The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense (DoD) Safe Helpline, and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice through victim services, public education, public policy, and consulting services.
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, or the torture of the person in a sexual manner.
A proportion of victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against females. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of males is now commonly criminalized and has been subject to more discussion than in the past.
Randall Brent Woodfield is an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and robber who was dubbed the I-5 Killer or the I-5 Bandit by the media due to the crimes he committed along the Interstate 5 corridor running through Washington, Oregon, and California. Before his capture, the I-5 Killer was suspected of multiple sexual assaults and murders. Though convicted in only one murder, he has been linked to a total of 18, and is suspected of having killed up to 44 people.
The precise definitions of and punishments for aggravated sexual assault vary from nation to nation and state to state:
Rape is a type of sexual assault initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, or where the person is under threat or manipulation, or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. It is the name of a statutory crime in jurisdictions such as England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, California, and New York, and is a legal term of art used in the definition of the offence of sexual violation in New Zealand.
Richard Francis Cottingham is an American serial killer from New Jersey perpetrating murders in New York and New Jersey between 1967 and 1980. He was nicknamed The Torso Killer and Times Square Torso Ripper after his dismemberment and decapitation of two victims on December 2, 1979 in a Hells Kitchen hotel on W. 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue in the vicinity of Times Square.
The anti-rape movement is a sociopolitical movement which is part of the movement seeking to combat violence against and the abuse of women. The movement seeks to change community attitudes to violence against women, such as attitudes of entitlement to sex and victim blaming, as well as attitudes of women themselves such as self-blame for violence against them. It also seeks to promote changes to rape laws or laws of evidence which enable rapists from avoid penalties because, for example, victims are discouraged from reporting assaults against them, or because the rapist is entitled to some immunity or because a rapist is capable in law of denigrating the victim. The movement has been successful in many jurisdictions, though many of these attitudes still persist in some jurisdictions, and despite changes to laws and significant increases in reporting of such assaults, in practice violence against women still persists at unacceptable high levels.
Denim Day takes place on the last Wednesday of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This day of action and awareness is an event in which people are encouraged to wear denim to combat victim blaming and educate others about sexual violence. The day comes following a high profile Italian rape trial where the survivor was blamed for her rape because of the type of jeans she was wearing. In protest and solidarity, individuals are encouraged to wear denim to combat the idea that rape and sexual violence are the fault or responsibility of survivors.
Jennifer Joy Freyd is an American researcher, author, educator, and speaker. Freyd is an extensively published scholar who is best known for her theories of betrayal trauma, DARVO, institutional betrayal, and institutional courage.
An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill". Perpetrators of these attacks throw corrosive liquids at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones. Acid attacks can often lead to permanent blindness.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) is an annual campaign to raise public awareness about sexual assault and educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence. It is observed in April.
Rape is a criminal offence in Pakistan. Punishment for rape in Pakistan under the Pakistani laws is either death penalty or imprisonment of between ten and twenty-five years. For cases related to gang rape, the punishment is either death penalty or life imprisonment. DNA test and other scientific evidence are used in prosecuting rape cases in Pakistan.
Alicia Kozakiewicz is an American television personality, motivational speaker, and Internet safety and missing persons advocate. Kozakiewicz is the founder of the Alicia Project, an advocacy group designed to raise awareness about online predators, abduction, and child sexual exploitation. She is also the namesake of "Alicia's Law," which provides a dedicated revenue source for child rescue efforts. Kozakiewicz has worked with television network Investigation Discovery (ID) to educate the public on, and effect change for, issues such as Internet safety, missing people, human trafficking, and child safety awareness education.
Tarana Burke is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the Me Too movement. In 2006, Burke began using metoo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade later, in 2017 #MeToo became a viral hashtag when Alyssa Milano and other women began using it to tweet about the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations. The phrase and hashtag quickly developed into a broad-based, and eventually international movement.
The murder of Angela Samota occurred on 13 October 1984, when she was attacked while in her apartment, raped, and killed. The case remained unsolved until DNA evidence surfaced in the 2000s and charges were brought against a convicted rapist, who was subsequently tried and received the death penalty.
Katherine H. Koestner is an American activist against sexual assault. She came forward in 1990 at 18 years-old publicly after a rape that took place on William and Mary campus which involved her and her date. Koestner started speaking out about her experience in 1991 by lecturing at other college campuses to raise awareness. She also volunteered in rape crisis centers. She was featured in the media, including an HBO special, No Visible Bruises: The Katie Koestner Story (1993). Koestner's work and activism has helped the term "date rape" become part of the larger discussion around rape and sexual assault. Koestner founded several campus sexual assault prevention groups after graduating from the College of William & Mary in 1994. Koester is the current director of the Take Back The Night Foundation, president of Campus Outreach Services and serves as an advisor for other organizations to help prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Pavan Amara is a student nurse, journalist and women's rights activist based in London. Her family comes from Kultan, near Amritsar in India. She is the founder of the My Body Back Project.
Lisa Ann French was a 9-year-old girl from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who was brutally murdered and sexually assaulted by her neighbor, Gerald Miles Turner Jr., on Halloween night 1973, while she was Trick-or-Treating alone.
