Rape Incidence
Introduction to Rape Incidence
Precise and reliable statistics concerning rape are not available. Rape remains an underreported crime. In the past, victims were hesitant to report rapes because of insensitive and sometimes hostile treatment by law enforcement personnel. Although dramatic changes have taken place in public and professional attitudes toward rape in recent years, many victims remain hesitant to report rape. Even where the police and courts are more sympathetic, victims often do not report a rape because they feel embarrassed or ashamed, blame themselves, fear retaliation, or do not wish to relive the experience. In addition, statistics about rape are unreliable because of differing definitions of rape and differing perceptions of whether certain actions constitute rape. As a result, self-report surveys of individuals who may have been victims of rape present widely varying estimates of the number of rapes that occur and the likelihood of being raped.
Each year the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issues a report that indicates the number of attempted or completed forcible rapes of women reported to law enforcement agencies in the United States. In 1998 more than 93,000 rapes or attempted rapes of women were reported. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also issues an annual report concerning the number of rapes in the United States. The DOJ’s National Crime Victimization Survey relies on interviews with a sample population to gather information about rapes and attempted rapes. According to this survey, about 200,000 rapes or attempted rapes occurred in the United States in 1998; an additional 133,000 nonrape sexual assaults took place that year. A nonrape sexual assault is defined as unwanted, forced sexual behavior other than oral, anal, or vaginal penetration. In Canada victims reported more than 27,000 sexual assaults to the police in 1997.
According to the Department of Justice, nearly three-quarters of rapes or other sexual assaults in 1998 were committed by a person the victim knew-either a friend, an acquaintance, or an intimate (current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend). The DOJ data also indicate that teenagers and young adults are five times more likely to be victims of rape than older people. More than half of all rape victims between 1992 and 1994 were women under the age of 25. According to the DOJ survey, victimization rates for rape and sexual assault are not significantly different among whites, African Americans, or Hispanics. In Canada, the vast majority of sexual assault victims are women (84 percent in 1995) and they are most frequently victimized by a casual acquaintance. More than half of all victims in Canada are under 18 years of age.
It is very difficult to determine whether the incidence of rape in the United States has actually increased over time. As the legal definition of rape has expanded, more sexual acts count as rape. Furthermore, as attitudes toward rape have gradually changed, victims are somewhat more likely to report rape than they were in the past. Thus, any increase in the numbers of rapes may reflect an increase in reporting, rather than an actual increase in incidents.
According to U.S. government data, rapists are usually older than their victims. Approximately three-quarters of convicted rapists are 21 years of age or older. The majority of rapes are committed at night. Nearly one-third of rapes occur at the victim’s home and one-fifth occur on the street. About one-third of completed or attempted rapes involve force or the threat of force. A study prepared for the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice indicated that women who physically resist attempted rapes are somewhat more likely to be successful in avoiding a completed rape. However, that study also indicated that women who resist are more likely to be injured than women who do not resist. ” (1)
Rape Incidence in Haiti
by Sherry Karabin
Within months of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2011, San Francisco attorney Jayne E. Fleming—long known for her humanitarian legal work—was on a plane to Port-au-Prince to help survivors after raising $15,000 to fund a team of volunteer doctors, psychiatrists, and lawyers.
Once there, Fleming discovered that the circumstances for women and girls were especially dire. Numerous female survivors she met had suffered rape around the time of the quake. (A University of Michigan post-disaster survey of Port-au-Prince households estimates that more than 10,000 people were sexually assaulted in the capital in the six-week period following the quake.)
As pro bono counsel for Reed Smith, Fleming has since initiated a number of efforts to assist Haitian rape victims and their children. She says their situation is made worse by the lack of legal infrastructure in Haiti, which has left room for the human trafficking and prostitution of girls and women. In addition, Fleming has joined the Rule of Law Project, launched last month by the Thompson Reuters Foundation, which will advocate for new Haitian laws to better protect women and children from sexual violence.
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Rape Incidence in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
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