Rape

Rape is defined legally in most states as forcible sexual relations with a person against that person's will. The definition has evolved over the years as women's equality has advanced. For example, older notions of marriage defined a wife as being essentially the property of her husband, and so rape between husband and wife was not considered a crime (see also: Crime Terminology). With the advent of the feminist movement, women's rights were recognized, rape education was heightened and women began to see that there was no excuse for rape and no situation where they should be subjected to the crime.

About Rape

Rapes are consistently under-reported, and this should be taken into consideration when reviewing rape statistics.

Rape Statistics

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network):

* 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police, though reporting has increased by 1/3 since 1993.

* About 73% of rape victims know their assailants.

* Only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.

* Most rapes occur not between strangers but between people who know each other.

Additional rape statistics:

In 2007, there were 248,300 victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault (these figures do not include victims 12 years old or younger.) Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey -- the country's largest and most reliable crime study -- there were 248,300 sexual assaults in 2007 (the most recent data available). There are 525,600 minutes in a non-leap year. That makes 31,536,000 seconds/year. So, 31,536,000 divided by 248,300 comes out to 1 sexual assault every 127 seconds, or about 1 every 2 minutes. Source: RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network)

Rape victims often encounter humiliating police procedures when she is reporting a sexual assault. (For this reason, rape incidents are under-reported, and any rape statistics are considered to be lower than the reality.) A group called SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners), established in Tulsa, Oklahoma and several other U.S. cities, seeks to treat the emotional, physical, and legal needs of rape victims with greater consideration and sensitivity. In the SANE program, female nurses are trained to handle the physical examination of the victim and to obtain physical evidence using a sexual offense collection kit. In addition, the nurses are taught to interview the victim about the assault and to keep good records, which are critical to a successful criminal prosecution of the suspect.

A woman who has been raped often encounters painful and humiliating procedures when she reports her sexual assault. She is sent to a hospital emergency room where she may wait a long time for a medical examination and the collection of evidence that is needed to convict a suspect. She often has little privacy while she waits. In addition, she is asked to tell her story of sexual assault several times.

In modern guerrilla warfare, rape has been used as a means of dominating and terrorizing a population. In this sense it is a war crime.