Sexualized violence and abuse
Human Rights, article 3 to 5, excerpts: Everyone has the right to security of person. No one shall be held in slavery. No one shall be subjected to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment.
Sexualized violence, facts and numbers: One out of every six American women and one in 33 American men have been the victim of rape, but only about 16% of all rape cases are reported to authorities. 33,8% of sexual assaults happen when the victim is between the ages of 12 and 17. Victims of sexual assault are three times more likely to suffer from depression, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, and four times more likely to contemplate suicide. About 13% of young internet users receive unwanted sexual solicitations. Only about 10% of perpetrators of child abuse are strangers to the child, and 23% of them are under the age of 18.
The #meToo movement dragged sexualized violence into the spotlight, but there is more to the topic than women suffering under men. This kind of violence can happen to all genders, of all ages, and all social groups. It happens to children and the elderly, to homeless people, to every minority and among individuals of every majority. We want to shine a light on those who are rarely talked about, and though we could not find interview partners to all the aspects we wanted to discuss, we are able to look at the topic from many different angles. We talk about sexualized violence against boys and men, migrant women, victims of sex trafficking and people with mental handicaps.
Every time someone talks about what happened to them, or someone sheds a light on the work they do to prevent sexualized violence, or work with people who have to experience abuse, it is a chance to honor the resilience of humans and opens a door for change.
Statistics taken from:
https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Education/FactsStatistics?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
