Older women can still get raped – and the truth about other sexual assault myths

By Becky Hardy

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales [CSEW], it is believed that around 20% of women and 4% of men have experienced some form of sexual assault since the age of 16. That’s the equivalent of 3.4 million women and 631,000 men. Or here it is even more simply: one in five women have been sexually assaulted. This figure is only an estimation and can only ever be guessed at because of the decidedly disenchanting statistics associated with sexual violence and the criminal justice system.

Already perhaps the hardest crime to prosecute, in 2019/2020 only 1,439 suspects of rape were convicted – that’s less than half the number of convictions that there were three years ago and decidedly less than what the CSEW figures would indicate is needed. It has even been suggested that the decline in rape prosecutions may have deterred some police from submitting cases to the CPS for charging decisions. Together, these factors probably explain why only around 15% of those who experience sexual violence report it to the police. And so the vicious cycle continues.

But far from trying to scare us – and the reality of sexual violence in the UK right now certainly is terrifying – RCTN are using these digital training courses to educate, hopefully to deter, but primarily to enable many more of us to offer much-need support to those who have experienced sexual violence.

Not that this is anything new for the charity. But the digital format of these most recent training courses will certainly allow for the easier amalgamation of audio-visual and written content – which promise to really hammer home how these issues affect all of us and how we can help. Plus, the training can be completed remotely, whenever is most convenient and fully in line with lockdown regulations.

‘We wanted to make sure the COVID-19 restrictions we were all having to live and work under didn’t paralyse our ability to offer and deliver the training we know people and organisations find so valuable,’ explains Sue Pearce MBE, CEO of RCTN.

‘Increasing general awareness of the issues surrounding rape and sexual violence is vital in order to help more survivors feel they can safely seek the support and help they need.  These courses are designed to enable organisations of all sizes to promote greater understanding and awareness around this subject. This will help create an atmosphere where employees who have experienced sexual violence will feel safer in disclosing it, and their colleagues will be better prepared to offer the right support.’