NCJ Number
89197
Date Published
1982
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the concept of sexual violence and the findings of U.S. and West German feminist literature on the subject.
Abstract
Sexual violence is defined as injury to physical integrity or to the right of self-determination. Such violence may take the form of assault; rape; undesired intimacy in the form of letters, telephone calls, suggestive remarks or looks; exhibitionism; forced prostitution; and sexual abuse of children. Feminist ideology has altered the stereotypical view of the rapist and broadened the term rape to include various forms of sexual abuse. Studies of American and German feminists show that more than 40 percent of the subjects interviewed had either been forcibly raped or had submitted to sexual advances after being threatened. The most frequent rapists were husbands or acquaintances of the women; only a small proportion of the rapists were strangers. Women were much more likely to report rapists with low social positions than those of higher social status. A high percentage of the rapists in American samples were black, from the lower classes, and had criminal records. Rapists with low education were more likely to carry weapons, to accost women they did not know, and to commit the rapes outdoors. The rate of assaults and attempts at undesired intimacy was fairly high among both the men and women interviewed. Sexual harassment was commonly practiced by male superiors at work. Statistics are also provided on the frequency of exhibitionism, forced prostitution, and sexual abuse of children. Notes are supplied.