Every 109 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted.

The National Crime Victimization Survey reported one in six females ages 13 and older are victims of attempted sexual assault or sexual assault.

21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, non-conforming) college students have been sexually assaulted, compared to 18% of non-TGQN females, and 4% of non-TGQN males, RAINN reported.

Statistics taken from a CDC report on sexual violence found that 1 of 5  women and 1 of 71 men reported experiencing [sexual assault.]

In spite of such direct and disturbing facts, a harmful rape culture still pervades American society.

CNN reported on a teacher charged with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent in 2008. Forty-seven year old teacher, Stacey Dean Rambold, had pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of the student.

In deciding the sentence, Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh had decided the 14 year old student  “seemed older than her chronological age.”

Rambold had served 31 days in jail before being released on probation which caused a public outcry as the sentence went against the state’s mandatory minimum sentence of two years.

The state’s Supreme Court prevented a new ruling saying the judge did not have enough legal standing to change the sentence.

The victim took her own life in 2010.   

The responses on sexual assault contribute to the rape culture that further victimizes the survivors of the crime.

Slate magazine recounted an incident In 2015, involving Peachtree Ridge High School located in Suwanee, Georgia, on a student that had reported a sexual assault by another student.

During the initial question as to what had happened the victim was asked? by a student dean, the common questions “what [were you] wearing at the time of the assault,” and more directly “Why didn’t you bite his penis and squeeze his [testicles.]?”

The victim was quickly notified after that that she and the assaulter would both be suspended until they can prove their allegations.

The school insisted on a cross examination including representatives for both parties in the same room at the same time. The school also stated that if the they couldn’t prove there was assault, the school would punish both students for engaging in sexual activity on school grounds.

In the end, both students were disciplined, in the form of additional suspensions for engaging in “consensual” sexual activity on campus.

The victim responded, “What has hurt the most is that I have suffered for something I didn’t do. My school punished me and made it seem like the attack was somehow my fault. For a long time, I thought maybe it was.”

Men have not been allowed to be victims of sexual assault in America. Public opinion largely consists of denying the fact that men can not be sexually assaulted at all.

The reasons for this are complex as any opinions can’t be traced with an official documentation from a government or independent organization.

An array of comments dominate this topic pertaining to men. Examples that reinforce the view that men are not victims are taken from the website debate.org

A recent outlet that was started specifically for men facing domestic abuse, which includes sexual assault, is The Taylor House, located in Batesville in Independence County, Arkansas.

The house is suspected to be the first and only domestic violence shelter, specifically for men.

Only one year ago the Taylor House housed exactly five men in October of 2015.

When sexual assault is reported, the reactions toward the victims stretch from a man cannot be assaulted to questioning why she did not fight back.

There is no federal legislation pertaining to sexual assault in america. The definitions for what sexual assault is has been left for the states to interpret.

Only 6 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison.