Saturday, November 27, 2010

Rape Statistics

I find the topic of rape disturbing yet all too to its victims.  Some of these statistics are show its occurrence in our society and show that this horrible crime does happen. I feel that some underestimate the impacts that this has on a woman.  I know of a woman who had a child in her late forties due to being raped. Her other two children were 21 and 18 years old putting an 18 year gap between her children.  When she came to a family birthday party of mine she put her beer in a water bottle, he’s reluctant to go to bars and has a terrible time facing the father.  Due to instances of people making false accusations I feel that unless the woman seeks immediate medical help it may be hard to determine if it was consensual; but I feel where cases are clear that there was rape there should be harsher punishment for the perpetrator of the crime. This website gave stats on rapists, the victims, numbers, and reporting to the police. (http://www.rainn.org/statistics)

Who are the Victims?

Breakdown by Gender and Age

Women


1in6 graphic
1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).1
17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.1
9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003.2
While about 80% of all victims are white, minorities are somewhat more likely to be attacked.


Lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race:1
  • All women: 17.6%
  • White women: 17.7%
  • Black women: 18.8%
  • Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
  • American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
  • Mixed race women: 24.4%

Men

About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.1
  • In 2003, 1 in every ten rape victims were male.2
  • 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape.1

Children

15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12.3
  • 29% are age 12-17.
  • 44% are under age 18.3
  • 80% are under age 30.3
  • 12-34 are the highest risk years.
  • Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
7% of girls in grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.4
  • 3% of boys grades 5-8 and 5% of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
In 1995, local child protection service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of either substantiated or indicated sexual abuse.5
  • Of these, 75% were girls.
  • Nearly 30% of child victims were between the age of 4 and 7.
93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.6
  • 34.2% of attackers were family members.
  • 58.7% were acquaintances.
  • Only 7% of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim.

Effects of Rape

Victims of sexual assault are:7

3 times more likely to suffer from depression.

6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.


    Pregnancies Resulting from Rape

    In 2004-2005, 64,080 women were raped.8 According to medical reports, the incidence of pregnancy for one-time unprotected sexual intercourse is 5%. By applying the pregnancy rate to 64,080 women, RAINN estimates that there were 3,204 pregnancies as a result of rape during that period.

    This calculation does not account for the following factors which could lower the actual number of pregnancies:
    • Rape, as defined by the NCVS, is forced sexual intercourse. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, oral, or anal penetration by offender(s). This category includes incidents where the penetration is from a foreign object such as a bottle. Certain types of rape under this definition cannot cause pregnancy.
    • Some victims of rape may be utilizing birth control methods, such as the pill, which will prevent pregnancy.
    • Some rapists may wear condoms in an effort to avoid DNA detection.
    • Vicims of rape may not be able to become pregnant for medical or age-related reasons.
    This calculation does not account for the following factors which could raise the actual number of pregnancies:
    • Medical estimates of a 5% pregnancy rate are for one-time, unprotected sexual intercourse. Some victimizations may include multiple incidents of intercourse.
    • Because of methodology, NCVS does not measure the victimization of Americans age 12 or younger. Rapes of these young people could results in pregnancies not accounted for in RAINN's estimates.

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