NCJ Number
144470
Date Published
Unknown
Length
169 pages
Annotation
During a 2-week period in 1992, a representative sample of 980 adult women living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, completed a questionnaire about how rape and the possibility of rape occurring have affected them.
Abstract
Responses to the 330 items grouped the respondents into three categories: those who had never been raped, those who had been raped but never reported the crime, and those had been raped and had reported the incident to police. The findings showed that one-third of the respondents had been raped, and half of those had been raped more than once; in addition, one in three women reported having been sexually abused as a child. Most victims had been adolescents and young adults, and had known their rapists. Three-quarters of the rapists had used physical force and about 90 percent of the women had resisted their attacker. Less than 20 percent reported the crime; those least likely to go to the police were educated, affluent, and employed women who knew their assailants. A similar percentage underwent a medical examination to collect forensic evidence and test for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Most victims experienced significant mental and emotional problems related to their rape. The results showed that, while half of the respondents who had never been raped were fearful of the possibility, they had unrealistic expectations of how they would react and were unprepared to protect themselves. The respondents favored harsher sanctions for rapists and enhanced rape awareness education. 82 figures