Gap initiative

Nation-wide self reported rape and/or sexual assault rates more than doubled from 2017-2018.  Unfortunately the response of law enforcement to sexual assault has created a serious justice gap. The sad reality is that only 15-20% of survivors attempt a report with law enforcement and about 50% of the time when someone does attempt to report their reports are never taken or investigated. Of those reports that actually do get taken only 22% to 25% are prosecuted, and only 10% to 12% lead to conviction. What more, research has found that 50% or more of victims who do report end up experiencing secondary trauma from the legal system in the process of reporting. With incidence of rape growing by leaps and bounds along side the unreliability of the legal system to protect people there is a growing need for community based prevention initiatives.

Peer-reviewed research indicates that 21–35% of college aged cis-men indicate some likelihood of raping if they could be assured of not being caught and that 63-95% of rapists are serial rapists. This statistic is unnerving. but it shows us that most offenders are showing patterned behavior and that we can potentially avoid a significant portion of sexual assault cases by just increasing the risk of being caught. To do so evidence suggests that bystander training, accessibility of detection devices in bars and messaging both denouncing drink spiking and encouraging enthusiastic consent can make predators feel less safe and address the issue.