dxp@houxf.UUCP (POND SCUM) (10/30/85)
In response to an earlier quote that one woman in 10 has been or will be raped.
Clyde Bryja states -
->About five years ago (when I was still in high school) I was told
->by a friend that the statistics are close to ONE WOMAN (read a human
->female of any age) IN FOUR having to experience rape in her lifetime.
->I didn't believe it then, but I've heard this same statistic quoted
->from about half a dozen people (whom I consider to be trustworthy
->sources) since then. One of these people is a professional councilor.
->
->I've never seen this printed anywhere, though, but I don't doubt it
->anymore. It's very frightening!
->
1) First to Clydes last sentance , is there a good source for data on
rape ? Is it documented ? Or does someone state something and it's
repeated as gospel ?
2) Clyde uses the expression "having to EXPERIENCE rape in her lifetime"
experience is the word I'm questioning. Is this meant to mean that if
a womans daughter/mother/sister is raped and is therefore involved in
a lot of the aftershock of rape ? If this is the case 1 in 4 would be
extremely believable, with 1 in 10 being the direct victims.
Passing on, we seem to be seeing more awareness of the needs of the victim,
always should be the first priority, but are similar gains being made with
respect to the victims family or is there STILL too much more work to be
done for the victim before addressing improved aid for families ?
Realisticly, can rape be wiped ? I personally doubt it but we should all
strive to reduce the incidence that seems to currently exist and hope that
less and less people grow up fearing other people that way Ellen does.
Dave Peak
@ ihnp4!hotel!dxp
"All the net's a stage and all the men and women merely ham actors !"
- Rev Peak (apologies to Bill S.)clyde@reed.UUCP (Clyde Bryja) (10/31/85)
> In response to an earlier quote that one woman in 10 has been or will be raped. I state - > ->About five years ago (when I was still in high school) I was told > ->by a friend that the statistics are close to ONE WOMAN (read a human > ->female of any age) IN FOUR having to experience rape in her lifetime. > ->I didn't believe it then, but I've heard this same statistic quoted > ->from about half a dozen people (whom I consider to be trustworthy > ->sources) since then. One of these people is a professional councilor. > -> > ->I've never seen this printed anywhere, though, but I don't doubt it > ->anymore. It's very frightening! > 1) First to Clydes last sentance , is there a good source for data on > rape ? Is it documented ? Or does someone state something and it's > repeated as gospel ? I admitted that at the time of my posting that I had nothing documented to back me up. Where I was careless with my words was in typing "I don't doubt it..." What I should have typed was "I don't have cause to doubt it..." (Sorry about that. My original posting was very hastily put together.) After my first posting, I became rather angry with myself for not having ever gone to the trouble to hunt down sources. I now have a few (and I hope to come up with some more fairly shortly). All of the following are given with references in the book "Men on Rape" by Timothy Beneke. A 1980 survey conducted by "Cosmopolitan" received over 106,000 anonymous responses. Of the respondants, 24% wrote that they had been raped at least once. Further, 75% of the women wrote that they had been "bullied into making love." But that is not a random sample. It could be that women who have experienced (an explanation of my continued use of that word will follow in a later posting) rape are more likely to respond to such surveys. The reverse is also possible. Women who have had such an experience might not wish to have to have their memories jarred by such things. With this in mind, I add: Sociologist Diana Russell conducted a "random" sample of 930 women and found that 44% of them had experienced either rape or attempted rape. The word "rape" was defined to the respondants as "sexual intercourse physically forced upon the woman, or coerced by threat of bodily harm, or forced upon the woman when she was helpless." Assuming that the sample was really random, this result says something very powerful about how widespread the problem really is. Finally, I'd like to add this: Nancy Gager and Cathleen Schurr and additionally Carol V. Horos, in their books "The Price of Coercive Sexuality" and "Rape" respectively, estimate that 300,000 and 500,000 are raped annually in the United States (outside of marriage). Considering that the population of women in the U.S. is only about 120 million, over an average lifetime roughly 1/4 of this population would fall victim to the quoted rape rate (a harsh sounding pair of words, I know). > > 2) Clyde uses the expression "having to EXPERIENCE rape in her lifetime" > experience is the word I'm questioning. Is this meant to mean that if > a womans daughter/mother/sister is raped and is therefore involved in > a lot of the aftershock of rape ? If this is the case 1 in 4 would be > extremely believable, with 1 in 10 being the direct victims. > > Passing on, we seem to be seeing more awareness of the needs of the victim, > always should be the first priority, but are similar gains being made with > respect to the victims family or is there STILL too much more work to be > done for the victim before addressing improved aid for families ? > > Realisticly, can rape be wiped ? I personally doubt it but we should all > strive to reduce the incidence that seems to currently exist and hope that > less and less people grow up fearing other people that way Ellen does. > > > Dave Peak > @ ihnp4!hotel!dxp > > "All the net's a stage and all the men and women merely ham actors !" > - Rev Peak (apologies to Bill S.) *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** -- +++++++++++ "For Easter Day is Christmas time, Clyde Bryja And far away is near, Box 21, Reed College And two and two is more than four, Portland, OR 97202 And over there is here."