As our series on sexual assault continues, we'll find that some of the polling statements are more easily agreed upon than others. Last week's poll included one of those! But before we get to the details below the fold, a quick recap of last week's conversation is in order.
Last week's comments focused on the statement Most rapists commit rape for sex. We had some disagreement that this statement is false in the diary itself but the back and forth conversation was limited. It was later in the afternoon that a diary was published and, though not recommended, contained the bulk of the conversation I had hoped to have in the series itself.
It's great that the series is providing the spark for more conversation but this one seemed very removed from what I had hoped to accomplish. I want to fully address the mythology of rape by exposing how certain ideas have little scientific validation.
Instead, what we seemed to have accomplished is to divide the conversation between those who agreed that the statement was false in the series diary and those that disagreed with the statement in the afternoon diary. Though back and forth conversation happened in both diairies, the conversation in the second diary was far more adversarial. There was definitely a lot of talking at each other. There was a certain amount of preaching going on as well, that kind of I know because I know and therefore you should know better statement that really has no response. I can't just change my mind because your mind is already made up. And you won't just change your mind because my mind is already made up.
That's the kind of commenting I hope we can refrain from making. It is so tempting to tell each other that you are just plain wrong. If we are going to change anyone's mind, it is going to happen incrementally.
A couple of Kossacks have tried explaining to me the problems with the studies that I have referred to. Those that have sent private messages I have asked to bring their concerns to the forefront in today's comments. I don't want to have this conversation in private. I want it out in the open. And if and when you manage to change my mind, it will happen in a public forum and I will gladly let you know that you have succeeded. I hope that those that have strong disagreements with the information I am presenting will do the same if and when they ever understand my point of view.
Onward to today's poll and a conversation about last week's statement, Rape can happen to anyone.
Statement #2: Rape Can Happen To Anyone
This statement is true.
The 1990 survey found that before taking the rape awareness class, 97% of the students answered this correctly. After the class, 98.1% answered correctly.
Here on DailyKos and more than 20 years later, we pretty much matched the pre-rape awareness class numbers with 96.5% voting true. We had one misplaced false vote and that Kossack kindly let us know in the comments. So we are left wondering why three people voted either Shades of Gray or False. Perhaps today they will be willing to leave their thoughts in the comments.
Although it is tempting to just say, of course anyone can be raped, we've gathered some statistics to help flesh out the picture. Thanks to kimoconnor for her hard work helping to gather facts and figures!
Women
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
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
- 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.
American Indian
On average during 1992-2001, American Indians age 12 or older experienced annually an estimated 5,900 rapes or sexual assaults.7
- American Indians were twice as likely to experience a rape/sexual assault compared to all races.
- Sexual violence makes up 5% of all violent crime committed against Indians (about the same as for other races).
- Offender/victim relationship: 41% stranger; 34% acquaintance; 25% intimate or family member.
References
1. National Institute of Justice & Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey. 1998.
2. U.S. Department of Justice. 2003 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2003.
3. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sex Offenses and Offenders. 1997.
4. 1998 Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls. 1998.
5. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. 1995 Child Maltreatment Survey. 1995.
6. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000 Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement. 2000.
7. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. American Indians and Crime. 1992-2002.
World Health Organization. 2002.
http://www.rainn.org/...
RAINN: The nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization.
More detail on the American Indian community:
One in three American Indian women have been raped or have experienced an attempted rape, according to the Justice Department. Their rate of sexual assault is more than twice the national average.
Nationwide, an arrest is made in just 13% of the sexual assaults reported by American Indian women, according to the Justice Department, compared with 35% for black women and 32% for whites.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
An additional important fact about women in the African American community:
Black women’s sexual violence rate is estimated to be around forty percent by the time they reach age 18. (Norment, Lynn. “Rape and Recovery: Survivors Speak Out.” Ebony. 57 (2002): 152-157,
5.)
Some detail on the LGBT Community; studies in this area have been fewer and most seem to concentrate on domestic abuse. When a man or a woman is raped, it is not always reported as a crime against the LGBT community because it isn't always clear that either the rapist or the victim identifies with that community. Often, these crimes are hate crimes. Again, we could probably re-hash last week's comments about why rapists rape and find an even more challenging conversation when trying to understand same-sex rape.
LGBT Community
Approximately 23 percent of the men, who had lived with a man as a couple, reported being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by a male cohabitant, while 7.4 percent of the men, who had married or lived with a woman as a couple, reported such violence by a wife or female cohabitant.
Slightly more than 11% of the women who had lived with a woman as part of a couple reported being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by a female cohabitant, but 21.7% of the women who had married or lived with a man as part of a couple reported such violence by a husband or male cohabitant.
The Survivor Project’s 1998 Gender, Violence, and Resource Access Survey of transgender and intersex individuals found that 50% of respondents had been raped or assaulted by a romantic partner, though only 62% of these individuals (31% of the total) identified themselves as survivors of domestic violence when explicitly asked.
http://www.vawnet.org/...
And yes, while female on male rape is rare, it can and does occur:
Many people do not believe that male rape by a female exists. However, penile erection can be achieved under emotional duress such as anger, fear, and pain even if the male does not wish it. (Greenberg, Jerrold S., Clint E. Bruess, and Debra W. Haffner. Exploring the Dimensions
of Human Sexuality. Sudbury, MA. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2000.)
And while these statistics aren't about who is raped, they seem appropriate to this conversation. Rape can happen anywhere but it is least likely to happen in those places where we strongly suggest women remain cautious and situationally aware.
Rape Location Statistics
Perpetrator's Home 30.9%
Victims home 26.6%
Perpetrator and victims shred home 10.1%
At a party 7.2%
In a vehicle 7.2%
Outdoors 3.6%
In a bar 2.2%
http://www.statisticbrain.com/...
Looking forward to your comments below! Please recommend and share this diary widely so that we can get better polling data of today's statement!
Diaries in the Series:
True or False: Rape Can Happen To Anyone
True or False: Most Rapists Commit Rape For Sex w Poll