“Stranger danger is the greatest fear, but peril often lurks closer to home”
The Globe and Mail (April 1, 2016)
A chill went through the University of British Columbia last weekend after a violent sexual assault. A 20-year-old woman walking alone at night on campus was jumped from behind and forced to the ground. She fought her attacker off and escaped. Before the assault, there were reports of an intruder with a similar description lurking around campus housing.
There’s a reason people are gripped by fear over these assaults: They are terrible and terrifying, and play into the chilling scenario of our deepest fears – someone in the shadows, ready to pounce.
But women are far more likely to be assaulted by someone they know. In the majority of sexual assaults against women, the accused is known to the victim – in three-quarters of sexual offences in 2011, according to Statistics Canada.
I understand the terrors of an assault by a stranger – it comes with an element of danger that we tend not to think of with someone we know. And I in no way mean to discount that. But sexual assault by a known culprit demands attention – not only because it’s more likely to happen, but because it can be much more complex. Also, as a smart friend pointed out to me, women who are assaulted by a stranger are more likely to be believed.
To protect ourselves against the far less likely scenario of a stranger attacking, women – the onus placed on vulnerable us – will go to self-defence classes, maybe attend that police seminar and receive advice such as don’t go for a jog when the streets are deserted, and stick to well-lit areas.