Teen Health Fair

Drug Facilitated Rape

What To Do If You Are Raped

Sexual Harassment

Sexual Assault includes rape, attempted rape, child molestation, incest, and sexual harassment.

Sexual Assault is a Crime.  It is a crime of Violence and it is motivated by a desire to control, humiliate, and harm the victim.

The Lighthouse Sexual Assault program offers services to adult victims of sexual assault and their families that includes...

Raise Awareness - The Lighthouse provides educational programs to the schools and community on sexual assault, date rape, and dating violence.

Facts and Stats

 84% of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows. - Alabama Coalition Against Rape.

The majority of rape victims are between 17 and 34 years old. - Alabama Coalition Against Rape.

It is estimated that only 20% of rapes are reported.

Women are 10 times more likely than men to be victims of sexual assault - National Crime Victimization Survey, 1997.

A study among college women has shown that 1 out of every 5 college age women report being forced to have sexual intercourse. - National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, 1995.

6 out of 10 sexual assaults occur in the home of the victim or the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. - Greenfield,, Lawrence. (1997). Sex offenses and Offenders: An Analysis of Data on Rape and Sexual Assault. US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Know someone that has been a victim of sexual assault? Read how you can help.

Become a Volunteer Rape Crisis Counselor

Myths About Sexual Assault

Myth: Women can easily avoid situations that can lead to rape.
Fact:  Most women who have been raped were in an environment they considered safe and were raped by someone they thought they could trust.

Myth: Only women can be victims of rape.
Fact: Men can be and are sexually assaulted. Rape is not about sexual orientation or sexual desire but is an act of power and control in which the victim is brutalized and humiliated.

Myth: Sexual Assaults occur only among strangers.
Fact: In more than 80% of all rapes, the rapist knows the victim (friend, family, acquaintance, etc.) and the rape is often committed in either the house of the rapist or of the victim.

Myth: Rape only happens in large urban areas.
Fact:  Sexual assault happens in every area - urban, rural or suburban.

Myth: Only young, beautiful women are raped.
Fact:  Rapists do not choose their victims on the basis of physical attractiveness. Infants, elderly and all ages in between are raped. Men are raped as well.

Myth: Nice girls do not get raped.
Fact:   Females do not choose to be raped. All types of women are attacked by rapists - all social and economic classes and all races.

Myth: Women who say no really mean yes.
Fact:  The word "no" means NO. Do not interpret the word in any other way.

Myth: Women often lie about being raped to get revenge, for their own benefit or because they changed their mind afterwards.
Fact: Only 2% of reported rapes are false accusations.

Myth: If a woman has passed out because of excessive alcohol it is okay to have sex with her.
Fact:  If someone is unconscious they are unable to give consent and therefore having sex with them would be rape.

Myth: If the rapist is drunk at the time of the assault then they cannot be accused of rape.
Fact:  The attacker is responsible for their actions no matter how intoxicated they are.

Myth: If a victim is not a virgin then they cannot be raped.
Fact:  A victim's sexual history has nothing to do with a case of rape. A victim could even have had sex with their attacker in the past and can still be raped by them.

Myth: The only way a rapist can really force a woman to have intercourse is by using a weapon.
Fact:  A weapon is not necessary for a sexual assault to occur. Fists, body weight, psychological pressure or the victim being drunk are ways in which rape can occur without the use of a weapon.

Myth: About 75% of rape survivors report their assault.
Fact:  Only 16-24% of victims report their attacks. Victims may not report due to embarrassment, denial, fear of not being believed, fear of retaliation by the rapist, fear of publicity, etc.

Myth: Most rape victims will have bruises or other physical injuries.
Fact:  The majority of rape victims (70%) suffer no injuries. 24% suffer minor injuries and 4% suffer serious injury or death.