In an address to Penn State University’s graduating class of 1973, Joe Paterno shared these words: “Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good.” More than three decades later and in light of child sexual abuse charges against Paterno’s colleague Jerry Sandusky, the gravity of the legendary coach’s words cannot be overstated.

The dishonorable way Paterno handled staff reports of Sandusky’s inappropriate conduct with youth from his mentorship program left an entire community of college football fans with a bad taste in their mouths. The Sandusky case also shed light on public misconceptions concerning the frequency of child sexual abuse, the nature of perpetrators and the role of those burdened with the knowledge of abuse. These misconceptions bear mentioning now more than ever, as the University of Wisconsin’s Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment dedicates this April’s recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month to busting rape myths and stereotypes.
 

Last fall, the majority of news media publicized a nation’s shock and disappointment when we learned of Paterno’s complacency in Sandusky’s criminal behavior. Few news outlets took the opportunity to highlight our society’s underlying misconceptions about child abuse and the heightened need for education on self-efficacy and bystander intervention. While news media spent most of last fall raising scruples over dueling representations of Paterno (the shamed coach versus the scapegoat), few were concerned with insuring that youth be protected from victimization by adult authority figures.  

Underlying the debate is the most dangerous myth about child sexual abuse: It does not happen often. Perhaps media reports would be less concerned with tarnished reputations and more focused on victim advocacy if public understanding of assault more accurately represented the truth. An informational document compiled by the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault confirms, “[Nationally], roughly 15 percent of males and 30 percent of females have been victims of childhood sexual abuse,” and this only includes reported cases within a given year. The staggering reality is also that 45 percent of child sex abuse cases go unnoticed, a problem that has been compounded by misrepresentations of the perpetrators, further minimizing the severity of the issue.
 

News outlets frequently report on child sexual assaults as isolated incidents perpetrated by strangers deemed deranged criminals. Sandusky had been characterized by some news sources as a sexual deviant with little knowledge of the wrongness of his own actions. As WCASA’s report states, “Children are most commonly sexually abused by someone they know and trust [and] most likely the abuse will continue over a period of time, often for years.” Media detracts from the critical facts when sexual assault stories are sensationalized and abusers are falsely characterized.       
 

In light of the media’s mystification of child sexual abuse, it is important to distinguish the truth and use that knowledge efficaciously. WCASA’s informational sheet series not only provides the public with potential physical and behavioral indicators of child sexual abuse, but also reliably sourced, statistically-backed abuser profiles and victim support resources. Armed with real knowledge, we can all begin reading between the lines of stories that falsely represent child sexual abuse cases as few and far between. The real champions in these publicized tragedies are the survivors that rise out of unfortunate circumstances, and the stories they choose to share are the ones that deserve our attention.                              
 

Anjali Misra ([email protected]) is a special student majoring in gender and women’s studies and English. 

PAVE is a student organization dedicated to ending sexual assault, dating violence and stalking on the campus through education and activism. This month the group will be leading UW in its recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. For more information on PAVE and its observance of SAAM, visit UWPAVE.com or email [email protected]