The Dark Figure of Crime: Sexual Assault in America

 Growing up, most girls are taught to dress modestly, don’t walk alone in the dark, always carry protection at night. We teach our daughters to dress modestly and stay classy, because a real woman is pure. In church they preach abstinence until marriage. Although, what happens when a man comes along and steals her purity?  

Some girls don’t get the choice to stay sacred until they are married. To understand and sympathize with girls who have experienced assault, we need to understand what is classified as sexual assault, how often it happens and why more women don’t speak out about it.  

In the field of criminal justice there is a term known as “The Dark Figure of Crime”. This term is used for all people who have been a victim of a crime but has not gone to authority about it. This could be many reasons including, fear of not being taken seriously, not thinking their case is severe enough or even just thinking that it isn’t worth their time. We try to protect our daughters but sometimes it isn’t enough. This means that many girls who have experienced assault in one way or another contribute to this “Dark Figure” that is always there but never sees justice. 

According to Missing Link Films over 70% of girls and women have admitted to experiencing sexual assault. Although the number is expected to be higher, because in their study only 3% of girls have not experienced any of the behaviors they discussed. 

 That means around 97% of girls have experienced some form of sexual harassment. These behaviors range from serious events like assault to more minor offenses like catcalling. Despite some of these being less sever, they still troubling to the victim. 

 
Along with this study, Statistica  also applied the research done by Missing Link to visibly show what the women reported as sexual assault. 

In the photo above it shows what percentages of women considered each action to be sexual assault. The actions varied from a man winking at a woman to a pinch on the butt. Despite these being very different things, these women still see it as an attack. 

These attacks can have lasting effects on the victim's mental health, this is seen when we tell our daughters “Cover up, what if someone saw you like that?” showing them that it is possible they will be attacked if they dress too scandalously.

As parents we condition our children to look for these red flags, we teach them to fear what could happen. We are brought up from a young age to think this way because for most girls it isn't a matter of if it may happen, it is a matter of when, and we cannot always protect them from predators.    

 

 Sadly, many people notice when these actions are happening. Whether it be hearing someone get catcalled on the street, or see an man touch a lady from behind, but many chose to ignore it. This is a frequent problem on social media. With the oversexualization of women on social media not many people question an inappropriate if not threatening comment left on someone's post. 

In an essay posted to The Journal of Applied Psych the statement is made “To understand silence surrounding sexual harassment, we turn to the literature on social networks. Sexual harassment occurs in the context of a social network in which many actors, including victims, perpetrators, witnesses, and authority figures are interconnected. Social networks are powerful drivers of the beliefs and behaviors of their members.” This quote makes the point that because of social media, many sexual assault cases are being buried or undermined due to the fact that many harassers also use the platforms.  

      

Unfortunately, many victims, girls and boys alike are silenced when they try to speak out about their stories. Many of these stories were told in the heat of the #MeToo movement. Girls across the country spoke out about their own experiences of sexual assault to let others know they weren’t alone. This movement really shown a light on how common sexual assault was in the United States. Since then, the topic has been perceived as a little less taboo, but it still happens every day. 

Despite the progress made by the #MeToo movement, everyday girls and boys still endure and feel the long-term effects of sexual assault. Although in many cases they are still told their feelings and stories are invalid and not severe enough, because “someone else had it worse.” But even the smallest case of sexual assault can leave lasting trauma to its victim.  

Sadly, there are still people afraid to speak up about their experiences and they become another victim to The Dark Figure of Crime. To make progress in reducing that number many people must open their eyes and realize that this is a real problem in America. Almost everyone knows somebody who has a sexual assault story, most people don’t realize how many of their peers also have a story to be told. But the first step to progress is understanding, because we can’t protect our children forever. So next time a comment is made, think, do you want to just stand by and allow them to become another part of the 97% of girls who must experience these traumatic events?