Date rapes typically occur when a woman is alone with a
man. If you go to a man's room or apartment or even get into his car alone, you
are vulnerable. Date rapes can occur when others are relatively close by; for
example, they can take place in an upstairs bedroom while fifty people are
attending a party on the first floor.
Alcohol and drugs are sometimes a significant factor in
date rape. Many victims say later that they drank too much or took too many
drugs to realize what was going on; by the time they realized their predicament,
it was too late. Sometimes a woman passes out and awakens to find a man having
sex with her. On the other hand, some date rapes occur when alcohol is not
involved or when the victim has had little or nothing to drink but the man has
been drinking and becomes sexually aggressive.
Mixed signals are another element in date rape. The
woman acts in a friendly manner; the man interprets this friendliness as an
invitation to have sex. "No" is heard as "maybe" and even a strong protest can
be ignored under the delusion that women say "no" when they mean "yes." Some
men find it sexually exciting to have a woman struggle. If the woman protests
only mildly, the man may think he is merely "persuading" her, not forcing her to
have sex (He may think the same, however, even if she protests vigorously.)
Sometimes a woman is not clear in her own mind about what she wants or she may
think she will make up her mind as she goes along. If she changes her mind at
some point and decides not to have sex, the man can feel cheated, rejected, and
angry. He may be interpreting her nonverbal messages, such as her enjoyment of
kissing and caressing, as meaning that she wants to have sex with him. At this
point he may decide he has been teased or misled and "deserves" to get some
satisfaction, regardless of the woman's wishes. The result can be rape.
Although acquaintance rape is often a spontaneous act,
many are planned, some days in advance, others in the preceding hour(s).
Sometimes men plan to have sex with a woman even if they have to force the
issue. These men have typically forced sex before and gotten away with it. They
usually look for victims who are unassertive--perhaps someone who is not very
popular and would be flattered to go on a date with him. Needless to say, these
men do not see themselves as repeat rapists; they are merely "out to have a good
time."
Communication between men and women is often
problematical, especially in the realm of sex. Especially in a first sexual
encounter with someone, some women may say "no" when they mean "maybe" or even
"yes," and men have been taught to try to turn that no/maybe into a yes. Thus,
it is sometimes hard for men to know when "no" really does mean "no." Women on
the other hand, don't want to agree to sex too readily for fear they will be
seen as "loose" or "easy." Misperceptions abound; a woman thinks she is merely
being friendly, but her date thinks she's signaling willingness to have sex.
Furthermore, stereotypes about women as passive and submissive can also foster a
climate for sexual assaults.
RAPE STATISTICS
(Most of these statistics are from an April 23, 1992 report from the National
Victim Center)
- In
1985, Mary Koss, a professor at Kent State University, surveyed approximately
7,000 students on thirty-two campuses on behalf of Ms. magazine and found that
one in eight women were the victims of rape. One in every twelve men admitted to
having forced a woman to have intercourse or tried to force a woman to have
intercourse through physical force or coercion; that is, admitted to raping or
attempting to rape a woman. Virtually none of these men, however, identified
themselves as rapists. Similarly, only 57% of the women who had been raped
labeled their experience as rape; the other 43% had not even acknowledged to
themselves that they had been raped. (As cited in Ellen Sweet, "Date Rape. The
Story of an Epidemic and Those Who Deny It," Ms., October 1985, p. 56)
- In
the United States, 1.3 women are raped every minute. That results in 78 rapes
each hour, 1872 rapes each day, 56160 rapes each month and 683,280 rapes each
year.
- The United States has the world's highest rape rate of
the countries that publish such statistics---4 times higher than Germany, 13
times higher than England, and 20 times higher than Japan.
- 1
out of every 3 American women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
- 1
in 7 women will be raped by her husband.
- 61% of all rape cases are victims less than 18 years
old. 22% are between the ages of 18 and 24.
- 78% of rape victims know the attacker.
- In
a survey of college women, 38% reported sexual victimizations which met the
legal definition of a rape or attempted rape, yet only 1 out of every 25
reported their assault to the police.
- 1
in 4 college women have either been raped or suffered attempted rape.
- In
a study of college students, 35% of men indicated some likelihood that they
would commit a violent rape of a woman who had fended off an advance if they
were assured of getting away with it.
- 1
in 12 male students surveyed had committed acts that met the legal definition of
rape. Furthermore, 84% of the men who had committed such acts said what they
had done was definitely not rape.
- 75% of male students and 55% of female students involved
in acquaintance rape had been drinking or using drugs.
- Rape has a devastating impact on the mental health of
victims. 31% of all victims develop Rape-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(RR-PTSD) sometime in their lifetimes. Based on U.S. Census reports on the
number of women in the United States, 1.3 million women currently have RR-PTSD,
3.8 million women have previously had RR-PTSD and roughly 211,000 women will
develop RR-PTSD each year.
- When compared with non-victims, rape victims have been
found to be 8.7 times more likely to attempt suicide.
- Only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police. In a
survey of victims who did not report rape or attempted rape to the police, the
following was found as to why no report was made: 43% thought nothing could be
done, 27% felt it was a private matter, 12% were afraid of police response, and
12% felt it was not important enough.
U.S.
Department of Justice
Office of
Justice Programs
Bureau of
Justice Statistics
Crime Data Brief
June 1994,
NCJ-147001
According to the FBI, 109,062 forcible rapes of females
were reported to the Nation's law enforcement agencies in 19921. A Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) survey of the States (including the District of Columbia)
solicited data on victims' ages. Thirty-six States reported that they did not
keep such statistics, and the remaining 15 responded with information on 26,427
female victims, or nearly one-fourth the national total. Statistics from the BJS
State survey revealed that:
About 1 in 4 rape victims were under:
- age 10 in Delaware, Michigan
- age 11 in North Dakota
- age 14 in Arkansas
- age 15 in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
- age 16 in the District of Columbia, Idaho
About 1 in 3 rape victims were under:
- age 13 in Delaware, Michigan, North Dakota
- age 16 in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
- age 17 in Alabama
- age 18 in the District of Columbia, Idaho
Notes:
1 FBI, Crime in the United
States, 1992, p. 23, 1993.
Cumulative percent of
female victims of forcible rape
| State |
# of female
victims
of forcible
rape*
|
under
age 10
|
under
age 11
|
under
age 12
|
under
age 13
|
under
age 14
|
under
age 15
|
under
age 16
|
under
age 17
|
under
age 18
|
over
age 18
|
| Alabama |
1,404 |
4% |
6% |
7% |
10% |
17% |
24% |
30% |
35% |
38% |
62% |
| Arkansas |
986 |
9% |
|
|
24% |
|
|
|
44% |
56% |
|
| Delaware |
783 |
22% |
|
|
29% |
|
50% |
61% |
66% |
71% |
29% |
| Dist. Columbia |
205 |
5% |
|
|
|
|
22% |
|
28% |
32% |
68% |
| Florida |
7,280 |
14% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
46% |
54% |
| Idaho |
221 |
5% |
|
|
9% |
|
20% |
24% |
29% |
35% |
65% |
| Kansas |
1,013 |
1% |
|
|
|
|
12% |
|
|
|
|
| Michigan |
4,731 |
25% |
28% |
31% |
35% |
41% |
49% |
58% |
64% |
68% |
32% |
| Nebraska |
290 |
6% |
|
|
|
|
31% |
|
42% |
58% |
|
| No. Carolina |
2,397 |
5% |
|
|
|
|
20% |
|
|
|
|
| No. Dakota |
124 |
25% |
30% |
35% |
44% |
|
48% |
50% |
52% |
57% |
43% |
| Penn. |
2,996 |
9% |
14% |
|
|
|
25% |
32% |
37% |
42% |
58% |
| Rhode Island |
490 |
|
|
49% |
|
|
|
|
70% |
30% |
|
| So. Carolina |
2,193 |
9% |
|
16% |
|
|
|
|
40% |
|
|
| Wisconsin |
1,314 |
4 % |
6% |
8% |
10% |
14% |
22% |
29% |
37% |
42% |
58% |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: Blanks indicate detail
was not reported.
*Excludes victims with unknown
age.
Source: BJS State survey of
rapes reported to law enforcement agencies in 1992.
VICTIM-OFFENDER RELATIONSHIP
Two
sources provided information on rapists: interviews with rape victims reported
to law enforcement agencies in 1991 in three States (Alabama, North Dakota, and
South Carolina) and 1991 interviews with rapists confined in the Nation's State
prisons. Sources indicated similar accounts of rape victim ages:
1991 Percent of female rape
victims
________________________________________________
Source Total under 12
12-17 18 or older
Victims in 3 States 100% 14%
29% 57%
Imprisoned rapists 100% 14%
24% 62%
Regardless of the source, when the victim was under 12,
the likelihood of a family relationship was relatively high: 46% of victims and
70% of imprisoned rapists. Additional detail from the three-State survey
revealed that 20% of victims under age 12, 11% of victims age 12 to 17, and 1%
of those 18 or older were raped by their fathers.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VICTIM AND
OFFENDER
The
older the victim, the less likely that victim and offender were family members
and the more likely they were strangers to one another: 4% of victims under 12
said the rapist was a stranger, compared to 33% of victims 18 or older; 6% of
imprisoned rapists of females under 12 said the victim was a stranger, compared
to 47% of imprisoned rapists of females 18 or older.
Experts estimate that as many as 90 percent of all rapes
are never reported; in those that are reported, about 60% of the victims know
their assailants. In one study by the National Center for the Prevention and
Control of Rape, 92% of adolescent rape victims said they were acquainted with
their attackers. (Reported in Newsweek, April 9, 1984) Of these, women 15 to
25 years old are the majority of victims. (McDermott, Joan, Rape Victimization
in 26 American Cities, 1979. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice as cited in
Pauline B. Bart and Patricia H. O'Brien, Stopping Rape, Pergamon Press, NY,
1985, p. 131)
Bibliography
Johnson, T. (2005, October 20). How Does Date Rape Usually Occur?. Retrieved January 4, 2015, from Kyoshin Dojo: http://kyoshindojo.org/
