Women Shining Magazine Women Shining Spring 2018 | Page 27

Women age 15-24 are at the highest risk for
sexual assault. Also socio-economic status
does play a role. There are definitely groups
that are more at risk, but this ideology that
it only happens among lower income, among
those marginalized groups, those people among
addictions and mental illness is incredibly false.
In fact with domestic violence, those myths
have been completely blown out of the water
and for the most part for sexual assault as well.
People who are violent, are violent.
I think one of the issues that comes up for a
lot of women, particularly for women who may
have more education or come from a wealthier
background or do not struggle with addictions
or mental illness is - I should have known
better. I should have seen the warning signs,
I should have been able to protect myself. I
should of, I should of, I should of.
Sometimes there are no warning signs,
and sometimes, even if there are, we don’t
recognize them as warning signs. And even if
we recognize the warning signs, it’s not our
fault if someone perpetuates violence against
us. The survivor should never be blamed.
One of our really big
pieces is to get rid of that
‘I should have known
better’ myth
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