Ford, R. (2000, February 18). "Women in terror as rape toll rises." The (London) Times, p. 1.

OVERVIEW

The official figures as to how many women are raped every year in England and Wales stands at 25,300. But the British Home Office reported (2000, February 17) that the number of women raped or sexually assaulted each year is closer to a third of a million (or almost 340,000).

The report also showed a significant rise in "acquaintance rape" and a fall in "stranger rape." A study of 446 rapes showed that

• 43% Were by acquaintances (husband, boyfriend or former boyfriend).
• 45% By other intimates (working associates, people of trust, etc.).
• 12% By total strangers.

Perhaps most striking are these facts:

• Most rapes are not reported.
• Only 9 in every 100 rapes reported resulted in a conviction in 1997; whereas in 1985, 24 of every 100 reported rapes ended in a conviction.
• Yet, between 1985 and 1997, the number of rapes reported rose from 1,842 to 6,281.
• In 5,000 of those rapes, the attacker was known to the victim.

The Home Office paper also deals with domestic violence. Findings from the British Crime Survey show that "men who believe in male dominance and displayed ‘patriarchal attitudes’ were also more likely to believe that wife-beating and forcing a wife to have sex is legitimate." These researchers were also concerned at how young boys were "worryingly tolerant" of such domestic violence and perpetrators.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some police and even judges are dismissive of women’s claims of being raped, and that many men and boys tend to blame the victim of rape for provocation.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What alarms you most in the article above?
2. How important is discussion of this subject—especially with boys and young men?
3. Is rape always a crime?
4. How do the perpetrators of acquaintance rape justify or minimize their action and crime?
5. Why do so many girls and women not report rape?
6. How damaging is rape (can rape be) to a woman throughout her life?
7. To what degree is rape about sex and to what degree about power?
8. Do men and women tend to consider this issue somewhat differently? How so?
9. How should society respond to this crisis?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Rape is a serious crisis in the life of a woman (boy or man). Some would as soon be murdered and consider it just as serious a crime.
2. Those who report rape are often victimized a second time. It is a terrible thing for a person who has been raped—to be slandered and cheapened in a court, and lose the case after all the humiliation.
3. The British Home Office is to be commended for raising this issue in such an honest way.
4. The public should make sure that this issue is not dropped or lost.
5. Youth groups should discuss this matter at some point. Such discussion should bring in many important issues besides rape itself.

Dean Borgman cCYS

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