State’s rape rate to air on TV today

Her first memory is of her dad beating up someone else.

“I actually never understood it to be domestic violence until I started working here,” said Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams, prevention program coordinator at Middle Way House.

The violence continued.

At age 14, Thomas-Williams was raped — the first of multiple times.

Today, her work at Middle Way House aids those who have undergone similar experiences. Thomas-Williams works with teenagers to build healthy relationships and healthy sexuality.

“My inspiration is my own victimization or my own survivor hood,” Thomas-Williams said.

Tonight, Thomas-Williams will be one of three panelists speaking after the 8 p.m. airing of “Shadows of Innocence,” a documentary produced by WTIU and WFIU of
Bloomington.

The documentary examines the statistics released last summer in a joint study between the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy and the Kinsey Institute. The study revealed that sexual assault has been a serious problem in Indiana for decades, said Sara Wittmeyer, WTIU and WFIU news bureau chief.

“This is an epidemic in Indiana,” Wittmeyer said. “It’s a public health crisis.”

Specifically, the study revealed high rates of rape and sexual assault among Indiana’s youth. One in five teenage girls is raped in Indiana.

When the issue affects so many, it affects everyone, Wittmeyer said.

“Sexual violence affects everybody whether they know it or they don’t,” said Erik Scheub, director of media and public relations for the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

There is an attitude that sexual assault won’t happen to you, Wittmeyer said.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana ranks as the state with the second highest rate in the nation of forced sexual intercourse for girls between ninth and 12th grades. Indiana is second only to Wyoming.

The issue lies in the culture of Indiana, Thomas-Williams said. The state’s social norms and attitudes portray masculinity and femininity in traditionally stereotypical roles.

In terms of sexual violence, men are often depicted as perpetrators, while women are the victims, Thomas-Williams said. The Indiana rape code does not mention same-sex assault.

Attitudes toward sexual violence need to change, Scheub said. However, this discussion will also vary upon region.

As Scheub noted, attitudes can vary across the state.

The Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault is in the early stages of piloting research that will collect samples from various communities across the state.

And according to Thomas-Williams, this change needs to come in the form of new policy. With a change in policy, a change in the culture can follow.

“If we get consent for our actions, we will change the relationship between people,” Thomas-Williams said.

Rape prevention isn’t always possible, Thomas-Williams said.

“I will never ever say what a teen could do to protect themselves from rape,” she said. “If a rapist is in the room, we are all at risk for being raped.”

Common prevention tactics, such as advising teens to travel in groups, does not stop rapists, Thomas-Williams said. Many victims know their rapists, she said.

Despite the difficulty of preventing rape, Indiana’s Sexual Violence Primary Prevention Council developed goals between 2007 and 2009 to help reduce the rate of sexual violence. According to the CEEP and Kinsey report, the Council has identified the want to facilitate awareness of their plan, build capacity to prevent sexual violence, support communities in prevention, enhance social norms, include as much of the population as possible in the effort to prevent and enhance the data collection on sexual violence.

Wittmeyer said the documentary intends to start a discussion of an issue that demands more attention. “Shadows of Innocence” closes by talking to Indiana residents who are living after their assault.

While “Shadows of Innocence” examined other states, such as Minnesota and its progressive sexual assault policies and cultural attitudes, it focuses on what makes Indiana different, Wittmeyer said.

“Why is Indiana so much worse?” she asked.