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SALT LAKE CITY -- April is sexual assault awareness month. Officials from the Utah Department of Health say many people don't know how serious the problem is in this state. The numbers are stunning and unnerving.
UDOH Violence and Injury Prevention Program Media Coordinator Jenny Johnson said, "One in three women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime in Utah. One in eight will be raped. One in 50 men will be raped."
Johnson says out of all violent crimes, only rape happens at a higher rate in Utah than the national average. In 2008, over 88 percent of rapes were not reported.
According to health department figures, Utah's reported rape rate was 63.7 per 100,000 females in 2008, compared to the U.S. rate of 57.4 per 100,000.
However, the majority of rapes -- 88.2 percent -- are never reported to law enforcement, indicating that sexual violence in Utah is grossly underestimated.
Johnson explained, "They [victims] are afraid someone will find out if they're under 18 and they're young. They may be afraid to report [it] because it may be a family member that has done this to them and they could go to jail."
State officials say 8 percent of girls and 5 percent of boys in high school were forced to engage in unwanted sexual activity.
Sexual violence can take many forms, including rape or attempted rape, domestic and dating violence, and child sexual abuse. Sexual violence can happen to anyone regardless of age, gender, class, race, occupation, religion, sexual orientation, or physical appearance.
"Sexual violence is a crime of power and control. It has nothing to do with how someone dresses or acts. No one asks or deserves to be sexually assaulted," said Alana Kindness, executive director of the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault (UCASA).
The UDOH established a toll-free sexual assault hotline in 1998, the first crisis line of its kind in the Intermountain West. Attendants route calls from all over the state to one of 12 rape crisis programs.
Help is available for victims of sexual assault by calling the crisis's toll-free 24-hour Rape and Sexual Assault Crisis and Information hotline at 1-888-421-1100.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
