Common Myths About Sexual Assault—And the facts

There’s a lot of misinformation about sexual assault, and those myths can hurt survivors. Let’s clear a few up: 

• Myth: “Most assaults are by strangers.” 

  • Fact: Most assaults are committed by someone the survivor knows and may be in a relationship with.

• Myth: “If they didn’t fight back, it wasn’t assault.” 

  • Fact: Freezing and fawning are the most common trauma responses and the response is not a choice, but an automatic reaction. Consent must be freely given, not assumed from lack of resistance. 

• Myth: “False reports are common and ruin lives.” 

  • Fact: False reports are rare – Estimated at 2-10% (Kimberly Lonsway, n.d.) But it is often that a survivor retracts their statements to protect themselves from a very painful legal process.

• Myth: “Sexual assault happens because someone was ‘asking for it’ by the way they dressed or acted.” 

  • Fact: Clothing or behavior never causes sexual assault, only the perpetrators choice to harm does. Consent is required, regardless of appearance or situation. 

• Myth: “Men can’t be sexually assaulted.” 

  • Fact: Men and boys can be and are sexually assaulted. It’s less often reported, but that doesn’t make it less real or serious. 

• Myth: “If there is no physical injury, it wasn’t “real” assault.”

  • Fact: Many survivors don’t have visible injuries. Lack of injury does not mean consent was given.

• Myth: “You can tell if someone has been assaulted by how they act afterward.”

  • Fact: Trauma affects everyone differently, some may cry, others laugh or seem calm. There is no right way to respond. Responses are personalized and not a choice.

• Myth: “If they stayed in contact with their perpetrator, it couldn’t have been an assault.”

  • Fact: Survivors may continue contact for safety, emotional confusion, financial reasons, or fear of retaliation. That doesn’t erase what happened.