The Sexual Assault and Rape of Women Firefighters: Survey Results

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer

I’m sitting at my computer on a beautiful Sunday morning, Mother’s Day as a matter of fact, and I’m working on this blog post. And I’m getting madder by the minute.

Mad because I’m collecting the written comments from the survey on Sexual Assault and Rape Against Women Firefighters and I cannot Slide4comprehend the idea that the same men who are treating the moms in their lives to flowers and cards and dinner are the same men who have sexually assaulted or raped their female colleagues in the fire station.

See Being a Firefighter Shouldn’t Mean Getting Raped!

My purpose for constructing and distributing this survey was to “hear” from women firefighters who HAVE suffered sexual assault or rape by a fellow member of the fire service.  Specifically I hoped to gather data related to:

  • What was the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim?
  • Did the incident get reported?
  • To whom was it reported?
  • If it was reported, what was the outcome?

The Introduction to the survey included the following definitions that I obtained on-line from the site, Rape Abuse and Incest National Network.

SEXUAL ASSAULT
The exact definition of “rape,” “sexual assault,” “sexual abuse” and similar terms differs by state. The wording can get confusing, since states often use different words to mean the same thing or use the same words to describe different things. So, for a precise legal definition, you need to check the law in your state. But here are some general guidelines based on the definitions used by the U.S. Justice Department. Please note that this definition is a bit graphic, which is inevitable when describing crimes this violent.

Sexual assault: unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling. (But, be aware: Some states use this term interchangeably with rape.)

RAPE
Rape is forced sexual intercourse, including vaginal, anal, or oral penetration. Penetration may be by a body part or an object.

Rape victims may be forced through threats or physical means. In about 8 out of 10 rapes, no weapon is used other than physical force. Anyone may be a victim of rape: women, men or children, straight or gay.

I don’t have any misconception that this survey is a statistically valid research effort (To date, 52 women firefighters have completed the survey on-line.  See the data here).  I distributed it over a variety of social media channels including: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Groups, and this blog. Therefore, I have no idea how many women received access to the on-line survey.  So while the number of surveys completed is small, I believe the results—and the written comments in particular—should serve as a “wake up call” for fire service leaders and their organizations to take a much closer look at what’s happening to the women in the fire service.

This is what I “see” when I look at the survey results:

  • The vast majority of respondents are still in the fire service (80.3%).Slide6
  • Our newest members are at the greatest risk. The majority of respondents had less than five years of service on their department (34.6%).
  • The vast majority of respondents reported being a victim of sexual assault (94.5%)
  • A third of the respondents (32.7%) reported that they were raped by a member of their department.
  • The perpetrator in the majority of cases reported was the victim’s peer or first-line supervisor (73.1%)
  • The vast majority of respondents said that they did not report the sexual assault or rape (70%).

See Rape in the Fire Station: A Survivor’s Story

Slide3Why did they not report their assault or rape?

  • I was too emotionally traumatized and felt ashamed (35.6%)
  • I feared physical reprisal from my attacker (26.7%)
  • I didn’t believe that my attack would be taken seriously (37.8%)
  • I believed that I would lose my job (24.4%)
  • I did not know what to do, so I did nothing (20.0%)
  • None of the above (44.4%)

Those who answered “None of the above” were encouraged to respond to Question #9 where they could provide a text answer. See Written Comments for Survey Rape and SA

Can you understand now why I’m mad?

The On-line Survey is still active and open to women who’ve been the victim of sexual assault or rape by another member of their organization.  I encourage you to share this link to the survey so that we can continue to gather information about this scourge on the fire service.  I will be sharing the results of the survey with any individuals and organizations who are committed to making the fire service a safer place for all women.

About Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer

Battalion Chief (Ret.) Robert Avsec served with the men and women of the Chesterfield County (VA) Fire and EMS Department for 26 years. He’s now using his acquired knowledge, skills, and experiences as a freelance writer for FireRescue1.com and as the “blogger in chief” for this blog. Chief Avsec makes his home in Cross Lanes, WV. Contact him via e-mail, [email protected].