Young Writers Society

Cute honey, really cute.

Here's the problem with most sociological studies about men and women--they function of a strictly dichotomous belief that men and women are inherantly different and therefore they MUST develop differently. We don't develop all that differently--but the research out there perpetuates the belief that men and women are nearly a different species.

Most girls I know have a very good reason for saying such silly things as "Men are pigs" or "Guys only want one thing". Those phrases didn't drop out of thin air. I am willing to admit that I am largely afraid of men. I refuse to be alone at night, I try not to cross campus by myself, I have a knife on me at all times, I have been known to cross the street if there is a group of 3 or more men walking towards me. Are my fears unfounded? Of course not. I have been hurt in ways that justify my fears . . . as have most girls. The unfortunate thing is, women have MORE of a reason to be warry of men than men of women.

85% of murders are men
90% of all assault is commited by men
95% of all domestic violence is commited by men
95% of dating violence is perpetrated by men
95% of child abuse cases involve the father
99.8% of all convicted rapists are men
The women who do murder? 9 times out of 10 it's an abusive boyfriend/spouse they've killed. Out of self defense.

The crime in the United States IS a gendered phenomenon.

The #1 reason for emergency room visits for women is abuse, the #1 reason for men is bagel knives. Am I saying ALL men are like this? No, of course not. But the view that many women take of men being "toxic" didn't come out of no where. Girls have a good reason--6 good reasons--to fear men. So guys, I place this challenge to you--what are you going to do to ensure that the women in your life don't become just another statistic? What can you do to make absolutly sure that the girls you care for won't become the 1 of 4 women who will be assulted or raped in her lifetime? What can you do to change the "toxicity" of your gender?

*ahem*

That's a nerve. It's been struck. Sorry to get so serious.

Like I said - it's all to do with the testoserone.

*blinks*

And that's an excuse?

Well, I'm just going to say that if women knew everything about men, and vice versa, the only point in having two genders would be reproduction.

And the reason that most rape is done by men is because they are the ones who actually have more control in rape. They are the ones who "inflict".

Testosterone is not the whole story on this. Men and women's brain act different. Women...create, while men destroy (hypothetically). And I totally agree with Gal, she is basically right on the money. Thats what I think.

It's a myth that men can't be raped, EBM. If a boy is uncomfortable with a sexual situation, requests it to stop, and the girl ignores him and keeps going--it's rape. If someone says no AT ANY TIME during sexual interaction and the request is disregarded--IT'S RAPE.

Most cases of rape of males occurs during child molestation, so its labeled as such. However, even among adults, the statistics aren't nearly as high. Then again, only 37% of all rape victims will report a rape, and that's among women. I'm sure the statistic is much much lower for boys, because of the prevelance of the myth that "men rape, women get raped".

It's a scary world we live in boys--1 out of every 4 women you know, you love, your female friends and family will be raped in her lifetime.

Galatea wrote:It's a myth that men can't be raped, EBM. If a boy is uncomfortable with a sexual situation, requests it to stop, and the girl ignores him and keeps going--it's rape. If someone says no AT ANY TIME during sexual interaction and the request is disregarded--IT'S RAPE.

Most cases of rape of males occurs during child molestation, so its labeled as such. However, even among adults, the statistics aren't nearly as high. Then again, only 37% of all rape victims will report a rape, and that's among women. I'm sure the statistic is much much lower for boys, because of the prevelance of the myth that "men rape, women get raped".

It's a scary world we live in boys--1 out of every 4 women you know, you love, your female friends and family will be raped in her lifetime.

Wow, I had no idea that the numbers were so large.

There was an article in the paper I was reading last night about a female sex offender getting jailed for raping a man... I'd go get the article but it's cold outside and I don't have shoes But yeah, It's true and known to happen. And how did a post about a book get to a debate about genders? Just a random question...

Oh honey, you have no idea. The numbers are insane. There is an epidemic of violence against women in the States.

Taken from http://www.paralumun.com/issuesrapestats.htm

Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 1995, 354,670 women were the victims of a rape or sexual assault. (NationalCrime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)

Over the last two years, more than 787,000 women were the victim of a rape or sexual assault. (National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S.Department of Justice, 1996.)

The FBI estimates that 72 of every 100,000 females in the United States wereraped last year. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Statistics, 1996.)

One of the most startling aspects of sex crimes is how many go unreported. The most common reasons given by women for not reporting these crimes are the belief that it is a private or personal matter and the fear of reprisal from the assailant.

Approximately 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994)

The FBI estimates that only 37% of all rapes are reported to the police. U.S. Justice Department statistics are even lower, with only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported to law enforcement officials.

In 1994-1995, only 251,560 rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials -- less than one in every three. (National Crime Victimization Survey, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)

An overwhelming majority of rape service agencies believe that public education about rape, and expanded counseling and advocacy services for rape victims, would be effective in increasing the willingness of victims to report rapes to the police. (Rape in America, 1992, National Victim Center with Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center.)

According to the U.S. Department of Justice: (All statistics are taken from: Violenceagainst Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)

One of every four rapes take place in a public area or in a parking garage.

31% of female victims reported that the offender was a stranger.

68% of rapes occur between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

At least 45% of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In 29% of rapes, the offender used a weapon.

In 47% of rapes, the victim sustained injuries other than rape injuries.

75% of female rape victims require medical care after the attack.

Family violence and abuse are among the most prevalent forms of interpersonal violence against women and young children -- both boys and girls. The sexual abuse of a child should never be "just a family matter," but many children are afraid to report an incident to the police because the abusers are too often a family friend or relative.

Approximately one-third of all juvenile victims of sexual abuse cases are children younger than 6 years of age. (Violence and the Family, Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996.)

According to the Justice Department, one in two rape victims are under age 18; one in six are under age 12. (Child Rape Victims, 1992. U.S. Department of Justice.)

About 81% of rape victims are white; 18% are black; 1% are of other races. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)

About half of all rape victims are in the lowest third of income distribution; half are in the upper two-thirds. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)

There were 71 forcible rapes per 100,000 females reported to United States law enforcement agencies in 1996. 2

Data from the National Women's Study, a longitudinal telephone survey of a national household probability sample of women at least 18 years of age, show 683,000 women forcibly raped each year and that 84% of rape victims did not report the offense to the police.3

Using Uniform Crime Report data for 1994 and 1995, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that of rape victims who reported the offense to law enforcement, about 40% were under the age of 18, and 15% were younger than 12.4

In a national survey 27.7% of college women reported a sexual experience since the age of fourteen that met the legal definition of rape or attempted rape, and 7.7% of college men reported perpetrating aggressive behavior which met the legal definition of rape.5

The National Crime Victimization Survey indicates that for 1992-1993, 92% of rapes were committed by known assailants.1 About half of all rapes and sexual assaults against women are committed by friends and acquaintances, and 26% are by intimate partners.1

Risk factors for perpetrating sexual violence include: early sexual experience (both forced and voluntary),6 adherence by men to sex role stereotyping,7,8 negative attitudes of men towards women,6,9,,10,11,12, alcohol consumption,8,13 acceptance of rape myths by men.8,9,12,14,15

Non-forceful verbal resistance and lack of resistance are associated with rape completion.1,6

The adult pregnancy rate associated with rape is estimated to be 4.7%. This information, in conjunction with estimates based on the U.S. Census, suggest that there may be 32,101 annual rape-related pregnancies among American women over the age of 18.17

Non-genital physical injuries occur in approximately 40% of completed rape cases.18 As many as 3% of all rape cases have non-genital injuries requiring overnight hospitalization.19

Victims of rape often manifest long-term symptoms of chronic headaches,18,20fatigue20, sleep disturbance20, recurrent nausea,20 decreased appetite,21 eating disorders,22 menstrual pain,18 sexual dysfunction,23 and suicide attempts.21 In a longitudinal study, sexual assault was found to increase the odds of substance abuse by a factor of 2.5.24

Estimates of the occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases resulting from rape range from 3.6% to 30%.18,22 HIV transmission risk rate from rape is estimated at 1 in 500,22,25 although a few probable cases have been documented in Sweden and Great Britain. 26,27

Victims of marital or date rape are 11 times more likely to be clinically depressed, and 6 times more likely to experience social phobia than are non-victims. Psychological problems are still evident in cases as long as 15 years after the assault.28

Fatalities occur in about 0.1% of all rape cases.29,30

A study examining the use of health services over a five year period by female members of a health maintenance program found that the number of visits to physicians by rape victims increased 56% in the year following the crime, compared to a 2% utilization increase by non-victims.31

Disturbed yet? This was taken from http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~ad361896/ann ... spage.html

In the United States, 1.3 women are raped every minute. That results in 78 rapes each hour, 1872 rapes each day, 56160 rapes ech month and 683,280 rapes each year.

1 out of every 3 American women will be sexually assulted in her lifetime.

The United States has the world's highest rape rate of the countries that publish such statistics. It's 4 times higher than Germany, 13 times higher than England, and 20 times higher than Japan.

1 in 7 women will be raped by her husband.

83% of rape cases are ages 24 or under.

1 in 4 college women have either been raped or suffered attempted rape.

1 in 12 males students surveyed had commited acts that met the legal definition of rape. Furthermore, 84% of the men who had commited such acts said what they had done was definitely not rape.

75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in acquintance rape had been drinking or using drugs.

It's the second to last one that I worry about.
___________

Sorry to go out on such a hugh tangent, but boys have to understand that there is a reason girls are afraid. There is a reason girls make fun--it's to lighten the mood. To make the statistics go away. To make men seem less dangerous. Stereotypes are BAD things, and they need to go away. One of the ways to dissipate fear and promote understanding is to encourage education among men and women alike about the many problems that keep the sexes divided.

I don't know, uni. Your guess is as good as mine...

Just quoting Chbitta here (she's sitting beside me, reading this and huffing)

"I'm glad I don't live near those statistics." As am I but the newspaper article was for an australian woman...
I'm just looking through pages, trying to find the statistics for Australia when something caught my eye. Most of these articles are defending women about rape. What about the men that it happens to?
The only statistics I could find were that only 20 percent of rapes in australia are reported.
In Norway the first woman sex offender has been sentenced to nine months in jail.
Mysteriously there are no rape statistics to be found for australia, or maybe I just can't see them

I'm a little concerned as to how they can forumlate a percentage of how many "did not" report the rape and/or violence...

Oh my gosh *falls over* that is scary. I see your point Gal.

Yep...I think everyone does. Scary.

Yes, Brad, that is a little disconcerting.

I was recently watching a program that talked about sex-related crimes in relationship with the amount of sex there is in popular entertainment. They were comparing Japan with America. In Japan, there are lots of pornographic manga and anime, yet in America people seem to be afraid of having that sort of thing out in the open. One of the people they interviewed said, "I think Americans are afraid of fantasy." As though having these fantasies will make people more likely to do it in real life. But the oposite was proven in Japan. When there was an increase in this sort of manga, there was a decrease in sexual assault.

There is an unhealthy standard of repressed sexuality in the States. We were founded by Puritans, after all.