Rape and Justice

Rape:
Scope of the Problem

  • An estimated 683,000 adult women are raped each year.

  • More than half of all rapes occur before age 18; 22% occur before the age of 12, and 32% occur between the ages of 12-17.

  • Up to 85% of rapes go unreported. Between 1992-2000, 36% of rapes, 34% of attempted rapes, and 26% of sexual assaults were reported to police.

  • Approximately half of female victims are raped by someone they know; on college campuses, as many as 95% of rapes are committed by someone the woman knows. 

  • Of the cases of forcible rape reported in 1993, only 53% led to the arrest of the alleged perpetrator.

  • 59% of rape victims who reported to the police received medical treatment for their injuries, compared to 17% of rape victims who did not make police reports.

    Sources:
    Rape in America: A report to the Nation. National Victim Center, 1992.

    Violence Against Women report: estimates from the redesigned survey. Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 1995.

    Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998.

    Injury Factbook 2001-2002. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002.

    Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention, 1992-2000. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Justice:
What We Know

  • Evidence, including fingerprints and rape kits from crimes dating back many years, sits in police stations across the country.
  • Using the tools available today, including fingerprint databases and DNA analysis, many of these cases could be solved.
  • These cases have not been re-opened due to a lack community awareness and a lack of critical resources, including money, community activism and empowered victims.
  • Rape continues to be a topic that is discussed in whispers, if at all. Rape victims feel stigmatized and lack community support because they can not talk about what has happened to them.

Laura Neuman Foundation
P.O. Box 5841
Annapolis, MD 21403
info@lauraneuman.org