Anti-Sexual Violence

RAINN

Who we are

What we do

80%
know the assailant, a critical reminder that most sexual assaults are not perpetrated by strangers, despite common media tropes.
67%
take place in the survivor’s home or a relative’s home, showing that violence often happens in familiar, everyday spaces.
69%
69% of victims are 12-34 years old, and more than half of the online outreach to the National Sexual Assault Hotline is from children.
74s
Someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted every 74 seconds, underscoring the urgency and relevance of accurate storytelling.
2.5%
result in incarceration — providing essential context for justice system narratives and survivor mistrust of institutions.

Center the survivor.

Don't center the perpetrator. Avoid framing that prioritizes the perpetrator’s motives, future, or reputation over the survivor’s experience.

Recognize that teenagers are children. Teens face high rates of abuse—66% of victims under 18 are ages 12–17—and deserve the same protection and care as younger children

Don't assume only young kids are at risk. Treating teens as less vulnerable minimizes harm and can prevent survivors from receiving appropriate support.

Portray sexual violence with care. Use techniques like focusing on the survivor’s face, cutting away, or showing aftermath, and provide content warnings and resource cards.

Don't use graphic or voyeuristic depictions. Explicit portrayals can be traumatizing to the audience and shift attention to the act rather than its impact on the survivor.

Validate all trauma responses. Survivors react in many ways, and healing is often long-term and non-linear.

Don't judge or rank reactions. Labeling someone as “overreacting,” “not upset enough,” or behaving the “wrong” way reinforces stigma.

Show supportive community responses. Model listening, believing, and loved ones seeking help from resources like RAINN so they can center the survivor.

Don't let others’ emotions take over. When anger or grief becomes the focus, attention shifts away from the survivor’s needs.

Uphold survivor dignity and agency. Show that people who experience abuse are not defined or predetermined by what happened to them.

Don't suggest abuse creates future perpetrators. This harmful and unsupported narrative stigmatizes survivors and can shift responsibility away from the offender.