Even with better laws and increased public education and awareness, many old beliefs persist. The facts about sexual assault are that:

• Victims of sexual assault do not cause perpetrators to act.
• Sexual assaults are committed primarily out of anger and/or a need to feel powerful, to control and dominate another person.
• Victims of sexual assaults are forced, coerced or manipulated to participate in sexual activity. By definition, the ‘activity’ is assault when it occurs without consent.
• Victims, who, by virtue of staying alive, are referred to as “survivors,” are traumatized by the assault. Friends or family members may also experience trauma; the term used to refer to these caring others is "secondary survivors".
• Sexual assaults are crimes. They should be reported to the police and the perpetrators prosecuted in court.

Family Violence

Family violence is also referred to as domestic violence and it is the physical abuse of an adult or child by another with whom they are acquainted or related and with whom they reside or with whom they previously resided. This definition is inclusive of elder abuse, sibling abuse, incest, and abusive sexual behavior within any intimate couple.

Domestic violence includes:

• Spouse abuse, but the couple need not be married for the definition to apply. The
• Those who are separated divorced, living together, gay, or lesbian.
• Intimate at the time of the incident, or they may have been intimate at any time prior to the incident. Also been referred to as intimate partner violence.

Domestic violence is not limited to any race, class, educational level, or sexual orientation. It is an act of power and domination which occurs both up and down the socioeconomic ladder. Doctors, lawyers, ministers, farmers, factory workers, and teachers may be abusers. It is very likely that you know someone who is being abused.