Recently, headlines across the country involved another sexual assault tragedy. This time at the University of Virginia. While a great deal of controversy surrounds this latest story, it is important to not lose sight of the fact that stories of sexual assault are filling our newspapers all too regularly. As we continue to read reports of these acts nearly every day, many of us seem to fall into the trap of believing that sexual assault only happens to somebody else and that it is only committed by people we don’t know. But the statistics say otherwise.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a sexual assault occurs every two minutes in America. On average, there are 233,986 victims of sexual assault every year. In eight out of 10 cases, the victim knew the perpetrator. In addition to traumatic physical injuries, victims of sexual assault are very likely to suffer from serious emotional effects. Sexual assault victims are 26 times more likely to use drugs, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, and 4 times more likely to consider suicide. One in four women will be a victim of sexual assault at some point during their life.
On Dec. 2, the Board of Supervisors approved my board matter that directs county staff to assess current methods to prevent sexual violence, and to utilize those assessments to develop new ideas on how to educate students on sexual assault. These efforts are concentrated on educating those who might commit sexual assault crimes in order to change the cultural acceptance toward such crimes and to prevent sexual assaults in the future. It is important that county staff work with community leaders to develop ideas on how to work together to increase an awareness and educate students about sexual assault in order to change the culture of apathy toward such acts.
I am also pleased to report that officials at George Mason University, which sits in my district, have been working on this issue for some time. They have agreed to brief me on their efforts, and I plan to urge university officials to tap into whatever resources are available to help them prevent such crimes. Recently, several state delegates have proposed legislation to require that campus assaults be prosecuted as the crime that they are. I intend to meet with our police to make sure we are doing everything we can to arrest and prosecute offenders.
As a community, we must make larger, systematic efforts to prevent these crimes. We must do more to change our culture, and that means reaching our children before they are in college. The seeds of such conduct are planted long before students set foot on campus, and are nurtured by a culture all too willing to turn a blind eye. We need to teach our children, and population as a whole, that sexual assault is a serious crime and will not be tolerated in our society. We must continue to teach the warning signs of potentially violent behavior. We must also engage in new efforts directed toward those who commit these crimes, and work to ensure sexual assault is viewed with the seriousness it deserves.