Report Outline
Rising Awareness of Rape in America
Sexual Aggression and Aggressors
Legal Dealings with Sexual Offenses
Special Focus
Rising Awareness of Rape in America
Big Statistical Increase During the Past Decade
Rape, the crime most feared by women, appears to be on the increase and no one is quite sure what to do about it. Apprehending the rapist is difficult, and convicting him even more difficult. The rapist apparently comes in many guises: he may be a deranged sadist, an alienated youth who casually assaults a woman as an adjunct to petty theft, a mild-mannered family man driven periodically to rape and kill, or just an ardent fellow who mistook his petting partner's “no” for “yes.”
Women's liberationists complain that the police do not take rape charges as seriously as they should unless the woman can show bruises, cuts or other unmistakable evidence of physical abuse. The police, on the other hand, are in a dilemma as they try to separate valid complaints from the false. For if rape is the hardest crime to prove, it is also the easiest to fake.
Rape is unique among the crimes of violence. It is the only one in which the criminal factor is not the act itself—but whether the victim was forced to participate. If the act is performed without her consent, it is rape; if it is with her consent—and she is an adult—there is no offense. A man may be the innocent victim of a false rape charge, just as a woman may be the innocent victim of a rapist who claims she was a willing participant in the sexual act. Since witnesses are rarely present, the case becomes a matter of balancing the credibility of the complainant with the credibility of the alleged attacker. |
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May 27, 2022 |
Crime in America |
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Feb. 10, 2017 |
Forensic Science Controversies |
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Feb. 05, 2016 |
Restorative Justice |
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Jan. 30, 2015 |
Central American Gangs |
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Aug. 29, 2014 |
Transnational Crime |
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Aug. 09, 2013 |
Sexual Assault in the Military |
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Oct. 26, 2012 |
Mexico's Future |
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Apr. 20, 2012 |
Criminal Records and Employment |
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Apr. 19, 2011 |
Honor Killings |
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Sep. 2010 |
Crime in Latin America |
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Jul. 16, 2010 |
Gangs in the U.S. |
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Jul. 17, 2009 |
Examining Forensics |
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Apr. 17, 2009 |
Wrongful Convictions  |
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Feb. 08, 2008 |
Fighting Crime |
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Oct. 11, 2002 |
Corporate Crime |
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Apr. 04, 1997 |
Declining Crime Rates |
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Dec. 10, 1982 |
Arson: America's Most Costly Crime |
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May 07, 1982 |
Helping Victims of Crime |
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Mar. 13, 1981 |
Violent Crime's Return to Prominence |
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Jul. 15, 1977 |
Crime Reduction: Reality or Illusion |
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Jan. 19, 1972 |
Crime of Rape |
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Jan. 22, 1969 |
Street Crime in America |
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Jan. 17, 1968 |
Burglary Prevention |
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Sep. 22, 1965 |
Compensation for Victims of Crime |
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Feb. 17, 1965 |
Criminal Justice and Crime Control |
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Oct. 18, 1961 |
Control of City Crime |
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Jun. 20, 1929 |
Crime and the Courts |
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