Why do you think sexual assault isn't violent?

Obviously a bad beating is going to be worse than a quick creepy grope outside a pub, but higher level SA is violent by it's very nature.

One of the incidents I've dealt with was a guy trying to get me in a headlock and drag me down an alley. Thankfully I was able to break his grip and run but being put in a headlock and hit would have been preferable to being put in a headlock, hit and then have him force his dick into me or whatever other horrendous things he wanted to do to my body.

Your options when being sexually assaulted (and it's too late to run) are either fight back and get hurt or freeze and hope they don't hurt you aside from the sexual element.

Something not often discussed is that men deal with this too and male victims of SA are mostly not talked about or considered victims of such crimes. I think the attitude of 'SA is not as bad as this or that' comes from some men not being able to imagine themselves in that situation.