This article contains references to sexual assault.
If you’ve been sexually assaulted – whether it was yesterday or decades ago – it’s understandable to feel like you’re on your own. But you’re not. An investigation by UN Women UK revealed that 86% of women aged 18-24 have reported being sexually harassed in a public space.
The report also found that out of all the women who were interviewed, 95% didn’t report their own experiences of being sexually assaulted to the police. The main reasons for this were: a belief that the assault “wasn’t serious enough” and the fear that they “wouldn’t be believed.”
While it’s estimated that 5 in 6 women who are raped don’t report it to the police, the same is true for 4 in 5 men (per Rape Crisis UK).
Of course, there are many factors that can deter a person from reporting sexual assault to the police. After Wayne Couzens – at the time, a serving police officer – arrested and murdered Sarah Everard, concern about the police entered mainstream discourse. However, people from marginalised communities have long been voicing these concerns.
For example, the London Black Women’s Project highlights some of the boundaries that migrant women, in particular, face, such as fear of deportation. The English Collective of Prostitutes has highlighted studies that show 86% of transgender sex workers reported being harassed or mistreated by police, and 49% of online sex workers in the UK were “unconfident that police would take reports of violence seriously.”
Simone Gosden, Operations Manager at STARS Dorset (Sexual Trauma Recovery Services), a charity that offers free support to people of any age or gender who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any point in their life, further explains how there are lots of complex reasons why someone may not want to report to the police.
“Societal attitudes of victim-blaming mean that survivors of sexual trauma carry a lot of shame and self-blame for what has happened to them,” Simone told GLAMOUR. “They may not report to the police because they are afraid of how others will judge them.
“They may be protecting family members or be fearful of how friends or work colleagues will perceive them. Others will be put off by low conviction rates or negative stories about how survivors are treated within the criminal justice system. With less than 6% of reported rapes ending in a conviction, it’s easy to understand why someone may choose not to report, especially when they are already dealing with trauma.”
If you have been sexually assaulted, there is support available – whether you want to report it or not. Here are the services you can contact for support:
1. The police
It’s your decision whether or not you want to report the assault to the police – no one should pressure you either way. If you’re worried about the perpetrator assaulting someone else, it’s important to remember that you have absolutely no responsibility for their behaviour.