Rape more Common than Smoking in the US [View all]

[Tsiyu]

http://www.significancemagazine.org/details/webexclusive/1424839/Rape-more-common-than-smoking-in-the-US.html


( emphasis mine )

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of sexual violence. New findings from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), a study launched by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010, report that nearly 1 in 5 women are estimated to have been the victims of rape, defined as unwanted completed or attempted sexual penetration, including victims who did not have the capacity to give consent (owing to intoxication, for example). In almost all cases, the perpetrator was someone the victim knew (91.9%) and more than half of the time was their own partner. Young adulthood was the period of highest risk for first sexual victimization. For 80% of female victims, first rape occurred before age 25; for 42%, before age 18.

Although the lifetime prevalence of stalking was surprisingly less than the prevalence of non-consensual sexual contact, incidence estimates for the past year suggest that this trend could be changing as new communication technologies introduce new opportunities for sexual harassment. In 2010, the study estimates that 1.27 million American woman were raped--equivalent to one woman every 29 seconds--and 5.1 million were stalked--equivalent to one woman every 7 seconds.

These are a few of the key findings from the first annual report of what will be an ongoing, nationally representative survey of sexual violence in the US. The NISVS will be a great resource to public health researchers. Using the data collected by the NISVS, investigators will be able to monitor national and state-specific trends in the prevalence of sexual violence and stalking for the first time, to characterize the type of individuals who are at the highest risk of being a victim or a perpetrator of a sexual crime (whether physical or psychological), and to investigate the health consequences of sexual victimization.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roshanak-taghavi/the-invisible-war-documentary_b_1665183.html

Rape on U.S. Military Bases Left Unchecked, Documentary Reveals

"We've had discussions with extremely high-ranking members of the military who actually thanked us for showing them the film because it offered a perspective they hadn't had before," said Mr. Dick. "Before this film, I don't think people understood the systemic nature of rape in the military and the systemic nature of reprisals against those who report it."

In 2010 alone, the military experienced a staggering 19,000 sex crimes. According to Department of Defense statistics, more than one-fifth of all active-duty female soldiers have been sexually assaulted, leaving women who have been raped in the military with a higher rate of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than that of men in combat.

"For a (sexual) predator," says Brigadier General Loree Sutton, a psychiatrist with the U.S. Army, a relatively closed system like the military is "a prime target-rich environment."

Today, the occurrence of sexual assault in the U.S. military is almost double that of American civilians. These figures are not limited to women. According to the Service Women's Action Network, 46 percent of the roughly 108,000 veterans who experienced Military Sexual Trauma (MST) in 2010 were men. In The Invisible War, Mr. Dick and Ms. Ziering document some of their stories

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http://www.911rape.org/facts-quotes/statistics


Statistics




In a study conducted by the Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers interviewed 8,000 women and 8,000 men. Using a definition of rape that includes forced vaginal, oral, and anal intercourse, the survey found that 1 in 6 women had experienced an attempted rape or a completed rape.


At the time they were raped:

22% were under the age of twelve
54% were under the age of eighteen
83% were under the age of twenty-five

In the same study, 1 in 33 men had experienced a sexual assault.


Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice, 1998



In the Rape in America study, 60% of the women who reported being raped were under 18 years old:

29.3% were less than 11 years old
32.3% were between 11 and 17
22.2% were between 18 and 24
7.1% were between 25 and 29
6.1% were older than 29
3.0% age was not available


Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, National Victim Center, 1992



Youths 12-17 are two to three times more likely to be sexually assaulted than adults.


National Crime Victimization Survey, 2000



Acquaintance rape is much more prevalent than stranger rape. In a study published by the Department of Justice, 82% of the victims were raped by someone they knew (acquaintance/friend, intimate, relative) and 18% were raped by a stranger.


From a report on Violence Against Women based on data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995



In the Rape in America study, 80% of the girls and women who were raped were victimized by someone they knew.


Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, National Victim Center, 1992



In the United States, a rape is reported about once every five minutes.


FBI Uniform Crime Report, 2000



Rape is called "the most underreported violent crime in America." In a large national survey of American women, only 16% of the rapes (approximately one out of every six) had ever been reported to the police.


Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, National Victim Center, 1992



Many surveys have been conducted to determine the prevalence and incidence of rape and sexual assault. The differences in findings across these various surveys are related to how rape and sexual assault are defined, characteristics of the sample selected for the study, screening questions, interviewer training and techniques, and other methodological and procedural issues. However, in virtually every victimization survey conducted, the number of unreported rapes and sexual assaults far exceeds those that are reported to authorities

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http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/rpe/index.html

Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Program

Background of the Program

Sexual violence is a significant public health problem in the United States (U.S.). According to CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives. Additional information on sexual violence is available on-line.

Sexual violence, including rape, is preventable. Recognizing this, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. This landmark legislation established the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The goal of the RPE program is to strengthen sexual violence prevention efforts. It operates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and six U.S. territories

Program Concepts

Primary prevention is the cornerstone of the RPE program. Program activities are guided by a set of prevention principles that include:
•Preventing first-time perpetration and victimization;
•Reducing modifiable risk factors while enhancing protective factors associated with sexual violence perpetration and victimization;
•Using the best available evidence when planning, implementing, and evaluating prevention programs;
•Incorporating behavior and social change theories into prevention programs;
•Using population-based surveillance to inform program decisions and monitor trends; and
•Evaluating prevention efforts and using the results to improve future program plans.

Prevention requires understanding the circumstances and factors that influence violence. CDC uses a four-level, social ecological model to better explain sexual violence and potential strategies for prevention. This model considers the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors, and allows us to address risk and protective factors from multiple domains

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http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_crime/forcible_rape.html

Overview
■In 2009, the number of forcible rapes was estimated at 88,097. By comparison, the estimated volume of rapes for 2009 was 2.6 percent lower than the 2008 estimate, 6.6 percent lower than the 2005 number, and 2.3 percent below the 2000 level. (See Tables 1 and 1A.)
■The rate of forcible rapes in 2009 was estimated at 56.6 per 100,000 female inhabitants, a 3.4 percent decrease when compared with the 2008 estimated rate of 58.6.
■Rapes by force comprised 93.0 percent of reported rape offenses in 2009, and attempts or assaults to commit rape accounted for 7.0 percent of reported rapes. (Based on Table 19.)

Expanded forcible rape data

Expanded offense data are the details of the various offenses that the UCR Program collects beyond the count of how many crimes law enforcement agencies report. These details may include the type of weapon used in a crime, type or value of items stolen, and so forth. In addition, expanded data include trends (for example, 2-year comparisons) and rates per 100,000 inhabitants

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http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/2012/08/20/here-is-some-legitimate-science-on-pregnancy-and-rape/

Here is Some Legitimate Science on Pregnancy and Rape

I don’t like writing about rape. I didn’t like turning my Laser Beam Eyes of Ladybusiness Justice on my Twitter feed today, which was a constant stream of information, reaction to, and anger about Akin and his baseless, stupid comments. Rape reminds me of the ways in which I am powerless, simply by being female. It doesn’t matter how many contact sports I play or muscles I build. It doesn’t matter how big my husband is. Sometimes I look at my life, and see what I’ve built, and how I’ve tried to protect myself. And I wonder what measures other women have taken for the same reasons, measures that ultimately mean little in the face of cultural conditioning to make men happy, of sexual dimorphism in musculature, of a powerful rape culture.

Some legitimate context

Unfortunately, it is rather normal to be a survivor of sexual assault if you are female. One out of six women in the United States have been the victim of rape or attempted rape, and that is using a rather tight definition that does not include many kinds of assault victims can experience. 64,080 women were raped in the US between 2004-2005. Sixty four thousand and eighty. That’s tens of thousands, not just thousands. In one sample of college-aged men, one in sixteen men admitted to raping women they either knew were too intoxicated to give consent, or they used physical force. Among these men who readily admitted to rape but had never been arrested or convicted, they committed an average of six rapes each and proudly described their sexual exploits to the interviewer (Lisak and Miller 2002).

Think of all the illnesses and conditions that make the news regularly. Take gluten intolerance, for example. The incidence for gluten intolerance is somewhere around 1% (more or less, depending on how you define it). Think on how many people you know are gluten intolerant. You know at least one, don’t you?

Now think of the women who have been raped compared to this number – about 17%. There are so many more of us out there who have been affected by sexual assault, unwanted sexual touching, sexual violence, rape and abuse that the number is likely greater than this. And though I display my gluten intolerance every time I ask an annoying, pointed question about a menu item at a restaurant, other ways I and other women identify are not exactly the subject of normal conversation.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500690_162-5590118.html

Exclusive: Rape in America: Justice Denied

Valerie said she realized she was raped. Reporting it the next day - a classic charge of acquaintance rape. Nearly three years later still no arrest in the case.

"I feel like, I almost fee like they're calling me a liar. That they don't believe me," Valerie said.

Rape in this country is surprisingly easy to get away with. The arrest rate last year was just 25 percent - a fraction of the rate for murder - 79 percent, and aggravated assault - 51 percent.

"When we have talked to victims, they very much so doubt that it was worth it for them to go to the police," said Sarah Tofte, US Program Researcher for Human Rights Watch. "They're incredibly disillusioned with the criminal justice system, and that sends a terrible message."

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http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/15/rape-and-violence-u-s-survey-finds-much-higher-rates-than-thought/

Rape and Violence: U.S. Survey Finds Much Higher Rates Than Thought

By Meredith Melnick

Every minute, 24 Americans suffer sexual or intimate-partner violence, according to an eye-opening new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That adds up to 12 million men and women victimized each year in the United States.

The data come from a new public health surveillance tool launched in 2010 called the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), which conducted random telephone surveys with 9,000 women and 7,400 men. The NISVS will be an ongoing, annual project aimed at better understanding the frequency of intimate partner violence. It is the first survey to provide national and state-level data on the problem. The results were sobering:

Rape

Nearly 1 in 5 women — or 1.3 million women — reported rape or attempted rape. For 80% of women, attacks first happened before age 25; and for 42%, before age 18. Most women knew their assailants: 51% were raped by a partner, and 48% were raped by an acquaintance. About 35% of women who had been raped as minors were again raped as adults, the survey found.

There were far fewer male rape victims, but among them, 28% said they were first raped before the age of 11. While 52% of men were raped by an acquaintance, just over 15% were attacked by a stranger. Overall, most men and women who reported being raped were victimized by one person

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http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/01/06/10007698-us-broadens-definition-of-rape-includes-male-victims?lite

US broadens definition of rape; includes male victims

The Obama administration on Friday broadened the definition of the crime of rape to include more forms of sexual assaults such as rape of men and oral or anal sex, the first major revision to the definition in more than 80 years.

The new definition will include any gender of the victim and attacker and also assaults in which a victim cannot give consent because the individual has been incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, is under the age of consent, or is mentally or physically incapable of consent, the Justice Department said.

Physical resistance from the victim is not required to demonstrate lack of consent in the new definition, NBC reported.



"This long-awaited change to the definition of rape is a victory for women and men across the country whose suffering has gone unaccounted for over 80 years," Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement.

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/Survivor-of-US-Military-Ra-by-Ann-Wright-120911-756.html


Survivor of US Military Rape in Japan Allowed to Pursue Perpetrator in US Courts
By Ann Wright

After the September 6 hearing, law firm representative Christopher Hanewicz stated, "We are very satisfied with the Judge's decision, which is an important step in holding Mr. Deans accountable for his actions, bringing some sense of closure to Ms. Fisher's ten year ordeal."

After returning to the United States, Deans committed other crimes. According to Wisconsin court records, Deans was sentenced in 2012 to 45 days in jail in Milwaukee County for child neglect. Police found three of his children left alone in his house in a room locked from the outside. A 2-year-old and two 3-year-old twins were covered in their own feces and urine. Deans reportedly has 11 children.

Deans owns nine houses in Milwaukee and receives a military disability pension.

The next stage of Ms. Fisher's journey for justice will be an October 18, 2012 status hearing in Milwaukee in which decisions on a trial date and other aspects of the case will be made.

Rape of Civilian Women in Japan

Thousands of Japanese women and girls have been sexually assaulted or raped by US military personnel since American forces invaded Japan in 1945. On the island of Okinawa, rape of Okinawan girls has happened so frequently and has precipitated massive citizen protests that that the US military is being forced to reduce its presence on the island.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/14/culture-coverup-rape-ranks-us-military



A culture of coverup: rape in the ranks of the US military

For men, combat experience is the leading cause of PTSD. For women, it's sexual assault. This is the real 'war on women'

In December 2005, for instance, Kori Cioca was serving in the US Coast Guard, and was raped by a commanding officer. In the assault, her jaw was broken. When she sought to move forward with her case, her own commanding officer told her that if she pursued the issue, she would face court martial for lying; her assailant, who admitted to the assault while denying that rape was part of it, was "punished" by being restricted to the base for 30 days and docked some pay.

Cioca now has PTSD, along with nerve damage to her face. She is fighting the Veterans Administration (VA) to receive approval for surgery she urgently needs; she has also become a plaintiff in a class action civil suit against the Department of Defense.

''He didn't rape me because I was pretty or because he wanted to have sex with me; he raped me because he hated me," she asserts.

The numbers around the level of sex assault in the military are staggering. There is so much of this going on in the US military that women soldiers' advocacy groups have created a new term for it: military sexual trauma or MST. Last year, there were 3,158 cases of sexual assault reported within the military. The Service Women's Action Network notes that rape is always under-reported, and that a military context offers additional hurdles to rape victims: the Department of Defense, they point out, estimates that these numbers are misleading because fewer than 14% of survivors report an assault. The DoD estimates that in 2010 alone, over 19,000 sexual assaults occurred in the military.

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You know, ( some ) DU women, I don't have any idea why you are getting all uppity about the "R" word. Cripes. It's not like it's a big problem, or like it's anything men and women should work together to eradicate.

Jeez, you ladies need to let it go! You're making some of the guys feel really, really bad here and that's far more horrific than the prevalence of rape in the US and in our military!

Dayum why do you women and guys keep caring about this issue? You're hurting people's FEELINGS here!!!!!!


STOP the Rape talk!!!!!! Just SHUT UP about it already!!!!!!