Have you seen these rape statistics?

Question

http://www.pcar.org/about_sa/stats.html

Isn't it time we had better laws and how can we lobby for tougher penalties?

Answer 1

Not just better laws, but better people.

Look at the hateful responses of a couple of posters who imply women have hundreds of sexual partners and that if they are drunk, it's ok to rape them, as they "deserve" it. It makes you wonder how many women they have raped that they now call ho's that they say that they just "had sex with" when they were drunk. As long as men (and women) believe that women don't have to give consent, and deserve rape, women are at risk from any man who believes and perpetuates these hateful and sick rape myths; and men are at risk from any woman or man who believes this hateful rape mythology.



Not for the squeamish: I can't imagine women saying to men that if you get drunk, I have the right to shove a stick up your you-know-what, because you don't need to give consent to "sex", and you're being irresponsible for drinking and therefore deserve what you get. Can you imagine the outrage? Yet it is still perfectly acceptable to both men and women to say that drunk women deserve to be raped and these same men and women question if it is even rape, as though becoming drunk somehow makes a woman sub-human, and therefore deserving of torture. I don't think men are sub-human when they become drunk; I can't imagine the contempt and hatred some people have for women that they can manage to dehumanize women to such an extent that they think a human being can "deserve" torture.



I also don't understand men or women who mock men who have been raped; nor do I understand men or women who justify the molestation of teens by men or women. If you know anyone who has been raped or molested, you would not be able to find it "funny" that men or teens are raped. Research backs this up: "Men who haven't been victimized are less likely to: believe sexual abuse claims" AND also finds that males with high sexism beliefs also tend to believe that such incidents, if they happened at all, were not harmful to the victim":

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070213101053.htm

Answer 2

I went to the site. That reported rapes are now about 30% of the suspected total is progress.

It's perfectly true that men are raped as well, and I seriously doubt that in a prison setting even if a rape is reported the guards will do anything about it. Prison guards like to see the inmates suffer.

I know lots of women who were raped. My neighbor was, twice. One of my sweethearts was repeatedly raped by her uncle. My sister was at least molested by our father, and my niece was raped at home by an intruder. My second wife was raped before we were married.

As for convictions, DNA evidence is proving to be an extremely useful tool in settling these cases. Not all men ejaculate during rape, but if the woman can rake him some place with her nails, his skin will be under his nails. The first impulse, which is understandable, after a rape is to take a shower. Anyone raped needs to call the police immediately.

What Greer had to say was interesting, and it is true that statistics need to be verified by at least one other statistician. As Mark Twain famously said, "There are statistics, lies, and damn lies."

The notion that people who make false accusations should do prison time is positively medieval.

Complicating the matter is that many women retract their accusations. I can think of a couple of reasons why this might be so - the family is under threat, or the woman knows the guy and is confused about her feelings towards him. Other than that, I can't explain it.

As for the example of twisted statistics given (that a woman who was drunk had sex 200 times) - sorry, pal, but drunk people cannot give consent. So it is rape. And note that women have a lower tolerance for alcohol than men do. One drink is enough to impair a woman's judgement. This has to do with liver enzymes, not any inferiority on the part of women.

As for the trauma involved, I think it is worse for children and the elderly than it is for mature women. Some people respond with a lifelong fear of sex. Other's don't. Everyone varies in her/his response to trauma.

As for the penalties, all we have to do is to pressure legislators for stiffer penalties. For repeat rapists (3 or more convictions) I advocate either life in prison or crippling the criminal somehow, such as severing his spine at the level of his hips. He'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and would be much less able to rape anyone ever again. This would be mutilation, which is unconstitutional, but maybe it could be voluntary - paraplegia in exchange for being able to live outside again.

Answer 3

I have read some very good opinion pieces by Germaine Greer on this subject, and the law certainly does need to be changed, but not perhaps in the direction of tougher penalties.



The biggest problem Greer identifies is that conviction rates for rape are so very low, and the widely accepted reason for this is that many many cases are a "he said she said", generally between people who already know each other, and often in relationships where sex has previously been consented to.



This ambiguity, together with the fact that all rapes are lumped together in seriousness may go some way to explaining why conviction rates are so low.



A jury is very wary of locking a man up for 14-21 years (hardly a trivial penalty - how much harder could it get - already almost as serious as murder) on the basis of circumstantial evidence.



Greer argues that rape - assault with a penis -is rarely even on a par with 2nd degree assault in terms of its physical component, and the fact that it is treated SO seriously in all cases is a throwback to patriarchal society in where it was considered a violation of another mans property, and this, rather than its gravity as a crime against women, was why it attracted such stiff penalties.



Greer advocates prosecuting rape as assault with a sexual component, and under such a system, the impact of the crime would be considered, and lighter penalties in many cases would likely lead to much higher rates of prosecution, which would in turn act as much stronger deterants than long sentences given out on single digit conviction rates.



You may find this solution unpalatable, but the fact remains, the penalties are already very severe, make few distinctions between violent stranger rape and a marital "no", or incest abuse which all have very clearly different psychological impacts on their victims.



The law only works as a deterant when it successfully secures convictions, so more workable laws which have a better chance of securing convictions are likely a much better step than ramping up penalties which already carry amongst harshest jail terms available.

Answer 4

Sure, you go out to the rapists and tell them "don't rape" and see how many rapes you really stop. While you're at it go to the murderers, the thieves, the arsonists, and terrorists and tell them "you shouldn't do that" and see how much crime really drops. People have to take care of themselves. With your attitude even more women would get raped because it would be "wrong" to tell women to take care of their own safety. There is a huge difference between blaming victims and teaching people common sense. Granted sometimes people do cross that line but you can't just expect the criminals to stop doing whatever they're doing, in this case rape, because we say so. If you can figure out how telling them not to rape will stop them then by all means do that.

Answer 5

The overall probability that a rapist will be sent to prison for his crime: 16.3%. The average sentence: 128 days. (National Center for Policy Analysis, 1999)



And yet some men on this board are more concerned about vindictive women imprisoning 'innocent men.'



Attack us as liars and change public perception (which wouldnt be hard to do b/c we've been seen as less credible for centuries) and hence court decisons.



Attack VAWA (which helps men too, excpet for shelters) and remove any semblance of protection at all for women and girls when it comes to violence.



End no fault divorce? Yes, and keep us bound to men who abuse us.



See the pattern? Lovely aint it? And the same men are saying what loving, caring, concerned dads they all. And they wonder why theyve been "falsely accused" and wonder why they dont have custody.



How to end rape? Change the culture that permits it - the best cure and the hardest to implement.



Twilight has some good ideas too - let there be different levels of severity.



I can tell you personally that I was raped by a stranger once and raped by a "friend" another time. I didnt press charges either time. Why? The shame, blame and hurdles. As rotten as it was for my friend to be an opportunist and stick his penis in me (no foreplay, no condom, no kissing, no consent), it would have been impossible for me to have considered sending him to jail. That's typical of most women. (it's why we dont press charges in rape agst those we know & why we dont press charges agst men in domestic violence and therefore had to resort to pro-arrest policies).



Perhaps there can be classes that they take? community service to a rape crisis center or DV shelter?



For more serious assaults, jail time.



For torture and rape, life in prison.



The other poster is correct, the psychological abuse of rape is harder than the physical act. the UN calls rape 'physchological torture.'



To the poster that said mature women handle rape better than children and elderly - that is a disservice to women. A crime committed agst a woman should not be compared to others in order to belittle it. We do not do that to any other crime victim.

Answer 6

I know it's shocking.

Sexual abuse and rape is so much more common than anybody knows.

Because it is such a "taboo" topic in many families, so many children would be afraid to speak up if it was happening to them.



What I find really sad it that something only 20% of rapes are reported.

20% - that's not even a quarter.

Even if it is reported, it doesn't mean the rapist will get convicted.

So (roughly) 80% of rapists have no record of this on their criminal record.

Not even that they were accused. Nothing.



I believe Rapists should be given a long if not life sentence, because rape victims have a life sentence.

Answer 7

I read them. Horrible. Not surprising.



And Eoghan is mistaken.



Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens a lot.



We'll know the tide is turning when a man says "She deserved it" and the MEN on the board take turns verbally smacking him down.

Answer 8

Any changes to the law is not as easy as it seems. You can't just fix one problem and that's that. You have to make sure there is no loop holes etc.. Also, statistics needs to be interpreted carefully before jumping to conclusions.

Answer 9

Yes it really is. We could make a petition and get lots of people to sign it for us.

Answer 10

No, however ANYONE that believes there is a failure of adequate ' rape ' awareness is either unaware of this forum or hasn't visited this forum.. [disgustingly shaking my head..]

Answer 11

Thank you for showing me this now im aware.

Answer 12

No, I haven't seen them, but there sure have been a rash of rape related questions on this site today.

Answer 13

This is how those kinds of figures are generated



Surveyor. Have you ever had sex with a stranger while you were drunk?

Girl. Of course.

S. How many times?

G IDK, 100?

S Have you ever told an authority about it?

G No???

S Ticks box and fills in "100 unreported rapes"



Its sad and frustrating that so many are taken in.



Police, judges, men and women get instantly suspicious when the r word is muntioned, why? Because it has been explioted and used as a political tool.





A good start would be to make a false accusation as serious a crime as a rape.

Answer 14

What do you propose?



Is this just designed to cause more fear? Do you honestly think a crazy rapist would be discouraged if he serves 12 years instead of 10? Another statistic not present in that list is that children suffer much more abuse when they're not living with their birth fathers. If you wanted to lower abuse, end no-fault divorce.

Answer 15

Keep the liberals in office, and if will never get any better



The poor rapists need treatment, and your pity



They are victims, and have a decease, they cant help themselves

Answer 16

NO