Identifying Sexual Assault in American Samoa

Written by:  Luana Scanlan, PRIME Consultant
     Sexual assault is the ‘illegal sexual contact that involves force upon a person without their consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent or that places the assailant (abuser) in a position of trust or authority’ (Merriam-Webster, 2022).       In the U.S., 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetimes (Keal, H. 2018).  Half of female victims were raped by an intimate partner; 41% by an acquaintance (Black, MC et al., 2011).  One of every three women were raped, or assaulted, between the ages of 11 and 17.  The incidence of violence against women in Pacific island countries is twice the global average, with up to 68% having reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by a partner or other in their lifetimes
     Sexual assault is too common in our society. Here in American Samoa, statistics on sexual assault and abuse are not reported publicly.  Our only measures are reports of incidents in the local news, and the Territorial Sex Offenders Registry.
The crime of sexual assault or sexual abuse is covered in five brief pages in the American Samoa Code under Title 46, ‘Criminal Justice’, Chapter 36. Visit American Samoa Alliance Against Domestic & Sexual Abuse to view a copy of the Code.
The Code defines eight ‘sexual offenses’ punishable in the Territorial court of law:

1. Child molesting is a class A felony and the only offense with a mandatory minimum prison sentence (10 years).
2. Rape is a class B felony.
3. Sodomy is a class B felony.
4. Sexual assault is a class C felony
5. Deviate sexual assault is a class C felony.
6. Sexual abuse in the first degree is a class D felony.
7. Indecent exposure is a class A misdemeanor.
8. Sexual abuse in the second degree is a class B misdemeanor.

All felony-level crimes are increased one level if the abuser inflicts ‘serious physical harm on any person or displays a deadly weapon in a threatening manner.’  One would assume that the acts of child molesting, rape, sodomy, sexual assault, and sexual abuse inflict, in and of themselves, ‘serious physical harm.’