Rape happens anywhere, any time.

Most rapes happen during the day, indoors, in places the survivor knows.

WHO data and sub-Saharan DHS surveys consistently show the majority of sexual assaults happen at home, in workplaces, schools, or places of worship. The 'stranger in a dark alley' is the rare case, not the common one.

• 📎WHO — Violence against women fact sheet

Freezing is a normal response to trauma.

The body has three survival responses — fight, flight, and freeze. Freezing is the most common during sexual assault.

This is called tonic immobility — an involuntary reaction controlled by the nervous system, not a choice. Research found about 70% of female assault survivors experienced significant tonic immobility during the attack.

Clothing never causes rape. Rapists cause rape.

Survivors are assaulted in every kind of clothing — school uniforms, traditional dress, hijabs, jeans, pyjamas.

Research from South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya shows no link between clothing and risk of assault. Babies, elders, and women in full-body coverings are raped too.