The Facts About Rape According to the most conservative statitstics a woman is raped every five minutes. The UCR, however, only takes into account reported rapes. There are indications that this could account for only 1/6 of all rapes. That would mean one woman is raped EVERY MINUTE.
Christen Smith
"And on that day, the day of truce, that day when not one woman is raped, we will begin the real practice of equality, because we can't begin it before that day. Before that day it means nothing, because it is nothing; it is not real; it is not true." --Andrea Dworkin
There are three major sources for rape statistics, which is the reason for differences in the numbers.
UCR: Uniform Crime Report. This is put together by the FBI and is compiled from over 16,000 law enforcement agencies. The problem many people have with the UCR statistics is that rape is an extremely underreported crime.
1991: 106,593 rapes. 292 rapes a day; 12 every hour;1 every five minutes.
1972-1991: 1.5 million female survivors of forcible rape or rape attempts
--1972-1991: 12.8 percent increase in number of reported rapes. Forcible rape rate per 100,000 inhabitants increased 88%NCVS: National Crime Victimization Survey. The is the largest nationally representative househould-interview crime survey. According to this survey a woman is raped every 3.5 minutes and most of the perpetrators were intimates or aquaintences (70%).
--1991: 171,420 rapes. 462 per day; 19 each hour; 1 ever 3.5 minutes.
--1973-1987: 2.3 million rapes of females. 3 million rape survivors.
--1987-1991: Intimates committed 20% of rapes, aquaintences 50%, strangers 30%NWS: National Women's Study. This study was conduceted by the Crime Victims Research and Treatment center. Respondants were women 18 years or older.
--1992: 13% of women surveyed reported having been victims of at least one completed rape. 39% of them had been raped more than once.
--Only 22% of rape victims were assaulted by someone they had never seen before or did not know.
--Only 16% were reported to police. Thus -- if the UCR represents only 1/6 of rapes the true number is probably around 639,500.
"Male friendships involve elements of competition and comroderie. Sex as a competitive arena necessarily results in exploiting girls and women because the motive is to 'score,' to impress one's male friends rather than to relate to a female." Rape is not about passion. Rape is not about getting out of control or not understanding a woman's resistance. It is about power and violence. It is simply an exaggeration (and not much of one) of what our culture considers normal, even acceptable male behavior. It is not rare, and it could happen to anyone.
--Chris OSullivan
It has been found that as many as 75% of all assaults are planned. 58% of assaults involving one assailant are planned in advance. In 48% of reported rapes there are two or more assailants.
As important as stopping rape, we must change the way we as a society treats rape victims. Although according to all evidence the rate of false accusation for rape is the same as for other crimes, rape victims are accused of causing or asking for the rape as victims of other crimes are not.
Can you imagine if a man who was robbed was accused of "asking for it" because he was wearing nice clothes in a bad neighborhood? Yet this is exactly what happens to rape victims. They must have wanted it if they dress a certain way. One of the most harmful assumptions is that if a woman has had sex with a man in the past, he could not have raped her, or that a man cannot rape his wife.
Rape Recovery Good info for rape victims, friends of rape victims, or anyone wanting good, reliable information about rape and its effects.
"Neil Malamuth and colleagues have shown that 30 to 60 percent of male college students report some likelihood that they would rape or force sex acts on a woman if they could get away with it."
--Diana E. H. Russell
Visit these sites to learn more about rape and rape victims
Candlelight Vigil Raising awareness of violence against women.
"Friends" Raping FriendsInformation about date rape.
Purple Ribbon Project devoted to ending violence.
Rape Prevention Education Program Not national, but a good model for communities and schools.
Rape Protection Measures Learn how to protect yourself from rape.
Yahoo - Sex_crimes/Rape
Men for Change
National Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Sexual Harassment and Rape Resources
Rape Highly recommended site! Lots of info.
Date Rape Research Controversy Setting the record straight.
Press Release Women usually victimized by offenders they know.
back to index womenofkali@yahoo.com
