Sexual Trauma

Safe Passage, Inc. is the local safe haven for survivors of domestic violence, sexual trauma, and child abuse. It is our mission at Safe Passage, Inc. to provide free, quality services to male and female survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse who reside in York County. We are committed to educating others about these issues and partnering with local organizations in efforts to end violence in our community. We are available to provide free presentations on these three areas of focus.

Prevention is a systematic process that promotes healthy environments and behaviors and reduces the likelihood or frequency of violence against individuals. Primary prevention is taking action before violence against a victim may occur.

The presentations would consist of weekly sessions covering and discussing different topics related to domestic violence, sexual trauma, child abuse, and bullying. The subject matter of the presentations comes from research based curriculum that focuses on violence prevention in the community. The curriculum can be tailored to fit groups of almost any age or gender.

Domestic violence, sexual trauma, and child abuse have no prejudice against age, race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status. Therefore, prevention education is beneficial to each and every person in our community.

• It is estimated that 1 of every 6 women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, according to the Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN). This number is about 1 in 33 for American men. Approximately 15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12.
• According to RAINN, 73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by someone the victim knew. More than 50% of all rape/sexual assault incidents were reported by victims to have occurred within 1 mile of their home or at their home. The average age of a rapist is 31 years old, and 52% are of Caucasian decent. 22% of imprisoned rapists report that they are married.
• Domestic violence is the leading cause of injuries to women age fifteen to forty-four, more common than auto accidents, mugging, and cancer combined. (U.S. Surgeon General)
• Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.
• 1 in 4 women will experience DV during their lifetime. (Tjaden & Thoennes, National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, Extent, Nature and Conse-quences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, 2000
• One in three adolescent girls in the US is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
• One in ten high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend. (SCCADVASA)

• Consent is based on CHOICE
• Consent is ACTIVE, Not PASSIVE
• Consent is possible only when there is equal POWER
• Giving in because of fear is NOT Consent
• Deception or manipulation eliminates the possibility of Consent
• If you can't say no comfortably, Then YES has NO MEANING
• Consent means to give your Permission by saying YES
• Giggling, Changing the subject or Squirming away does NOT communicate a YES or a NO
• To give your permission you must be able to say YES or NO without pressure
• If someone gets you to do something through lying, you DID NOT GIVE CONSENT, because that person tricked you
• The legal age of consent in South Carolina is 16. However, individuals as young as 14 years old are able to consent to have sex with a partner who is 18 years old or younger
• Submitting to coercion, especially of an aggravated nature, is not consent. If a person threatens to use force or violence to overcome the victim, and the victim has reason to believe that the assailant has the ability to carry out that threat, then he or she may comply with the assailant’s demands out of fear
• Consent cannot legally be given by someone who is intoxicated
• Consent should never be assumed, even in the context of a marital relationship. An individual must have consent from his or her spouse in order to engage in sexual activity with him or her