The latest report on the assault sustained to CBS Foreign News Correspondent Lara Logan was she was severely beaten and sexually assaulted, not raped as first reported.
So many are asking what the difference between rape and sexual assault? In the United States the law defers from state to state and the laws vary. Many states are using the term sexual assault interchangeably with the word rape.
The United States Department of Justice defines rape as: Forced sexual intercourse, including vaginal, anal or oral penetration. Penetration may be with a body part or an object. The D.O.J defines sexual assault as; unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling.
The International Criminal Tribunal dedicated to investigating war crimes committed in Rwanda wrote this definition of rape; a physical invasion of a sexual nature committed on a person under circumstances which are coercive. (Citation: Prosecutor v Paul Akayesu ICTR-96-4T)
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center chances are you know someone who has been sexually assaulted. The statistics on their web site claims that by the age of 18 one in four girls will be sexually assaulted. (Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis & Smith 1990). At some point in her life, one in six women have experienced an attempted or completed rape with more than 50% before the woman was 18 years old and 22% before she was 12. (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000)
In January 2011, Amnesty International released a report on the increase of sexual assault on women in Haiti by armed men that roam the refugee camps at night. The problem is on the rise and being largely ignored by those in charge.
The fact of the matter is sexual violence affects women, children and men through out their lives. The victim is not to blame. Sexual violence is a crime. Rape is a crime of violence.
The sexual assault of Lara Logan has brought the subject of sexual assault/rape into our homes. I have worked in the field of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault for 10years and held women and children in my arms as they cried. I have taken them to the hospital, and accompanied then to the court.
Working together we can stop the violence and change the conditions that contribute to the violence. Visit www.rainn.org , Rape Assault Incest National Network and learn what you can do to protect yourself and those you love against sexual assault.
Go to www.nsvrc.org , and learn what you can do to stop sexual violence. Make a donation to your local Women’s Shelter and say a prayer for Lara Logan, and all the women, children and men who are the victims of this horrific crime.
