Saturday, May 1, 2010

Rape: Just the Facts

  • Over half a million women are raped each year in the US alone (this only includes those who report it)
  • 1 in 4 women in the US are raped in their lifetimes (again, these are only the ones who report it)
  • About 2/3 of rapes are thought to go unreported
  • About 83% of rapes are committed by people the victim knows
    • 1st being a former husband/boyfriend... someone with whom the victim was in love
    • 2nd being someone the respondent knew well... friend, co-worker, classmate, etc.
    • 3rd being an acquaintance
    • 4th being a spouse
    • 5th - with ONLY 4% - being a stranger
  • Marital rape was not made illegal in all 50 states until July 1993!?!
  • The first few thousand years of history, the only rapes punished were those that defiled virgins
    • They were considered crimes against property (the property of their husband/father) and these men were reimbursed for property damages
  • Every 7 minutes, a woman is raped in the US
  • 10% of rape victims are men
    • most are raped by other men
      • most of them - perpetrator and victim - are HETEROsexual
      • these rapes typically happen in prisons
  • Women between the age of 16-24 are 2 to 3 times more likely to be raped than older women
  • The "date rape" drug, Rohypnol, is 10 times stronger than Valium
    • it has no taste, odor, or color and is, thus, almost impossible to detect
    • it kicks in within 30 minutes and can last up to 8 hours
      • it can often cause a blackout that can last up to 24 hours leaving the victims with no memory of what happened
  • Victims often suffer after the rape with sexual, physical, emotional and mental problems
    • some even develop PTSD
All of this information came from my Human Sexuality textbook, chapter 18 on Sexual Coercion... this was my much needed study break as I suffer through reviewing all 19 of its chapters for my last final on Monday!

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