Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation Is Anti-Sexual Violence Work
Written by Jenna Clark and Nora Gallo
Trigger warning: This article discusses sexual assault, r*pe, suicide, sexual violence, racism, homophobia, transphobia and other potentially triggering topics. Please take care of yourself and your needs. We have included a list of resources for survivors at the end of the article.
April 2024 marks the 23rd annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). First recognized in 2001 by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), SAAM aims to “raise public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it.” Not only is sexual violence inherent to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), but it is a major risk factor for CSE. To create a world where no person is bought or sold, we need to end sexual violence.
Impact of Sexual Violence
Sexual Assault Awareness Month sheds light on the public health issue of sexual violence. Sexual violence refers to “sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim.” More than half of women and almost 1 in 3 men have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. An American is assaulted every 73 seconds, and every nine minutes, that victim is a child. Almost half of female rape survivors were first raped as a minor, and more than 4 in 5 were raped before the age of 25. Sexual violence disproportionately affects women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people of color. Fifty-six percent of Native American women experience sexual violence in their lifetime, and more than 90-percent of the time the perpetrator is non-Native. Sixty percent of Black women experience sexual abuse by the age of 18. Transgender people are 1.8 times more likely to experience sexual violence than the rest of the population. These populations are also at a much greater risk of experiencing commercial sexual exploitation, highlighting the compounding impacts of these traumatic experiences.
The physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual impacts of sexual violence are detrimental. Many survivors suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. Thirteen percent of female rape survivors attempt to die by suicide. Survivors often experience reoccurring reproductive, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and sexual health problems. Many survivors engage in negative health behaviors to cope with the traumatic experience, making them more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol, use drugs, and engage in risky sexual activity. Women who are sexually abused as children are more likely to experience further sexual violence in adulthood and become survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Survivors of sexual violence often face difficulty at work or school, forming relationships, and regaining normalcy after their experience. Sexual violence is a major social determinant of health, though it is often not regarded as such.
Just like commercial sexual exploitation, sexual violence does not always involve physical force. Perpetrators often use coercion, manipulation, threats, and intimidation to force a victim to comply. This type of violence is no less harmful and no less of an assault than physical force, but it is often disregarded and deemed consensual. It is crucial for policy and society at large to understand that sexual violence includes any unwanted sexual contact perpetrated without explicit, enthusiastic consent. Fearing retaliation or victim-blame, survivors rarely report their experience of sexual violence, and even when they do, their perpetrators are rarely held accountable. Given low reporting rates, it’s hard to determine exactly what percentage of incidents go unreported, but according to the U.S. Department of Justice, it’s nearly 80 percent.
It is also important to know who is committing sexual violence and respond appropriately. Fifty-seven percent of perpetrators of sexual violence are white, and 93.6 percent are men. More than half of all alleged rapists have at least one prior conviction, and suspects who are released pre-trial often commit another crime. Policy must react to this danger and protect survivors.
History of Anti- Sexual Violence Advocacy
Activism to end sexual violence has been happening for almost as long as sexual violence has. Rape was very uncommon in Indigenous communities, then European colonists used rape and other forms of sexual violence and exploitation as tools for oppression, domination, and colonization against Indigenous people. Colonizers did not treat rape as a crime, as they viewed women as property without any rights. In the 19th century, enslavers regularly raped and sexually assaulted enslaved people. In the 1885 Supreme Court case Missouri v. Celia, justices declared that an enslaved woman, Celia, had no right to defend herself against the rape of her enslaver. In the 1890s, rape of a white woman by a Black man was a capital offense, but rape of a Black woman was not even a crime. Activists like Ida B. Wells acted against this injustice, leading to the formation of the National Association of Colored Women.
In 1944, Recy Taylor, a Black woman living in Alabama, was raped by six white men. These men admitted to the rape, but no charges were ever brought against them due to the racist and unjust actions of two grand juries and local law enforcement. When Emmett Till, a young Black teenager, was brutally murdered for allegedly sexually assaulting a white woman in 1955, his murderers confessed but faced no consequences, nor did the woman who wrongly accused him. These atrocities helped spark the Civil Rights Movement.
In the 1970s, a growing campus movement brought attention to the concept of “date rape” and demanded recognition that sexual violence is rarely committed by a stranger. The first rape crisis centers were formed in 1972 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C. The Combahee River Collective, a Boston-based coalition of Black feminists (many of whom were lesbian), highlighted the need to empower the most marginalized groups and dismantle all oppressive systems when community organizing. In the 1990s, discussion emerged around the issue of sexual violence toward men and boys.
In 1985, the Federal Victims of Crime Act passed, which provided federal funding for victims of violent crimes, including sexual assault. The first federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed in 1994, which made some headway in the movement but largely ignored the voices of people of color, causing it to contribute greatly to mass incarceration. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (2003) was the first federal legislation to address sexual violence against people who are incarcerated.
Tarana Burke started the “Me Too” movement in 2007 to support and organize survivors of sexual violence. #MeToo became popularized in 2017, as many celebrities came out about sexual violence they had experienced. President Obama was the first U.S. president to recognize April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in 2009. Since then, individuals and organizations have continued to advocate for justice and movements to end sexual violence. Unfortunately, sexual violence is still rampant, and perpetrators are rarely held accountable.
So, what can we do?
Sexual violence was declared a “silent, violent epidemic” in 1995 by the American Medical Society. Despite efforts led by survivors, over the last three decades, sexual violence has remained an epidemic. But, through policy change and community organizing, throughout our schools, organizations, communities, and homes, we can address and end sexual violence. Historically, policy and legislative change has revolved around criminal legal system reform, and the crux is placed on whether or not a perpetrator is “guilty” or “innocent.” While there is work to do there and always will be, we must invest in the change we’ve begun to see in recent years: addressing systems change through a lens that seeks to prevent sexual violence from happening in the first place and supporting survivors when violence does occur.
At My Life My Choice, the work we do to end commercial sexual exploitation is in and of itself anti-sexual violence work. We are taking a survivor-led approach that supports survivors and offers them autonomy in reclaiming their choice, voice, and body. It is crucial for all organizations serving or working with survivors to believe their stories, listen to their needs, and respond accordingly. With so many people being survivors of the tragic epidemic that is sexual violence, we must take a hard look at what we are doing wrong as a society and what we need to do to change these broken systems. Sexual Assault Awareness Month is an important time to look at the impacts of sexual violence, but it cannot stop there.
Resource List: Below is a non-exhaustive list of resources for survivors of sexual violence in Massachusetts. Thank you to these organizations for the amazing and challenging work they do.
Jane Doe Inc.: The MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence
Boston, MA
617-248-0922
JDI Search Tool — search for services in your area
SafeLink 24/7 Hotline: 1-877-785-2020
SAFEPLAN – MA Office for Victim Assistance
Rape Crisis Centers:
BARCC (Boston Area Rape Crisis Center)
Hotline: (800) 841-8371
Address: 99 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139
Voices Against Violence
7 Bishop Street Framingham, MA 01702
Hotline: (800) 593-1125
YWCA Northeastern MA
38 Lawrence Street Lawrence, MA 01840
Hotline: (877) 509-9922
YWCA North Shore Rape Crisis Center
20 Central Avenue, Suite 510 Lynn, MA 01901
Hotline: (800) 922-8772
The Center for Hope and Healing
15 Hurd St Lowell, MA 01852
Hotline: (800) 542-5212
New Hope
140 Park Street Attleboro, MA 02703
Additional sites in Taunton, Webster
Hotline: (800) 323-4673
A New Day
950 West Chestnut Street Brockton, MA 02301
Additional sites in Quincy, Weymouth, Plymouth
Hotline: (508) 588-8255
Independence House
160 Bassett Lane Hyannis, MA 02601
Additional sites in Falmouth, Orleans, Provincetown
Hotline: (800) 439-6507
New Bedford Women’s Center/The Women’s Center
405 County Street New Bedford, MA 02740
Additional site in Fall River
Hotline: (508) 996-6636
Wayside Trauma Intervention Services/Valley Rape Crisis Program
10 Asylum Street Milford, MA 01757
Hotline: (800) 511-5070
Pathways for Change
588 Main Street Worcester, MA 01608-2014
Additional sites in Fitchburg, Southbridge, North Brookfield
Hotline: (800) 870-5905
National Hotlines:
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
Trans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860
Trevor Project: 1(866) 488-7386 or Text “START” to 678-678