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Is it true that most rapes go unreported? if so why?
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Is this statistic true? If so why? Is it because the victim thinks that it's their word against the attackers, or is it that they may feel embarrassed about being raped which is obviously understandable?
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I don't know if this is an ironic answer or not, but my initial thought was of rape against women, no one considers rape against men.
its awful but its true.
Really?
There was actually a woman on the news just the other day who had been raped, there was some ruckus about how the police handled her case (her husband had been raping her and he was a police officer), she stated that, had an officer just said to her 'have you been raped' she could have nodded, but she couldn't bring herself to actually say 'i was raped'.
That right there shows the disparity between rape against a man or woman, and it's wrong.
That stat is very true.You've answered part of your question already.Shame,fear,guilt,embarrassment,no one will believe me,takes 2 to tango,the horror of reporting what's been done to you to complete strangers,the DNA taking,court cases etc etc etc.
And that's just the wife.:(
In reality most victims are so distressed that they go and bath/ shower immediately. The need to cleanse out ways the need to prosecute. It then makes it impossible for the police to track suspects.
Not ironic at all. Why would it be? I imagine men would be less likely to admit rape to the police then women.
This, or it was in my own experience, plus the added complication of it happening abroad.
Quite often, this is what rape cases boil down too, unless it's stranger rape or rape that involves clear violence. For this reason, I'd rather be a member of the jury on a murder case.
For others, embarassment will play a part in not reporting and having to go through the ordeal of re-living the rape in a police station and then court. For some victims, the experience in court was almost as bad as the rape itself.
Do you not consider it possible for men to be raped?
They can and I think Pumping Iron is probably right that a lot of male victims would find it hard to report.
I'm never comfortable when people say the conviction rates aren't high enough. If a jury doesn't find the evidence compelling enough to convict what would you have them do? Convict on the offchance?
Yeah, its just one of those crimes that mostly boil down to he said, she said - and if there isn't any physical evidence then what can a jury do?
I would still urge any person who has been raped to report it though. Even if there isn't enough evidence for your rape to go to cort, it may help secure a conviction later down the line if they do it again
That is the root of the problem though - women don't report it because they fear the double whammy of not getting a conviction and having someone actively trying to prove them wrong/a liar/that they consented.
More successful than conviction imo is campaigns telling people not to be rapists. That's not the violent 'drag them into the bushes' rape - we know that's not right - but the idea that unless they give clear consent, it is rape. They shouldn't be coerced (which is far too common), doesn't matter if you're their partner, certainly should be very careful if they're drunk/drugged since just because they aren't saying 'no' doesn't mean they're saying 'yes'. There should be a much higher level of shame attached to the perpetrators of these type of rape. People need to be more conscious of the fact that your desire for a shag doesn't mean to can try to coerce/trick/force anyone into doing it and it's okay.
Men not reporting is usually more to do with shame. If it goes to court rape against a male is more likely to lead to a conviction than rape against a female.
Rape happens mostly in relationships - in marriages, between close associates.
90% of rape victims know their rapist.
I think the fear of being painted as promiscuous and a **** is one of the reasons why women don't report rape.
Actually the conviction rates for rape are at an all time high of over 60% [1 ], that's more than most crimes [2]
However, a lot of 'conviction rates' for rapeare made up of using estimated numbers of total rapes and reported rapes, and then comparing these to the numbers of convictions[3]. This is how you end up with lower stats, but it's not how you work out conviction rates (proceedings vs convictions), and if you wanted to work it out like that you'd have to use the same stat when comparing it to other crimes, rather than using their actual conviction rate.
I do have to wonder why sometimes people (or more worryingly charities and the like) perpetuate the myth that the conviction rate for rape is low.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/23/rape-conviction-rate-high
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-justice-statistics--2
[3] just one example
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/02/rape-low-conviction-rate-in-the-uk/
What is also perhaps interesting is that using the same data that shows just how low the ('alternative') conviction rate is from [3], we see that apparently 1 in 5 reported rapes is a false allegation.
It has led us to 'buy into' the notion that rape is something separate from everyday relationships between males and females. It allows the hidden violence which is part of many relationships to go on unchecked - like domestic violence.
The questions should be - why does sexual violence against women happen (and let's be honest - it is largely a crime of men against women) and what can be done to stop it?
It's amazing the amount of men I've met in prison who think they are unjustly in prison for having sex - because their victim was their wife/girlfriend.
And by the way, I'd say this is also the reason rape has such a low reconviction rate - because it is largely a crime which happens in 'normal' relationships.