Oregon state taskforce introduces ad campaign against sexual assault

A new advertising campaign aimed at focusing a harsh spotlight on perpetrators is debuting in Oregon. A task force against sexual assault, led by Attorney General Hardy Myers is behind the effort.

Sexual assault is a crime and a choice," said Myers, who created the task force in 1999. "These crimes historically have been referred to as 'nuisance' or 'petty' crimes but are now regarded as crimes that denote an escalating pattern of criminal sexual behavior."

According to a U.S. Department of Justice study done more than a decade ago, nearly nine of 10 such crimes involve offenders who knew their victims as family members, intimate partners or acquaintances.

"This confronts the misperception that rape and sexual assault are crimes committed by strangers," Myers said.

This follows up an Oregon report that states that a third of women between 20 and 55 reported either attempted or completed sexual assaults, including threats. For every assault raported to police or others, 6 or 7 more went unreported.

"Focusing on the victim diverts our attention from the individual who is actually responsible and chooses to commit a sexual assault," said Heather Huhtanen, the director of programs for the task force.

"If we want to address sexual assault through justice for victims, accountability for offenders and safety for the broader community, we must shift our focus to the behaviors, actions and choices of those who choose to offend. This shift must include a willingness to look at even those individuals who we may be likely to trust automatically."

Female farmworkers are especially vulnerable targets, said Laura Mahr, a lawyer and the coordinator of the Project Against Workplace Sexual Harassment for the Oregon Law Center.
Jayne Downing is the executive director of the Mid-Valley Women's Crisis Service, which has provided assistance to victims of sexual assault for 35 years.

"It is so traumatic to them to have people in our community ask: Where did you go? What were you doing? How were you dressed?" Downing said. "It is exciting to be part of being able to ask not what survivors are doing or not doing, but instead why we are not looking at those who have made the choice to do this."

With child molesters, the focus is on the perp, not the victim. Hopefully, those who rape adults will have the same harsh spotlight turned on them.