A quote from:
Rape: A Century of Resistance, Patricia D. Rozee and Mary P. Koss, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25 (2001), 295-311,
“Because of the view of women’s chances against a rapist that these news reports instill, it is not uncommon for families, friends, or male partners to undermine women’s confidence in their ability to defend themselves.
Women who do not resist are more likely to be raped; more often blamed for the rape and are likely to suffer the associated deleterious physical and psychological aftereffects.
The evidence is consistent: resistance may prevent rape and resistance poses no increased risk of injury. For example, Sarah Ullman found that more forceful victim resistance (verbal and physical) was related to less severe sexual abuse even when partialling out level of situational danger and offender aggression. In addition, these researchers found the victim resistance was not related to the level of physical injury. When sequence of events is considered, it is found that women resist more when they are being hurt rather than the reverse.
Self-defense mastery has a strong empowerment effect on women including enhanced perceived control and coping, decreased perceived vulnerability to assault, reductions in negative thinking and anxiety about safety, decreased avoidance behavior, and most potent of all, increased freedom of action.
Consciousness of one’s own ability to resist leads women to feel stronger, more insightful, and more capable of responding effectively to future danger. On the one hand, there is the strong cultural message that rape resistance is both futile and dangerous, and women have been conditioned to believe it. On the other hand, women who do not resist are more likely to be raped, more often blamed for the rape, and are likely to suffer the associated deleterious physical and psychological aftereffects. In addition, if the victim-survivor wants to prosecute the man who raped her, she will encounter negative reactions from juries, because the absence of verbal or physical resistance in creased judgments of victim-survivor consent. The more the victim-survivor resisted, the more certain are the observers that a rape occurred. Although the law does not require resistance, juries still rely on it to decide conflicting claims about consent. Immediate physical or forceful verbal resistance is more likely to successfully prevent rape and, in the case of completed rape, convince the jury that the victim-survivor did all she could to avoid being raped. The evidence is consistent: resistance may prevent rape and resistance poses no increased risk of injury. Self-defense mastery has a strong empowerment effect on women including enhanced perceived control and coping, decreased perceived vulnerability to assault, reductions in negative thinking and anxiety about safety, decreased avoidance behavior, and most potent of all, increased freedom of action.”
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
FIGHTING BACK WORKS
And now a quote from:
Fighting Back Works: The Case for Advocating and Teaching Self-Defense Against Rape, by Marge Heyden, Tiel Jackson, Billie Anger, and Todd Ellner, From the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, May/June 1999
“A thorough review of the available literature has led us to some surprising conclusions about the effectiveness of traditional anti-rape advice. Women are often advised to use non-aggressive strategies against sexual assault. Research suggests that this is poor advice. According to one study, women who used non-forceful verbal strategies, such as crying or pleading with the assailant, were raped about 96% of the time. In the same study, women who did nothing to protect themselves were raped about 93% of the time.
Forceful verbal resistance, including yelling and loud screaming, was more effective than non-forceful verbal resistance. These strategies were associated with completion of rape from 44% - 50% of the time. This study is particularly interesting because the data were collected from rapists in maximum security psychiatric hospitals, showing that forceful verbal strategies can be effective even against the violently insane.
Running worked even better than verbal resistance. Although researchers who relied on rape crisis center records and police records report a 55% rape completion rate against those who attempted to flee, broader studies … indicate that only 15% of women who attempted to flee were raped. Running was also associated with a lower rate of injury.
Forceful physical resistance was an extremely successful strategy. The completed rape rate dropped to between 45% and 14% [to at least 45% and as low as 14%] when the rapist's attempt was met with violent physical force. Striking was more successful than pushing or wrestling. Physical resistance also appears to be more effective when assault occurs outdoors.
Women are sometimes advised that fighting back will increase their risk of injury. There are two problems with this argument.
First, research shows that physical resistance does not cause further injury to the resister. While there is a correlation between resistance and a somewhat higher rate of physical injury (at most 3%), researchers who examined the sequence of events found that injury usually occurred before resistance. In other words, resisters were not injured because they had resisted: rather, being injured motivated them to fight back. After the initial injury, forceful resistance did not increase the resister's risk of further damage.
Second, this argument overlooks the fact that a woman who does not resist is virtually guaranteed to suffer the emotional and physical injury of the rape itself. Even when resisters are injured, the injury is typically much less severe than a completed rape would have been. Of those 40% of resisters who suffered physical damage, only 7% suffered injury as severe as a dislodged tooth. A woman who fights back incurs no demonstrable chance of additional injury, but she gains a 55-86% chance of avoiding rape altogether.”
Fighting Back Works: The Case for Advocating and Teaching Self-Defense Against Rape, by Marge Heyden, Tiel Jackson, Billie Anger, and Todd Ellner, From the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, May/June 1999
“A thorough review of the available literature has led us to some surprising conclusions about the effectiveness of traditional anti-rape advice. Women are often advised to use non-aggressive strategies against sexual assault. Research suggests that this is poor advice. According to one study, women who used non-forceful verbal strategies, such as crying or pleading with the assailant, were raped about 96% of the time. In the same study, women who did nothing to protect themselves were raped about 93% of the time.
Forceful verbal resistance, including yelling and loud screaming, was more effective than non-forceful verbal resistance. These strategies were associated with completion of rape from 44% - 50% of the time. This study is particularly interesting because the data were collected from rapists in maximum security psychiatric hospitals, showing that forceful verbal strategies can be effective even against the violently insane.
Running worked even better than verbal resistance. Although researchers who relied on rape crisis center records and police records report a 55% rape completion rate against those who attempted to flee, broader studies … indicate that only 15% of women who attempted to flee were raped. Running was also associated with a lower rate of injury.
Forceful physical resistance was an extremely successful strategy. The completed rape rate dropped to between 45% and 14% [to at least 45% and as low as 14%] when the rapist's attempt was met with violent physical force. Striking was more successful than pushing or wrestling. Physical resistance also appears to be more effective when assault occurs outdoors.
Women are sometimes advised that fighting back will increase their risk of injury. There are two problems with this argument.
First, research shows that physical resistance does not cause further injury to the resister. While there is a correlation between resistance and a somewhat higher rate of physical injury (at most 3%), researchers who examined the sequence of events found that injury usually occurred before resistance. In other words, resisters were not injured because they had resisted: rather, being injured motivated them to fight back. After the initial injury, forceful resistance did not increase the resister's risk of further damage.
Second, this argument overlooks the fact that a woman who does not resist is virtually guaranteed to suffer the emotional and physical injury of the rape itself. Even when resisters are injured, the injury is typically much less severe than a completed rape would have been. Of those 40% of resisters who suffered physical damage, only 7% suffered injury as severe as a dislodged tooth. A woman who fights back incurs no demonstrable chance of additional injury, but she gains a 55-86% chance of avoiding rape altogether.”
Sunday, June 20, 2010
SEMINAR GRADUATES
Congratulations to the most recent graduates of the FLAG program! Great class today ladies. Thank you so much for attending. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
RESISTING AN ATTACK AND PHYSICAL INJURY
“A 1989 FBI study shows that there is no correlation between a victim who resists and the amount of physical injury she sustains. 71% of victims avoid being raped by taking self-protective measures, whereas of the remaining 29% only 8% escaped without being raped.”
University of Florida, Community Services Division website on Sexual Battery
University of Florida, Community Services Division website on Sexual Battery
Monday, June 14, 2010
FIGHTING BACK
“They found that in response to physical attacks, the most effective strategies were forceful fighting and screaming for reducing the severity of a sexual assault without increasing the level of physical injury indicating that forceful resistance strategies are effective in avoiding rape without experiencing more physical harm.”
Self-Defense Training: A Brief Review by Alyssa A. Rheingold and Dean G Kilpatrick, National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina. http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/self-defense.html
Self-Defense Training: A Brief Review by Alyssa A. Rheingold and Dean G Kilpatrick, National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina. http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/self-defense.html
Saturday, June 12, 2010
SHIFT IN THINKING
While doing research, not only did I find the DOJ statistics, I read a number of papers, articles and web sites. I’ve scavenged the parts that were the most interesting to me and will post them over the next few weeks. These are taken directly from the source, so there are copyrights on them. The reference information and direct link to the source is located before each excerpt.
In reference to the benefits of physical resistance in the event of an attack: studies have shown that women who resist either physically or verbally (and preferably both) or flee are more likely to avoid the completion of a rape. Studies also show that women who resist with less forceful types of resistance (pleading, crying and reasoning) have a higher likelihood of suffering a completed rape. Women who resist are not likely to suffer more injuries than women who don’t resist; in fact some studies found less injuries occurred. Based on these finding perhaps myths such as “It is better to just talk your way out of an attack.” “You will be injured more if you resist.” “Just throw-up on yourself.” “Women aren’t strong enough to fight back.” should be reconsidered.
The Effects of Resistance Strategies on Rape by Janice M Zoucha-Jensen, MSW and Ann Coyne, PhD, American Journal of Public Health, November 1993, Vol. 83, No. 11.
“These findings also counter some prior research on resistance strategies, research that has resulted in inaccurate advice to women to use only non-forceful verbal resistance, or no resistance at all, if faced with a sexual assault. Those types of resistance strategies were shown in this study to be associated with being raped, not with rape avoidance, and they did not reduce the incidence of physical injury.
This analysis…did indicate that forceful verbal resistance, physical resistance, and fleeing were all associated with rape avoidance, whereas non-forceful verbal resistance and no resistance were associated with being raped. Further, women who used forceful resistance were no more likely to be injured than women who did not resist.”
In reference to the benefits of physical resistance in the event of an attack: studies have shown that women who resist either physically or verbally (and preferably both) or flee are more likely to avoid the completion of a rape. Studies also show that women who resist with less forceful types of resistance (pleading, crying and reasoning) have a higher likelihood of suffering a completed rape. Women who resist are not likely to suffer more injuries than women who don’t resist; in fact some studies found less injuries occurred. Based on these finding perhaps myths such as “It is better to just talk your way out of an attack.” “You will be injured more if you resist.” “Just throw-up on yourself.” “Women aren’t strong enough to fight back.” should be reconsidered.
The Effects of Resistance Strategies on Rape by Janice M Zoucha-Jensen, MSW and Ann Coyne, PhD, American Journal of Public Health, November 1993, Vol. 83, No. 11.
“These findings also counter some prior research on resistance strategies, research that has resulted in inaccurate advice to women to use only non-forceful verbal resistance, or no resistance at all, if faced with a sexual assault. Those types of resistance strategies were shown in this study to be associated with being raped, not with rape avoidance, and they did not reduce the incidence of physical injury.
This analysis…did indicate that forceful verbal resistance, physical resistance, and fleeing were all associated with rape avoidance, whereas non-forceful verbal resistance and no resistance were associated with being raped. Further, women who used forceful resistance were no more likely to be injured than women who did not resist.”
SOME STATISTICS
I had a great question in regards to a previous post – where did I get the information for the numbers I presented. So I wanted to go into some of the statistics I have found and where I found them.
There are a number of different locations on the web where rape/sexual assault statistics are available; government websites, blogs, corporate or non-profit websites and the list goes on. One thing that is to be expected is that the numbers vary from site to site. I have found this could be due to the statistics being from different years or from different original sources, they could be reporting figures based on different ways of adding up the original data collected, they could be reporting a range of numbers, and again, the list goes on. I did find it helpful to take into consideration the type of site I was visiting. I noticed the sources tended to lean towards the numbers that made the most impact for whatever it was they were trying to convey. For example a self-defense site might report the upper end of the range for benefits of fighting back, while a site dealing with medical treatment might report the upper end of the range for potential injuries if the person fought back.
The stats listed below are crime rate statistics from the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics publication Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2007, Statistical Tables and can be found at this website
Disclaimers. This is a fairly long post; there were a lot of statistics, be prepared. The stats are not meant to scare, or worry, or promote a cause or group, or sway opinion, or … ; they are just straight statistics as reported by the DOJ. That’s it. I also know that people who have survived a completed attack or attempted attack are referred to as survivors and not victims. However, in the statistics below, the term victim (or respondent) or victimization is used because that was what was used in the report and I did not want to modify the DOJ terminology or findings, or how they were reported. (aside from taking them from table form and converting them to more of a text format.) Some of the paragraphs are only slightly different from one to the next (e.g. the first listing could be an overall total number of attacks then it could be broken into attacks by strangers and non-strangers). This is not meant to be confusing; these are just different ways the totals were broken up by the DOJ.
All the stats are from 2007 and, due to rounding, totals may not add up to 100%:
GENERAL STATISTICS:
Of 236,980 rapes/sexual assaults on women: 132,220 were rape/attempted rape (with 66,730 completed rapes and 65,490 attempted rapes) and 104,760 sexual assaults (including threats).
Of 11,300 rapes/sexual assaults on men: 8,400 were rape/attempted rape (with 3,120 completed rapes and 5,280 attempted rapes) and 2,900 sexual assaults (including threats).
Of 248,280 rapes and sexual assaults: 42.2% involved strangers and 57.8% involved non-strangers. Broken down further: Of 69,850 completed rapes: 51.4% involved strangers and 48.6% involved non-strangers. Of 70,770 attempted rapes: 36.5% involved strangers and 63.5% involved non-strangers. Of 107,660 sexual assaults: 39.9% involved strangers and 60.1% involved non-strangers.
RELATIONSHIP TO VICTIM:
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 13.5 % were committed by someone related to the victim (8.3% spouse, 2.5% ex-spouse, 0.8% parent, 0.0% own child, 1.8% other relatives), 28.9% the offender was well known, 15.5% were committed by a casual acquaintance, 5.6% don’t know the relationship, 31.2% were strangers, 5.4% don’t know number of offenders.
Of 226,590 rape/sexual assaults committed by a single-offender: 14.7 % were committed by someone related to them (9.1% spouse, 2.7% ex-spouse, 0.9% parent, 0.0% own child, 0.0% brother or sister, 2.0% other relatives), 30.4% the offender was well known, 17.0% were committed by a casual acquaintance, 6.1 don’t know the relationship, 31.7% were strangers.
Of 8,320 rape/sexual assaults committed by multiple-offenders: 0.0% of attacks some or all of the offenders were related, 33.3% some or all of the offenders were well known but not related, 0.0% some or all were casual acquaintances, 0.0 don’t know the relationship, 66.7% were strangers.
RACE OF OFFENDER:
Of 226,590 single-offender rapes/sexual assaults: in 63.0% of the assaults the offender was white, 15.5 % the offender was black, 6.8 percent were ‘other’, and 14.7 were unknown.
AGE OF OFFENDER:
Of 226,590 single-offender rapes/sexual assaults: 0.0% of the offenders were perceived to be under the age of 12, 1.9 % were 12 – 14 years of age, 9.4 % were 15-17 years, 4.6 % were 18 – 20 years, 37.7 % were 21 – 29 years, 37.3 % were 30 or over, and 9.0% were of unknown age.
Of 8,310 multiple-offender rape/sexual assaults: 0.0% of all offenders were perceived to be under 12 years of age, 31.8% all of the offenders were between 12 - 20 years of age, 0.0% 21 - 29 years, 0.0% all 30 and over 0.0% were mixed ages, and 68.2% were not known and not available.
NUMBER OF OFFENDERS:
In single-offender rapes/sexual assaults 94.2% of the offenders are male.
In multiple-offender rape/sexual assaults 100% of the offenders are male.
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 91.3 % were conducted by 1 offender, 2.2 % were conducted by 2 offenders, 0.0 % were conducted by 3 offenders, 1.2% were conducted by 4 or more offenders, and 5.4% were by an unknown number of offenders.
Of 104,670 rape/sexual assaults involving strangers: 81.9% were conducted by 1 offender, 2.5 % were conducted by 2 offenders, 0.0 % were conducted by 3 offenders, 2.8% were conducted by 4 or more offenders, and 12.8% were by an unknown number of offenders.
Of 143,610 rape/sexual assaults involving non-strangers: 98.1% were conducted by 1 offender, 1.9 % were conducted by 2 offenders, 0.0 % were conducted by 3 offenders, 0.0% were conducted by 4 or more offenders, and 0.0% were by an unknown number of offenders.
TIME OF ATTACK
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 35.0% occurred between 6 AM – 6 PM, 63.7% occurred at night (with 40.6% occurring between 6 PM – 12 AM, 21.9% between 12 – 6 AM, and 1.2% of unknown time) and 1.4% not known as to the time of attack.
LOCATION OF VICTIMIZATIONS:
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 41.1% occurred at or in the respondent’s home, 4.5% occurred near the home, 3.3% occurred on the street near home, 15.3% occurred at, in, or near a friend’s, relative’s, or neighbor’s home, 6.5% occurred inside a restaurant, bar, or nightclub, 7.8% occurred in other commercial building, 2.2% occurred in a parking lot or garage, 6.3% occurred inside school building or on school property, 1.7% occurred in an apartment yard, park, field, or playground, 10.0% occurred on street other than near own home, 0.0% occurred on public transportation or inside the station, 1.4% occurred at ‘other’.
Of 104,670 rape/sexual assaults involving strangers; 24.5% occurred at or in the respondent’s home, 2.7% occurred near the home, 4.5% occurred on the street near home, 17.8% occurred at, in, or near a friend’s, relative’s, or neighbor’s home, 15.3% occurred inside a restaurant, bar, or nightclub, 11.2% occurred in other commercial building, 0.0% occurred in a parking lot or garage, 2.5% occurred inside school building or on school property, 4.1% occurred in an apartment yard, park, field, or playground, 17.3% occurred on street other than near own home, 0.0% occurred on public transportation or inside the station, 0.0% occurred at ‘other’.
Of 143,610 rape/sexual assaults involving non-strangers; 53.2% occurred at or in the respondent’s home, 5.8% occurred near the home, 2.4% occurred on the street near home, 13.4% occurred at, in, or near a friend’s, relative’s, or neighbor’s home, 0.0% occurred inside a restaurant, bar, or nightclub, 5.3% occurred in other commercial building, 3.9% occurred in a parking lot or garage, 9.0% occurred inside school building or on school property, 0.0% occurred in an apartment yard, park, field, or playground, 4.7% occurred on street other than near own home, 0.0% occurred on public transportation or inside the station, 2.4% occurred at ‘other’.
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults 41.1% occurred inside home or lodging, 10.5% occurred near respondent’s home, 8.5% occurred one mile from home or less, 11.8% occurred 5 miles from home or less, 23.7% occurred 50 miles from home or less, 4.5% occurred more than 50 miles from home.
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 3.0 % of the victims were working or on duty, 3.4% were on the way to or from work, 1.8% were on the way to or from school, 9.2% were on the way to or from some other place, 6.7% were shopping or running errands, 6.3% were attending school, 26.6% were doing a leisure activity away from home, 12.3% were sleeping, 29.3% were doing other activities at home, 1.4% were doing something ‘other’.
REPORTING TO THE POLICE
Of 248,260 rape/sexual assaults: 41.6% were reported to police and 48.4% were not reported (69,850 rapes, 53.9% were reported and 46.1% were not reported and of the 70,770 attempted rapes 49.3% were reported and 50.7 % were not reported.) Of the 107,660 sexual assaults 28.6% were reported and 71.4% were not reported.
38.8% of female victims reported the rape/sexual assaults to the police. 49.3% of female victims report if the rape/sexual assault involved a stranger and 31.3% reported if the rape/sexual assault involved a non-stranger.
Of 12 - 19 years olds victimized by a rape/sexual assault 44.7% reported it to the police, of 20 - 34 years olds 40.2% reported it, of 35 - 49 year olds 33.7% reported it, of 50 - 64 year olds 65.1% reported it and of 65 + year olds 59.3% reported it to the police.
Of the 94,020 number of reasons for reporting rape/sexual assaults: 9.4% were to stop or prevent this incident, 13.2% needed help due to injury, 27.3% to prevent further crimes by offender against victim, 17.6% to prevent crime by offender against anyone, 15.9% to punish offender, 8.0% to catch or find offender, 0.0% to improve police surveillance, 0.0% duty to notify police, 8.6% because it was a crime. (Note some respondents may have cited more than one reason for reporting victimizations to the police)
Out of 66,840 number of reasons for not reporting rapes/sexual assaults involving strangers: 15.3% reported it to another official, 6.7% said it was a private or personal matter, 0.0% said the offender was unsuccessful, 6.7% said it was not important enough, 17.5% said lack of proof, 8.0% said police would not want to be bothered, 7.2% said the police were inefficient, ineffective, or biased, 4.3% stated fear of reprisal, 6.7% said too inconvenient or time consuming, 27.5% said ‘other reasons’.
Out of 109,010 number of reasons for not reporting rapes/sexual assaults involving non-strangers: 2.5% reported it to another official, 20.7% said it was a private or personal matter, 6.6% said the offender was unsuccessful, 7.9% said it was not important enough, 0.0% said lack of proof, 8.1% said police would not want to be bothered, 2.9% said the police were inefficient, ineffective, or biased, 24.4% stated fear of reprisal, 3.4% said to inconvenient or time consuming, 23.5% said ‘other reasons’.
SELF-PROTECTIVE MEASURES
The first to use force in a rape/sexual attack: 21.7% of the time the respondent was the first to use force, 66.9% of the time the offender was the first to use force, and 11.4% data was not available.
In 248,280 rape/sexual assaults, 91.2% of the incidents no weapon was used by the offender, 5.6 % of the incidents a weapon was used, and 3.2% don’t know if a weapon was used. Of the 5.6% of weapons used: 1.1% used a firearm, 2.5% used a knife, and 2.0% used a blunt weapon.
66.4% of females took self-protective measure in the event of rape/sexual assault.
In the case of rape/sexual assault 72.0% of individuals took self-protective measures if the victimization involved a stranger, 61.7% took self-protective measures if the victimization involved a non-stranger.
Of 164,030 rape/sexual assaults in which self-protective measures were employed: 50% of the respondents indicated it helped the situation, 12.2% said it hurt the situation, 6.8% said it both helped and hurt the situation, 15.9% said it neither helped nor hurt the situation, 3.7 % don’t know if it helped and 11.4% data was not available.
Of 128,010 rape/sexual assaults in which self-protective measures taken by the victim were helpful: 37.7% avoided injury or greater injury, 34.2% scared the offender off, 25.2% escaped, and 2.9% protected property.
Data was not broken out for rapes/sexual assaults as to reasons self-protective measures taken by the victim were harmful. Of 403,120 crimes of violence (including rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated and simple assault) in which self-protective measures taken by the victim were harmful: 65.2% made the offender angrier, more aggressive, 16.6% led to injury or greater injury, 2.6% caused greater property damage, 2.5% caused others to get hurt, 3.7% let the offender get away, 8.3% made the situation worse in other ways, 0.9% not available.
Of the self-protective measures employed by victims in a rape/sexual assault; 0.9% attacked offender with weapon, 6.3% attacked offender without weapon, 0.9% threatened offender with weapon, 1.4% threatened offender without weapon, 31.6% resisted or captured offender, 13.9% scared or warned offender, 10.8% persuaded or appeased offender, 15.0% ran away or hid, 9.9% got help or gave alarm, 8.1% screamed from pain or fear, 1.1% took other measures. Note: some respondents may have cited more than one self-protective measure employed.
There are a number of different locations on the web where rape/sexual assault statistics are available; government websites, blogs, corporate or non-profit websites and the list goes on. One thing that is to be expected is that the numbers vary from site to site. I have found this could be due to the statistics being from different years or from different original sources, they could be reporting figures based on different ways of adding up the original data collected, they could be reporting a range of numbers, and again, the list goes on. I did find it helpful to take into consideration the type of site I was visiting. I noticed the sources tended to lean towards the numbers that made the most impact for whatever it was they were trying to convey. For example a self-defense site might report the upper end of the range for benefits of fighting back, while a site dealing with medical treatment might report the upper end of the range for potential injuries if the person fought back.
The stats listed below are crime rate statistics from the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics publication Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2007, Statistical Tables and can be found at this website
Disclaimers. This is a fairly long post; there were a lot of statistics, be prepared. The stats are not meant to scare, or worry, or promote a cause or group, or sway opinion, or … ; they are just straight statistics as reported by the DOJ. That’s it. I also know that people who have survived a completed attack or attempted attack are referred to as survivors and not victims. However, in the statistics below, the term victim (or respondent) or victimization is used because that was what was used in the report and I did not want to modify the DOJ terminology or findings, or how they were reported. (aside from taking them from table form and converting them to more of a text format.) Some of the paragraphs are only slightly different from one to the next (e.g. the first listing could be an overall total number of attacks then it could be broken into attacks by strangers and non-strangers). This is not meant to be confusing; these are just different ways the totals were broken up by the DOJ.
All the stats are from 2007 and, due to rounding, totals may not add up to 100%:
GENERAL STATISTICS:
Of 236,980 rapes/sexual assaults on women: 132,220 were rape/attempted rape (with 66,730 completed rapes and 65,490 attempted rapes) and 104,760 sexual assaults (including threats).
Of 11,300 rapes/sexual assaults on men: 8,400 were rape/attempted rape (with 3,120 completed rapes and 5,280 attempted rapes) and 2,900 sexual assaults (including threats).
Of 248,280 rapes and sexual assaults: 42.2% involved strangers and 57.8% involved non-strangers. Broken down further: Of 69,850 completed rapes: 51.4% involved strangers and 48.6% involved non-strangers. Of 70,770 attempted rapes: 36.5% involved strangers and 63.5% involved non-strangers. Of 107,660 sexual assaults: 39.9% involved strangers and 60.1% involved non-strangers.
RELATIONSHIP TO VICTIM:
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 13.5 % were committed by someone related to the victim (8.3% spouse, 2.5% ex-spouse, 0.8% parent, 0.0% own child, 1.8% other relatives), 28.9% the offender was well known, 15.5% were committed by a casual acquaintance, 5.6% don’t know the relationship, 31.2% were strangers, 5.4% don’t know number of offenders.
Of 226,590 rape/sexual assaults committed by a single-offender: 14.7 % were committed by someone related to them (9.1% spouse, 2.7% ex-spouse, 0.9% parent, 0.0% own child, 0.0% brother or sister, 2.0% other relatives), 30.4% the offender was well known, 17.0% were committed by a casual acquaintance, 6.1 don’t know the relationship, 31.7% were strangers.
Of 8,320 rape/sexual assaults committed by multiple-offenders: 0.0% of attacks some or all of the offenders were related, 33.3% some or all of the offenders were well known but not related, 0.0% some or all were casual acquaintances, 0.0 don’t know the relationship, 66.7% were strangers.
RACE OF OFFENDER:
Of 226,590 single-offender rapes/sexual assaults: in 63.0% of the assaults the offender was white, 15.5 % the offender was black, 6.8 percent were ‘other’, and 14.7 were unknown.
AGE OF OFFENDER:
Of 226,590 single-offender rapes/sexual assaults: 0.0% of the offenders were perceived to be under the age of 12, 1.9 % were 12 – 14 years of age, 9.4 % were 15-17 years, 4.6 % were 18 – 20 years, 37.7 % were 21 – 29 years, 37.3 % were 30 or over, and 9.0% were of unknown age.
Of 8,310 multiple-offender rape/sexual assaults: 0.0% of all offenders were perceived to be under 12 years of age, 31.8% all of the offenders were between 12 - 20 years of age, 0.0% 21 - 29 years, 0.0% all 30 and over 0.0% were mixed ages, and 68.2% were not known and not available.
NUMBER OF OFFENDERS:
In single-offender rapes/sexual assaults 94.2% of the offenders are male.
In multiple-offender rape/sexual assaults 100% of the offenders are male.
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 91.3 % were conducted by 1 offender, 2.2 % were conducted by 2 offenders, 0.0 % were conducted by 3 offenders, 1.2% were conducted by 4 or more offenders, and 5.4% were by an unknown number of offenders.
Of 104,670 rape/sexual assaults involving strangers: 81.9% were conducted by 1 offender, 2.5 % were conducted by 2 offenders, 0.0 % were conducted by 3 offenders, 2.8% were conducted by 4 or more offenders, and 12.8% were by an unknown number of offenders.
Of 143,610 rape/sexual assaults involving non-strangers: 98.1% were conducted by 1 offender, 1.9 % were conducted by 2 offenders, 0.0 % were conducted by 3 offenders, 0.0% were conducted by 4 or more offenders, and 0.0% were by an unknown number of offenders.
TIME OF ATTACK
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 35.0% occurred between 6 AM – 6 PM, 63.7% occurred at night (with 40.6% occurring between 6 PM – 12 AM, 21.9% between 12 – 6 AM, and 1.2% of unknown time) and 1.4% not known as to the time of attack.
LOCATION OF VICTIMIZATIONS:
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 41.1% occurred at or in the respondent’s home, 4.5% occurred near the home, 3.3% occurred on the street near home, 15.3% occurred at, in, or near a friend’s, relative’s, or neighbor’s home, 6.5% occurred inside a restaurant, bar, or nightclub, 7.8% occurred in other commercial building, 2.2% occurred in a parking lot or garage, 6.3% occurred inside school building or on school property, 1.7% occurred in an apartment yard, park, field, or playground, 10.0% occurred on street other than near own home, 0.0% occurred on public transportation or inside the station, 1.4% occurred at ‘other’.
Of 104,670 rape/sexual assaults involving strangers; 24.5% occurred at or in the respondent’s home, 2.7% occurred near the home, 4.5% occurred on the street near home, 17.8% occurred at, in, or near a friend’s, relative’s, or neighbor’s home, 15.3% occurred inside a restaurant, bar, or nightclub, 11.2% occurred in other commercial building, 0.0% occurred in a parking lot or garage, 2.5% occurred inside school building or on school property, 4.1% occurred in an apartment yard, park, field, or playground, 17.3% occurred on street other than near own home, 0.0% occurred on public transportation or inside the station, 0.0% occurred at ‘other’.
Of 143,610 rape/sexual assaults involving non-strangers; 53.2% occurred at or in the respondent’s home, 5.8% occurred near the home, 2.4% occurred on the street near home, 13.4% occurred at, in, or near a friend’s, relative’s, or neighbor’s home, 0.0% occurred inside a restaurant, bar, or nightclub, 5.3% occurred in other commercial building, 3.9% occurred in a parking lot or garage, 9.0% occurred inside school building or on school property, 0.0% occurred in an apartment yard, park, field, or playground, 4.7% occurred on street other than near own home, 0.0% occurred on public transportation or inside the station, 2.4% occurred at ‘other’.
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults 41.1% occurred inside home or lodging, 10.5% occurred near respondent’s home, 8.5% occurred one mile from home or less, 11.8% occurred 5 miles from home or less, 23.7% occurred 50 miles from home or less, 4.5% occurred more than 50 miles from home.
Of 248,280 rape/sexual assaults: 3.0 % of the victims were working or on duty, 3.4% were on the way to or from work, 1.8% were on the way to or from school, 9.2% were on the way to or from some other place, 6.7% were shopping or running errands, 6.3% were attending school, 26.6% were doing a leisure activity away from home, 12.3% were sleeping, 29.3% were doing other activities at home, 1.4% were doing something ‘other’.
REPORTING TO THE POLICE
Of 248,260 rape/sexual assaults: 41.6% were reported to police and 48.4% were not reported (69,850 rapes, 53.9% were reported and 46.1% were not reported and of the 70,770 attempted rapes 49.3% were reported and 50.7 % were not reported.) Of the 107,660 sexual assaults 28.6% were reported and 71.4% were not reported.
38.8% of female victims reported the rape/sexual assaults to the police. 49.3% of female victims report if the rape/sexual assault involved a stranger and 31.3% reported if the rape/sexual assault involved a non-stranger.
Of 12 - 19 years olds victimized by a rape/sexual assault 44.7% reported it to the police, of 20 - 34 years olds 40.2% reported it, of 35 - 49 year olds 33.7% reported it, of 50 - 64 year olds 65.1% reported it and of 65 + year olds 59.3% reported it to the police.
Of the 94,020 number of reasons for reporting rape/sexual assaults: 9.4% were to stop or prevent this incident, 13.2% needed help due to injury, 27.3% to prevent further crimes by offender against victim, 17.6% to prevent crime by offender against anyone, 15.9% to punish offender, 8.0% to catch or find offender, 0.0% to improve police surveillance, 0.0% duty to notify police, 8.6% because it was a crime. (Note some respondents may have cited more than one reason for reporting victimizations to the police)
Out of 66,840 number of reasons for not reporting rapes/sexual assaults involving strangers: 15.3% reported it to another official, 6.7% said it was a private or personal matter, 0.0% said the offender was unsuccessful, 6.7% said it was not important enough, 17.5% said lack of proof, 8.0% said police would not want to be bothered, 7.2% said the police were inefficient, ineffective, or biased, 4.3% stated fear of reprisal, 6.7% said too inconvenient or time consuming, 27.5% said ‘other reasons’.
Out of 109,010 number of reasons for not reporting rapes/sexual assaults involving non-strangers: 2.5% reported it to another official, 20.7% said it was a private or personal matter, 6.6% said the offender was unsuccessful, 7.9% said it was not important enough, 0.0% said lack of proof, 8.1% said police would not want to be bothered, 2.9% said the police were inefficient, ineffective, or biased, 24.4% stated fear of reprisal, 3.4% said to inconvenient or time consuming, 23.5% said ‘other reasons’.
SELF-PROTECTIVE MEASURES
The first to use force in a rape/sexual attack: 21.7% of the time the respondent was the first to use force, 66.9% of the time the offender was the first to use force, and 11.4% data was not available.
In 248,280 rape/sexual assaults, 91.2% of the incidents no weapon was used by the offender, 5.6 % of the incidents a weapon was used, and 3.2% don’t know if a weapon was used. Of the 5.6% of weapons used: 1.1% used a firearm, 2.5% used a knife, and 2.0% used a blunt weapon.
66.4% of females took self-protective measure in the event of rape/sexual assault.
In the case of rape/sexual assault 72.0% of individuals took self-protective measures if the victimization involved a stranger, 61.7% took self-protective measures if the victimization involved a non-stranger.
Of 164,030 rape/sexual assaults in which self-protective measures were employed: 50% of the respondents indicated it helped the situation, 12.2% said it hurt the situation, 6.8% said it both helped and hurt the situation, 15.9% said it neither helped nor hurt the situation, 3.7 % don’t know if it helped and 11.4% data was not available.
Of 128,010 rape/sexual assaults in which self-protective measures taken by the victim were helpful: 37.7% avoided injury or greater injury, 34.2% scared the offender off, 25.2% escaped, and 2.9% protected property.
Data was not broken out for rapes/sexual assaults as to reasons self-protective measures taken by the victim were harmful. Of 403,120 crimes of violence (including rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated and simple assault) in which self-protective measures taken by the victim were harmful: 65.2% made the offender angrier, more aggressive, 16.6% led to injury or greater injury, 2.6% caused greater property damage, 2.5% caused others to get hurt, 3.7% let the offender get away, 8.3% made the situation worse in other ways, 0.9% not available.
Of the self-protective measures employed by victims in a rape/sexual assault; 0.9% attacked offender with weapon, 6.3% attacked offender without weapon, 0.9% threatened offender with weapon, 1.4% threatened offender without weapon, 31.6% resisted or captured offender, 13.9% scared or warned offender, 10.8% persuaded or appeased offender, 15.0% ran away or hid, 9.9% got help or gave alarm, 8.1% screamed from pain or fear, 1.1% took other measures. Note: some respondents may have cited more than one self-protective measure employed.
SEMINAR OFFERING
Seminar offering. We will be offering a module 1 Fight Like a Girl class on Sunday June 20, 2010 from 1:30 – 4:30 at our facility on Speedway and Alvernon. The class size is limited, so please register early. Please contact me to sign up.
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