of Travis County rape and sexual assault survivors knew the person who assaulted them.
- 13% of all rapes are against men.
- One in eight adult women in Texas has been raped sometime in her life.
- Every 5.7 minutes someone is raped in the United States
- 11.7 million women and 2.1 million men have been forced to have sex during their lifetime.
Only 20% of rape survivors actually report the rape or sexual assault. This means if 100 rapes are reported to police, another 400 women, children or men did not report the crime.
Survivors can reach out to the SafePlace Hotline 512.267.Safe (7233) to get information and help in deciding if reporting a rape or assault is something they want to do. If you have just been assaulted, Hospital Accompaniment may be able to assist you as well - access all programs through the SafePlace Hotline.
Acquaintance Rape or Date Rape
Acquaintance rape occurs when a date, friend, co-worker, teacher or someone known by the victim uses physical force, threats, intimidation or drugs and alcohol to force sex or a sexual assault.
Young people may be at higher risk of acquaintance rape. As they are learning about relationships and testing or creating boundaries for themselves, they may be hesitant to say “No” or to fight back. They may also feel it is their fault for “getting themselves” in the situation. However, everyone who has experienced acquaintance rape can be supprted through the SafePlace Hotline or counseling.
Male Rape
Male rape is vastly misunderstood and under reported. Thousands of men are sexually assaulted and raped every year. SafePlace offers all programs and services to male survivors, without discrimination. We have a male specific counseling group for male survivors of both sexual assault and domestic violence. Call our 24-hour Hotline for details.
Child Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse includes fondling a child's genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, and vaginal and anal intercourse. However, it is not only physical contact between an adult and child, child sexual abuse also includes exposure, voyeurism, masturbation and child pornography. An abuser using the imbalance in age, size, knowledge or emotional power to force a child to engage in sexual contact with the child’s peers is also child sexual abuse.