A national analysis of sexual violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 15 percent of high school-age females in Indiana reported having forced sexual intercourse in 2009.
It was the second-highest percentage in the nation and 3 percentage points higher than the rest of the country.
The Indiana Youth Institute’s annual Kids Count report, released in February, shows the percentage of Indiana girls who were raped or sexually assaulted is now 14.5 percent — still the second-highest rate among high school girls in the U.S.
And experts say the sad fact is the actual number might be even higher because up to half of sexual assaults never get reported.
Indiana University researchers who analyzed the 2009 findings said the available data don’t explain why Indiana ranks so poorly. They say the state’s best approach, though, is to raise awareness of the issue, and the Indiana State Department of Health is prepared to do just that.
The health department issued a five-year plan to fight sexual assault Wednesday, The Associated Press reported, and its aim will be on prevention and education — an approach recommended by the IU researchers.
State health officials told the AP their plan will strengthen local policies concerning sexual assault and push social behavior that would reduce it.
IU researchers have recommended school corporations create more effective and age-appropriate programs and improve training of school staff. They also call for better ways to track, create and fund community-wide sex education programs.
None of these steps will come without cost, but surely our children are worth the expense.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center in Pennsylvania says 1 in 5 women will be a victim of sexual assault by the time she finishes college. The best way to lower that number, the center says, is by raising awareness — as the state health department plans to do — and by holding the perpetrators responsible for their actions.
Sexual assault isn’t an easy subject to discuss. Most of us just aren’t comfortable bringing it up.
But this statistic should be enough to spur all of us to action: According to February’s Indiana Youth Institute’s Kids Count report, nearly 1 in 6 high school-age Hoosier girls reported being raped.
That’s a number we simply can’t tolerate.