WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault and child sex abuse and can be emotionally triggering for some people, especially those impacted by sexual assault. If you would like to speak with a victim's advocate for support, please contact MHACG's REACH Center's 24/7 Helpline: 518.943.4482
Break the silence surrounding Sexual Assault & Child Abuse
April is Sexual Assault Awareness & Child Abuse Prevention Month
Did you know? False reports of sexual assault crimes accounts for only around 2% of cases. Despite this, we consistently hear that survivors must be just making it up.
Survivors of assault, rape, and abuse experience an emotional roller-coaster with trauma, shame, victim blaming, fear, and detriments to their self (esteem, worth, doubt). After an already traumatic and life-altering experience, survivors are met with victim blaming, disbelief, and shame. Instead of comfort, survivors hear things such as:
"What did you do to deserve it?"
"You must have asked for it."
"You led him on."
It's no surprise that many choose to remain silent. In fact, it's estimated that 67.5% of instances of rape are estimated to go unreported. Victims perceive they won't be believed, or they don't want to go through the pain of a criminal trial, being subjected to reliving the painful experience being judged by a jury. Even when rape is reported, it's rarely prosecuted. According to RAINN, only 5.7% of rape incidents lead to an arrest, only 1.1% of incidents are referred to a prosecutor, and only 0.7% are convicted of a felony. Even fewer lead to incarceration, with only 0.6% of incidents.
In particular, of all child abuse cases in Columbia & Greene Counties, sexual abuse accounts for nearly two-thirds (65%) of all child abuse cases handled with our Child Advocacy Center, however, these can be even more challenging to have reported. "Sexual abuse to a child can go on for months or even years before they tell someone, and some may never tell their story," said Paul Taylor, Chief Development & Communications Officer for MHACG, "You have a fragile young person who may be threatened or coerced into keeping it secret and may be fearful of what repercussions there may be if they tell." It is estimated that 88% of child sexual abuse cases are not reported.
"Sexual abuse to a child can go on for months or even years before they tell someone, and some may never tell their story."
- Paul Taylor
Chief Development & Communications Officer, MHACG
Every 68 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted.
The reality behind the perpetrator
We're taught through movies and television that a victim must be walking alone at night down a dark alley. While that can be the case, "It's often not some big scary thug that's hiding behind the bushes with a knife," Taylor said, "It's typically someone the person knows and trusts, and that relationship is used to commit the act, that's why it is so complicated." In fact, for adults, 8 out of 10 rapes are committed by someone known to the victim, and of child sexual abuse cases reported, 93% knew the perpetrator.
Even while a sexual assault is happening victims may be wondering, what could I have done to prevent this? What could I have done to stop this? Especially when the perpetrator is known, victims may be manipulated into thinking the incident was their fault. In reality, it is never the victim's fault. The most challenging hurdles to overcome is fear of not being believed and the blame they place on themselves following a sexual assault.
There are so many reasons as to why a survivor of sexual assault and abuse may not report. It comes down to when they feel safe enough to tell someone and how they deal with processing the traumatic incident.
Victims have rights and options. That is why our programs are so vital to the community. It's important for everyone to know they are not alone, and they don't have to navigate the process on their own.
About Child Abuse Prevention Month
Child Abuse Prevention Month (CAP Month) was first proclaimed in 1983 where child abuse and neglect awareness activities have been promoted across the country during April of each year. In 1989, the Blue Ribbon Campaign to prevent child abuse had its early beginnings as a Virginia grandmother's tribute to her grandson who died as a result of abuse. By tying a blue ribbon to the antenna of her car, she created a visual way to remember him and alert her community to the tragedy of child abuse.
Every 10 seconds, a report of child abuse is made.
Today, the Child Abuse Prevention Initiative is an opportunity for communities across the country to keep children safe, provide the support families need to stay together, and raise children and youth to be happy, secure, and stable adults.
About Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) was officially declared in 2001 for both awareness and prevention of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. Even before its official declaration, SAAM was about both awareness and prevention of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. Wide social activism around the issue of sexual assault took hold in the 1970s, with the first rape crisis center founded in San Francisco in 1971, the same city where the first U.S. Take Back the Night event was held seven years later.
SAAM serves as an opportunity to listen to and honor survivors in our community. It's a time to show those who have been impacted by sexual violence that they are not alone. It is also an opportunity to learn more about what sexual violence in the digital age looks like.
What Were YOU Wearing?
"What Wear You Wearing?" is an art exhibit based on student-survivor descriptions of the clothes they were wearing during their sexual assault. These stories were initially collected from survivors by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert at the University of Arkansas in 2013. Since the original exhibit geared toward college campuses, the showcase has expanded to dispel the victim-blaming that occurs with survivors of assault.
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The exhibition aims at triggering conversations to end sexual abuse and gender violence. "What Were You Wearing?" invites observers to see the outfits worn by sexual assault survivors at the time of their attack, confronting and refuting the implicit victim-blaming in that question.
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"A sun dress. Months later, my mother would stand in front of my closet and complain about how I never wore any of my dresses anymore. I was six years old."
Join MHACG's REACH and Child Advocacy Centers in this special exhibit event: What Were You Wearing in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention Month.
What Were You Wearing Exhibit
Date: Friday, April 4, 2025
Time: 5pm - 7pm
Location: CREATE Gallery - 398 Main Street, Catskill, NY 12414
About MHA of Columbia Greene
MHA of Columbia Greene is a leading mental health nonprofit serving the twin counties of Columbia and Greene. We believe mental health is health and we make it our mission to advance mental health as a critical part of the overall health and wellbeing of our communities. Since 1958, MHACG has been a beacon of hope offering mental health recovery and crisis support, peer support, family and child development education, youth mentoring and respite, housing solutions, substance use recovery programs, and supporting survivors of assault, abuse, child abuse and trafficking. We are your bridge to wellbeing, connecting individuals, children, and families with care. To learn more about MHACG, visit mhacg.org.