By Jessye Johnson, MPA, Chief Executive Officer, Verde Valley Sanctuary
As we ring in National Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October, it’s hard to miss news coverage of the “Cornell 7” sexual assault case. Now, regardless of your opinion about the case itself, the public conversation surrounding it offers an important opportunity to examine realities survivors of sexual violence face every day.
Being sexually assaulted is perhaps one of the most profound violations that can happen to a person. It tears at the victim’s soul and strips away any sense of autonomy and safety that may have existed for that individual. Your world shrinks, and even the simplest tasks become nearly insurmountable. Yet we often expect survivors to respond to extraordinary trauma in remarkably predictable ways.
Then we have the audacity to ask: Why didn’t she report immediately? Why did she keep talking to him? Why was she drinking? Why did she go there? Why can’t she remember every detail? Why did her story change?
Those questions reveal how deeply myths about sexual assault remain embedded in our culture.
Furthermore, reporting sexual assault is scary and can be nearly as traumatizing as the assault itself. One might think it is “logical” to want to report being assaulted so that the wheels of justice can start to turn. However, the truth is, survivors are often blamed for being assaulted – “she shouldn’t have been drinking,” “she shouldn’t have been wearing that,” “she was inviting trouble by being there.” Instead, we should ask: Why couldn’t she consume alcohol, wear what she wanted, or go where she chose without someone violating her? And while men and boys absolutely experience sexual violence, the survivor in this case is female, so we are examining these dynamics through that lens.
Statistics and data tell an interesting story.
According to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, during a four-year period in Arizona, there were 1,461 sexual assault-related arrests and only 362 convictions. That is a 24.77% conviction rate. Okay, some might say that means there was not enough evidence to convict. Maybe, but for those of us who have worked with or on behalf of survivors for over two decades, we know the story is more complicated.
In 2022 and 2023, rape and sexual assault victimizations increased from 21% to 46% in Arizona, according to the Governor’s office Sexual Assault Awareness Month proclamation. And according to a Arizona Department of Public Safety finding, it showed 2,415 reports of sexual assault in 2024 alone. Locally, there were 522 sexual assault reports between 2023 and 2025, according to data from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center has also reported that many female victims know the person who raped them, including intimate partners and acquaintances.
That matters.
Survivors may have relationships with the people who harm them. They may delay reporting, continue communicating with the person who assaulted them, disclose only portions of what happened, or decide they cannot endure a criminal justice process. Trauma does not come with a script. There is no single “correct” way to behave after being sexually assaulted, and behavior that outsiders find confusing does not determine whether victimization occurred.
None of this means allegations should not be thoroughly investigated or that due process does not matter. It does. Supporting survivors and protecting the rights of the accused are not mutually exclusive. We can demand a fair justice system while refusing to perpetuate harmful myths about sexual violence.
Perhaps the lesson is that we need to stop asking, “Why didn’t the survivor do what I think I would have done?”
Instead, ask: “What can we do so survivors feel safe enough to come forward?”
Listen. Learn. Challenge victim-blaming. Teach consent. Support survivors. And place responsibility for sexual violence where it belongs: on the person who chooses to commit it.
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