COM 0521.017 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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C. Sexual Assault (SA) Sexual Assault is defined in HRS §707-730 as occurring when: `The person knowingly subjects another person to an act of sexual penetration or sexual contact by strong compulsion. " Several national studies, the National Women's Study (NWS) (1989) and the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAW) (1995), provided major victimization surveys on the prevalence of forcible rape among adult women in the United States. The findings indicated that approximately 13.4% of adult women were subjected to forcible rape sometime during their -- lifetime. A majority of these rapes occurred when these women were under the age of 18 year old. Risk factors included the victim's current age, her race/ethnicity, and the regional location of her residence. Using these national findings on the prevalence of rape and risk factors for having been raped, Kenneth Ruggiero and Dean Kilpatrick prepared a localized report, One in Seven — Rape in Hawaii: A Report to the State (National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, May 15, 2003). The authors developed a method for estimating the prevalence of rape in Hawaii based on the demographic and geographic risk factors for rape from the national studies and applying it to the State's adult female population using Census data. Their findings estimate that approximately 14.5% of adult women in Hawaii (nearly 67,000) have been victims of one or more completed forcible rapes during their lifetime. The estimate is slightly higher than the national average due in part to the fact that Hawaii is identified in the NWS and NVAW studies as a region with a higher than average rape prevalence. The estimate does not include other forms of rape (statutory, attempted, alcohol/drug facilitated or incapacitated), nor does it count those females under the age of 18 who have experienced rape. This estimate of one -in -seven women being a victim of forcible rape sometime in her lifetime is considered conservative for these reasons. The Department of the Attorney General, in partnership with the Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC), conducted an analysis of nearly 6,000 sexual assault victims who received treatment or services with SATC in Honolulu from mid-1990 through mid -2001. Their report, Sexual Assault Victims in Honolulu: A Statistical Profile (Department of the Attorney General, January 2004) presented a number of key findings regarding the population of victims in Hawaii who survived a sexual assault and sought treatment. The average victim at the time of the assault was 18 years old, and 90% of these victims were female. The largest ethnic categories of victims were: Hawaiian/part Hawaiian (28.8%), Caucasian (26.3%), and mixed heritage (non -Hawaiian) (17.4%). Most of these victims were assaulted by someone they knew, more likely to be an intimate partner; only 16.3% were identified as stranger assaults. Most of the assaults included the use of physical force (69.9%) or intimidation (64.6%), although a majority of the assaults did not involve use of a weapon. Prior consumption of alcohol by the assailant increased the risk level involved in sexual assault, especially if the victim is female. It is notable that the national rate of reporting sexual assault to law enforcement is estimated to be around 28%, while SATC victims have a higher reporting rate at 68%.