1 in 4?

Alas a Blog addresses the source of distortion in rape statistics. The upshot? As most women can tell by simple head count of our friends, it's not accurate that one in four women are raped, it's more like one in eight. The original study indicated that one in four college women are the victim of a rape or attempted rape. One in eight is the statistic for actual rape victims. My two cents: On the one hand, it depends on how broadly one defines attempted rape. Having a partner persist in non-forcible attempts to persuade/move the encounter beyond the original "No" is a fairly common thing, and I'd say the statistics should actually be higher. A serious attempt to force unwanted sex is a different matter. It's difficult to quantify the shades of distinction when dealing with date rape. A bright line "no means no" rule is probably the easiest, yet yields high statistical results. On the other hand, myths regarding women "asking for it" by wearing certain kinds of clothing, the stereotype of the tease, and other methods of "writing off" the seriousness of rape persist.



Ampersand gets the approach exactly right: while the statistical error should be addressed and corrected, it shouldn't be used to bolster the perception that rape is rare or confined to certain morally questionable females. Too many people want to write off the Take Back the Night types as angry aggressive man-haters. It's interesting to me that the act of a female standing up for her right not to be violated (a defensive stance) is perceived by some as such an aggressive act (an offensive attack). Doesn't that imply a subtext that there is a right to violate women that's being infringed upon? Just thinking out loud here.