Raping

I believe that rape statistics also include rape within a marriage, which wasn't always recognised in British Law.

Like anything else with statstics, how you count the numbers can be interpreted differently but with in the US the number of rapes reported rose between 1982 and peaked in 1992 and have dropped back off since then. Based on incidents per 100,000 people the numbers have dropped by .08% from 2000 to 2001, by 11.5% from 1997 to 2001 and by 25.7% from 1982 to 2001.

In 2001 arrests were made in 44.3% of all reported rapes but I didn't find any conviction rate data. All of this is from the FBI Uniform Crime report for 2001. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/01cius.htm

The "she asked for it" attitude still comes up here too but I have no way of knowing how often or how prevelant it is stastically. Obviously way more than it ever should.

Rape
Rape is a hate crime against women and men/ and should be treated as such.

Stats are impossible to maintain, as few people report cases of rape, the victim ashamed or afraid they'll be more chastised by the legal system or blamed for the attack.

Here in the states the courts just ruled that a woman can change her mind at any time and if the man doesn't stop, he can be charged with rape. Imagine that, going at for several minutes and your just about to (well, you know), and the girl says "I changed my mind. I don't want to do this!". Argh!

Time for a little hand jive.

Well, that's about the same here (has been so for years).

I can't see anything wrong with it.

Hi - I work for the NYS Coalition Against Sexual Assault and have just done some research on rapes and sexual assaults - my newer figures are at work but will bring them home to share - we are working on getting our legislators to finish the Sexual Assault Reform Act which they passed two years ago but still have items contained therein that are not yet finished - we are also working with Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners and Emergency Rooms regarding the issue of emergency contraceptives for a rape victim and for the examination kits to be kept properly - we are also trying to get the statue of limitations increased ... it is an interesting but very emotional job ...

The number of reported rapes and sexual assaults in New York State has exceeded 30,000 per year. At the estimated 16%
national reporting rate, that makes the actual number of rapes and sexual assaults closer to 125,000. In the United States there were 256,770 rapes and sexual assaults reported in 2000.

Rape survivors are 13 times more likely than non-criminal victims to attempt suicide and 6.4 times more likely to have used cocaine or other hard drugs.

Sexual assault can seriously impair a woman's physical and mental health. Yet an HMO which, during routine medical
exams, asks about a history of sexual assault found that 90% of survivors had never been asked that question by other health care professionals. As many as 80% of sexual assault survivors will experience some array of chronic physical, or psychological symptoms over time.

13.3% of college students indicated that they had been forced to have sex in a dating situation. Among developmentally
disabled adults, as many as 83% of the females and 32% of the males are the victims of sexual assault.

Judianne

Not so long ago an accusation of rape had to be accompanied by statements from two witnesses, and the woman was always questioned about what she was wearing, how did she walk, what were her true intentions.

My father was a criminal defense attorney, and once had a case in which he defended a woman who had stabbed the man she claimed had raped her. She was subjected to the most humiliating questions and was regarded with great suspicion. Then she was asked to produce her two witnesses. Somehow, my father found two who had actually witnessed the force of the thing, and so the case was reluctantly dismissed, with the man getting a leer and a wink. I had gone to court to sit in the back and watch.

We were three girls in my family, and I asked my father how that man could go unpunished. He said it was the law, and it was the law that had to be changed.

I do think some things have changed, but I also believe there are still attitiudes prevalent that make it very hard for women even to bring charges. And since so many cases are domestic, or among people who know each other, it's even harder.

I worked for a while with abused women, and some stories were almost too hard to listen to. And I also think it's difficult for most men to come close to even understanding part of this.

Well, I have worked at a Rape and Sexual Assault Service - one which covered from the medical examination and crisis work right through. I currently work in a setting where a large proportion of the kids I see have been sexually abused, and have done so for years.

Would I report it if I were raped, and go through with the criminal stuff? I don't think so. Maybe if I had been beaten to a pulp in front of witnesses, but even then some lawyer would get up and imply I liked it like that - cleverly - sneakily - don't wanna alienate the jury, but still... Hard to know for real, but I do not think I could stand the whole process - especially the court stuff. We have pretty good laws here, but it is still often absolutely brutal. Then - there is the hugely drawn out process of court - years usually. Most people cannot even think of recovering until that is over - and the likelihood of conviction - dunno how low, but 'tis low.

The latest wrinkle is that defence attorneys have started subpoenaing counselling files, and trolling through them on the off chance of finding something to discredit the alleged victim. There is absolutely nothing to stop them from photo-copying the files and showing them to the alleged perpetrator, and i know this has been done.

As for kids? If a kid of mine were sexually abused? Well, if there is
physical trauma and preferably semen (pardon my brutality, but there it is) probably yes - cos at least a small child has a legal right not to have sex. A teenager? Maybe - it would be their choice anyway - but I would certainly convey to them how terrible the system is. A young person - girl at least - is just as likely as an adult woman to be seen as seductive (they sometimes are flirty, bless 'em, trying their little wings in what oughta be safety - as adolescents do) and asking for it, in my experience.

As for a child who has been abused by a trusted figure over possibly years - or a really tiny one with no real physical evidence? Forget it! I could ot put a kid of mine through it.

Courts demand specific and clear memories of specific occasions. Date, time, place, what was worn, exactly what bit of whose body went where. If one tiny part of this is wrong - kid's evidence will be torn apart.

In the circumstances of most child sexual abuse, the abuse has occurred over a period of time. Kids seldom have a clear recollection of a particular incident, and there has often not been a single traumatic commencement to the abuse - the child's boundaries have been transgressed over time...

Also, the younger the kid, the less weight their testimony is given...

And try explaining to a kid who has watched their abuser go free about the assumption of innocence and that the court hasn't said they were lying, it has just decided there was not enough evidence to convict.....

Sigh - 'tis a terrible area in which to balance alleged victims' and perpetrators rights, I know - but something seems very wrong...

dlowan - just reading about it makes me shiver. Some of the women I worked with would not go to court, would not make a complaint, would not even admit that anything was wrong. Instead, they would blame themselves. And then carry it over to the kids. And the kids are scarred for life.

Sometimes I wonder if the original Cain and Abel story might not actually have been between a brother and a sister (because I've always thought it a little peculiar that there should only have been three boys), involving a similar situation, and that was why one killed the other. And so many of the early myths and stories.

That's outrageous, Deb. I was sure those counseling files would have been confidential.

Well, they are trying to make it so, Roger - I am not sure where the thing is at. A worker in the Australian Capital Territory went to prison for a while for refusing to hand over files.

Our files get subpoenaed constantly for Family Court disputes now.

This means, say, that a kid who has blabbed all their angry and hating feelings for a parent - often a dad who has been violent to the kid or the mum, or both - and who lives in fear of said parent - may have their most secret feelings shared in a photocopy of the notes. We had a kid recently who tried to kill himself after such an incident - both from fear that his father would hurt him because he knew of those feelings - but also because, as usual, he loved his dad, despite everything, and did not want to lose his dad, just be kept safe from his anger.

I have a little feller now at risk of the same scenario - but about his mum - not that she would hurt him, but she is an unthinking, insensitive, unfit mum who abandoned him years ago, and suddenly wants him back - he needs to talk about his feelings - and I will have to do my best to stop the court from releasing the file to her, if 'tis subpoenaed. we can try to do that - and I often ring subpoenaing lawyers and give them an earful about the effects on the child....half the time I barely write notes now- which will get me fired, some fine day.......sigh - sorry this is WAY off thread!!!

Sorry walter!

The training and education of police officers, district attorneys, hospital emergency room staff is what is needed. We held a three day seminar last year on this education - and it was so well attended that we will be repeating it again this year - it covered all the issues you have mentioned.
The comments and summary evaluation from the participants indicated that we had indeed managed to educate them -- most emergency rooms in NYS and in many other states now have Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (they are fully trained in all aspects of sexual assault) - they do the rape kit collection and they are with the victim for their entire stay at the hospital - if the police are brought in, they are advised of the victims rights to press or not press charges ... We will be going out and doing training at hospitals for the SANE nurses as well as just being funded for Forensic sexual assault procedures and a program to be set up in NYS with major traininings over the next year. We are trying to make the victim be a victim only once and not be tried and persecuted time and time again ... and we now call them survivors ...
Judianne

Where I am, Judi, there is a system where a specialist doctor and a Rape and Sexual Assault social worker do all the examinations jointly - well, we sw's don't do the medical,(!) but we are there as a support person for the victim. Sometimes, for instance, this means helping her tell the police she does not want to go ahead and have a forensic medical and will not be laying charges when they are gung-ho that she will.

This is a 24 hour service - great fun being woken in the middle of the night by that bleeper, I can tell you .... knowing what it means.

dlowan - I have recently begun my training for the rape crisis hotline which will be routed to my home at night .. there is so much to learn but if I can help one person, I shall be giving back to those who helped me get through my marital sexual abuse -- these folks were so great and caring. The job I have is perfect for me and the education is about life ... the work that you are doing helps to make a person become a survivor..
Judianne

Sorry about the triple post folks!!! It soooooo wasn't there when I posted!!!!!

Judi - I did a secondment to the rape area a while back - back to the kiddies now - but we helped set up the 24 hour counsellor availability thing - some real resistance -and, when I saw how some of the after hours doctors worked - I wa ssooooo not surprised! One got the boot...

But thank you.

dlowan, I'd be willing to be that Craven will soon provide a method for us to delete our posts, as well as just edit them. Then again, maybe not.

You CAN delete tham - until they have been answered, cjhsa - but a moderator can zap 'em after that, as Fishin' kindly did for me.