Sexual assault awareness, not to be ignored Published April 26, 2007 By Ann McMillan Sexual Assault Response Coordinator GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- We, at the Sexual Assault Prevention Response office, have been a bit quiet; almost hidden, some may say. In many ways this reflects what happens with a sexual assault or sexual violence. "Let's not talk about it." "I'm not sure what I want people to know." "Do we have to say rape, it is such a harsh word; it scares people off." It is a harsh word, more than that, it is a harsh experience, made more complicated when, as a society, we are not comfortable even hearing about someone else's experience of sexual violence. Why is that? What is it in our society that we run from, shiver, cringe and retreat in various ways from that fact? And it is a fact, that children and adults, women and men are experiencing sexual violence every day. Why do we run? Are we not warriors? We do not run from battle. We gather facts, we analyze, and we fly over the terrain and gather the topography of the area, then develop our plan. And we continue to revise our plan when we find there is additional information we did not have. And, if you think we are not at war with those who perpetrate sexual violence or facilitate the perpetration of this form of violence, then you have not been listening to the information about those who are sustaining injuries every day. Yes, I mean injuries; not only the physical injuries, but the injuries that are not always visible to the eye. These injuries occur from the traumatic experience itself and the memory of the traumatic experience. Just like the veterans of war, victims of sexual violence "will carry with them a network of neurons forever prepared to respond to the perception of any cues that were present during the rape," said David Lisak, Ph.D., in The Neurobiology of Trauma, 2002. But this is a complicated war; it is not easy to identify the enemy. They camouflage themselves in respectability, in the guise of friendship, in the role of leader, or family member or new friend in a chat room. They may be at our workplace, home, club, party or on the internet. They may target us or our brother or sister, our son or daughter. They may be a seasoned predator with years of skill and cunning or they may be a new adolescent who is "practicing" on younger children. But they are out there and we cannot protect ourselves or our sons and daughters or friends and family unless we can talk about the topic of sexual violence. The words may be harsh, but believe me; the experience goes beyond the definition of harsh. Is there nothing we can do? Are we just meant to be victims of sexual violence? What we can do is start a dialogue amongst ourselves about how to recognize the danger and keep them in the safe zone. The words -- rape, sexual assault, sexual violence -- may be harsh, and we may be uncomfortable, but the conversation is necessary. It is one of the steps in building the armor of protection for whom we love and care for.