One in 10 high school students in Indiana said recently in a nationally recognized survey they had been forced to have sex at some point in their lives.

It’s an alarming number, say child welfare advocates, because it suggests an even greater underlying problem — that there is likely more sexual assault among teenagers going unreported.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found in 2015 that 6.7 percent of teenagers nationwide said they had been forced to have sex at some point in their lives. Indiana’s rate is nearly double that: 13.4 percent of girls, 6.4 percent of boys, and 10 percent overall. A spokesperson for the Indiana Youth Institute, which published the data in its annual Kids Count in Indiana Data Book, said this includes a variety of situations that could be described as sexual assault, from childhood molestation to date rape.

Heidi Wright, a domestic violence sexual assault victims advocate in Cass and Miami counties in northern Indiana, said more than half of assault victims don’t feel comfortable talking about it. J.D. Dubes, an assistant principal at Logansport High School, said sometimes teenagers don’t want their boyfriend or girlfriend to get in trouble.

Wright said many victims feel shame after being raped, and students often have a difficult time telling adults. So when a victim does muster the courage to tell someone, that person needs to listen and understand.

“We need to believe them,” she said, “because so many times victims are shamed and not even believed. ‘Well, what were you wearing? What were you doing?’”

Other times, victims have grown up in homes where sexual assault and domestic violence are typical, according to Logansport Police Department Officer Eric Binney, who also serves as the local high school’s student resource officer. He said it’s difficult for people to not go back to a violent situation.

“I’ve actually had victims of domestic violence tell me that if he’s not beating on me, he doesn’t love me,” Binney added.

Modern dating

Cass County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Maj. Jill Rife, who’s also president of the Cass County Domestic Violence Task Force, said the dating culture among today’s youth has changed.

“Even though their bodies are there, mentally, they are not,” Rife said. “They’re not ready for a serious relationship, nor an intimate relationship.”

According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 41.7 percent of Indiana high schoolers surveyed had never had sexual intercourse and 31.7 percent were currently sexually active. Those numbers were slightly higher than the national average (41.2 percent and 30.1 percent, respectively).

“There are parents out there that are raising their children with great values,” Wright said. “And then there are those where children are not getting what they need at home.”

Wright said students feel like it’s more acceptable to have sex sooner in life because of how they grew up at home, or what they might see on social media and in television shows or movies.

“When kids who are so susceptible go to a movie or see it on TV in such a ‘sexy’ way, it normalizes it for them, and they think, ‘Oh, this is OK,’” she said.

Importance of consent

The issue of consent is a much-talked-about topic on college campuses. All people in a sexual situation must say “yes” to the activity and must feel comfortable to say “no” if it needs to stop, according to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center.

“No means no,” Rife said.

But sometimes the idea of consent is lost on high school and middle school students, Wright said. She said some boys have told her it’s OK to make sexual advances because of how a girl is flirting or dressed, while some girls think it’s acceptable to dress provocatively at school. Such situations, when consent isn’t granted or understood, can become dangerous quickly, Wright said.

One in eight Indiana high schoolers said they were “forced to do sexual things” with their dating partner, which, in addition to sexual intercourse, includes kissing and touching. And one in 10 said they were physically hurt by their dating partner, according to the survey.

“Sexual assault is about power and control,” Wright said. “It has nothing to do with sexual desire.”

And dating violence, Wright said, also includes mental, verbal and emotional abuse, which she said one in three high school students experience. Some students manipulate dating partners to do what they want, she said, by threatening to post inappropriate photos of him or her on social media.

“Teenagers abuse and control each other primarily through their phones,” she said.

What can you do?

Wright said she focuses on primary prevention among young children, instilling in them personal power, self-esteem and empathy. She hopes that through that, they don’t become a victim or perpetrator of domestic violence. Kids need to know they are valued by their family and friends, Wright told the Logansport, Indiana Pharos-Tribune. Rife added parents also need to stay informed about who their kids are dating and what they’re doing on social media, which she said can sometimes be difficult as new apps and sites are created.

Rife and Wright said most of the time, teenage victims feel most comfortable confiding in friends. Wright said if one-third of teenagers are victims of dating violence, two-thirds of students are not. She hopes that majority can be a voice and a helping hand to their friends who need it.

“Domestic violence is a choice. Dating violence is a choice. It’s one to control a partner,” Wright said. “So given the right tools, we can help them to figure it out and make healthier choices.”

The Logansport, Indiana Pharos-Tribune contributed to this story.