Humiliation. Degradation. Rape.

A rape victim’s sense of shame makes sexual assault cases harder for the police to solve. Rape victims, unlike victims of other crimes, suffer emotional and psychological damage, University Police and SART member John Lovell said.

“They are ashamed and they don’t feel real good about talking to you about what happened,” Lovell said.

Also, there usually are no witnesses to rape cases, which makes the investigations difficult for police to handle, said DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott.

Police are forced to ask the victims personal questions while investigating the case, and that process can be difficult. “You must be careful not to offend the victim,” Scott said.

Many rape victims are reluctant to report the crime to the police because of the social stigma attached to rape, said DeKalb Police Lt. Chuck Kross. Victims often feel guilty about the crime and worry that their family or friends will find out, he said.

“The biggest myth of sexual assault cases is that victims don’t see themselves as victims,” said UP Sgt. and SART member Kathy Guimond. Victims tend to blame themselves for the attack, she said.

Especially in cases of aquaintance rape, “women say, ‘I was going too far’ or ‘I shouldn’t have worn that’ or ‘I shouldn’t have been drinking’ therefore it’s my fault,” Guimond said.

Guimond said circumstances surrounding the attack do not matter because rape is any threat of or forced penetration of a body cavity.

Rapists usually rape again, so victims should report the crime even if they don’t want to go to court, Guimond said. This also will help police know where to focus preventative measures.

Although there is not a rape prevention strategy guaranteed to work, Guimond advises people to be assertive and to say “no” to avoid aquaintance rape. Awareness of surroundings and what is going on in the area might help women prevent stranger rape, she said.

During the last two semesters, 12 rapes were reported to NIU’s Sexual Assault Response Team, Lovell said.

Fifteen DeKalb County rape victims reported their assaults to the Ben Gordon Center’s Sexual Assault/Abuse Services, said services director Kris Povlsen.

However, a national study found only 1 percent of all sexual assault are reported to the police, Guimond said.

The same study found the people most likely to be rape victims are women between the ages of 17 and 19, typical ages for many college students.