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Fact: Any woman can be raped, regardless of age, race, class, religion, occupation, education, physical ability, or physical
'attractiveness'.
Fact: Rape is a violent assault that is acted out, in part, sexually. Through psychological, verbal
and physical abuse, rape violates a woman's personal integrity and her sense of safety and control
over her life.
Fact: Most rapes occur at home. More often than not the offender is a relative, friend, neighbour or acquaintance.
Fact: Most rapists look perfectly normal. They can be any age, race, colour, occupation or socioeconomic class
Fact: Most rapists plan carefully in advance, and set up situations so the rape can take place. A rapist is capable of
raping again and again.
Fact: Men who rape know very well what they are doing. Rape is an act of control.
Fact: Rape has nothing to do with sexual frustration, and the availability of prostitutes is irrelevant. This is just
another way of saying 'men can't help themselves', and that it's up to women to find the solution. No sexual urge gives a
man the right to rape a woman.
Fact: It doesn't matter if the man is the woman's husband, partner or boyfriend, or whether she's had sex with him in
the past or not. If she is forced or pressured to have sex this time, it's rape.
Fact: Women don't want to experience violent, terrorising, brutal and humiliating assaults any more than men do.
Fact: This is like saying that someone wants to be robbed because they have money in their wallet. Rapists look for targets
they think they can hit, not women who dress or behave in a particular way. Nobody asks to be hurt or degraded.
Fact: Females aged from four months to 92 years have been reported raped. Rape is an act of violence that can happen at
any time in a person's life.
Fact: It is indeed possible to rape a non-consenting adult. The threat of death or violence, or physical brutality, can immobilise
anyone. And there are lots of other ways in which people are forced into having sex.
Fact: Rape in marriage is common. It's also a crime. When a woman is forced to have sex through emotional or financial
blackmail, it's rape, whoever does it. It's also rape if a woman is forced into oral and anal sex by her partner.
Fact: Most rapes involve people of the same cultural background. However, some men do rape out of racial hatred as well
as a hatred of women. In an Anglo-dominated culture such as ours, indigenous women and women from non-Anglo backgrounds may
be targeted because of their colour or cultural difference.
Fact: Rape can happen anywhere. Women in rural areas are just as likely to be raped as women in cities.
Fact: Some lawyers will try anything to protect their clients and discredit a woman who reports a rape. It can take a lot
of courage and determination to proceed with a rape case.
Fact: Women are the main victims. But this doesn't mean it can't happen to men. Males, both children and adults, are also
victims of sexual assault. A study of men in NSW prisons found that a quarter of those between 18 and 25 have been sexually
assaulted in jail. Younger, smaller and gay prisoners are at greater risk; the rapists are almost always other male prisoners
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