Prevent and Identify Sexual Abuse

In recent weeks, Clark County has seen an unusual number of high profile sexual assault allegations—whether in the form of a male teacher accused of recording a female student from underneath a classroom table, a female teacher charged with raping a student, or a massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting his female patients during a massage. Each of these acts, if true, are atrocious invasions upon the innocent victims upon which they were committed. It should come as no surprise however, that for every highly publicized incident of sexual assault, there are dozens, if not hundreds of unreported, undetected, and undocumented incidences of sexual assault. Most, but not all, of the victims of these horrendous crimes are female, and many are students in our schools, scout troops, or even families.

The harms and losses inflicted upon these victims are incalculable and oftentimes permanently scarring in ways incomparable to the physical scars left after a physical assault or other injury. While some sexual assault victims are able to bring civil claims against their attackers—and recover monetarily for the damages caused to them, most receive no measurable monetary recovery. This is, of course, to assume that any recovery, even one in the millions of dollars, would be sufficient to compensate a woman for the physical and emotional trauma, mental suffering, heartache, mistrust, embarrassment, guilt, and other harms which may have been caused to her individually as a result of a horrible crime. No amount of money would be sufficient to compensate for these losses.

Nevertheless, many women are left victimized with no source of recovery available to them. This is because most attackers do not have assets from which to pay a civil judgment and virtually all insurance policies contain a clause which excludes “intentional acts” from liability coverage. So, unless another entity, perhaps an employer, a church, or a youth group, was “negligent” in allowing the abuse to occur, there may be no monetary recovery.

This is all a relatively complex area of insurance coverage law, but for the purposes of this piece, it is sufficient to say that, if a victim is even able to obtain a monetary settlement to balance the effects of a sexual assault, the recovery will not be sufficient to compensate for the harms caused. As complex and deep rooted as is the American civil justice system, it is a virtually powerless tool in the effort to prevent and resolve such a complicated societal problem. We as a community must look outside the law in our efforts to prevent sexual assault from occurring and to identify signs of its vicious effects to minimize the damage caused.The Clark County chapter of the YWCA offers a free Sexual Assault Program. The YWCA offers “24-hour legal, medical, and emotional support to victims of sexual assault and their families.” As would be expected, victims of sexual assault are encouraged to receive medical attention as soon as possible following a sexual assault and to:

• Go to a safe place immediately.
• Save clothing and personal items involved in the assault.
• If possible, do not bathe, change clothes or change your appearance until after evidence has been collected by the police.
• Find support.

Immediate assistance is available by calling YWCA’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 360-695-0501 or 800-695-0167. For life threatening situations, call 911.

The victim of a sexual assault is just that, a victim. This fact cannot be overstated. But, as with all harms or dangers, it is always better to take steps to prevent or reduce the risk of being the victim of sexual assault. The YWCA encourages us to keep our younger children safer by following these important steps:

• Let your children know that it’s OK to say no, and it’s OK to leave a situation—especially one that involves someone who has made your child feel uncomfortable.
• Teach your children the proper names for body parts, and teach them about safe and unsafe touching, and what is appropriate physical affection and attention.
• Reduce the occurrence of situations where there is only one adult present with your child.
• Trust your intuition about people around your children.
• Remember that the greatest risk to our children comes from family and friends—not strangers.
• If your child or any child you know has been sexually assaulted, which is a serious crime, assure him or her that telling you was the right thing to do, that you are sorry it happened, and that it wasn’t his or her fault. Then, get support immediately. Contact YWCA’s 24 hour sexual assault hotline at 800-695-0167 or 360-695-0501 and/or call 911.

These steps are just as applicable to protecting our older teenagers from sexual assault. The Internet abounds with resources available to help our high school and college students prevent, identify, and cope with the aftermath of sexual assault. Any parent of a teenager should seek out and review these materials and discuss them with your teenager. The YWCA offers assistance to help those struggling even to talk about these important issues with their teen.

We as parents, as teachers, as friends and classmates, must strive to ensure that our children are as protected as possible from the serious crime of sexual assault. Not all assaults can be prevented. Many could.