Why are sexual assaults still so under reported? (attorney, how much, crimes)
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Actually talk to some women and you'll see almost everyone has experienced it.
I went to a college that was 70% female where the surrounding colleges' guys would crash every weekend because there were so many college girls. I was also a resident advisor for 2 years on a floor of 40 girls.
Not. Even. Close. To. Being Fact.
To ADD:
My mother worked in a shelter for battered women as well as a home for pregnant teens, a friend worked for planned parenthood, and an aunt was a social worker. As well as all the other RA frins with floors of girls during college.
Statistic wise it doesn't add up. And anecdotally, from my direct experience, it doesn't add up.
I think women have to endure a mans come on to her from an early age from a boyfriend who pushes her for sex, to a boss or coworker making inappropriate remarks, to guys checking them out at the grocery store, to drunk bozos at the bar that can't understand why a woman would give up the chance to have sex with him, to someone like a Harvey that promises the moon if they would only do.....
Women are bombarded all the time. I say they get used to it and when it goes beyond what I mentioned above they don't know how to respond and instead will wonder what they themselves did to deserve such abuse.
They blame themselves for being victims.
There are even women that attack other women by saying that they somehow deserve the bad treatment due to how they dress or act around men.
I think it is great that so many are coming out to share their stories because it will bring attention to the problem and might make men think before they bother a woman and coerce or even force them into something they both might regret.
Yes, this is such a good post and from a man too! I want to pinch you to see if you're real, but not in a suggestive way. The recent news has made me more aware taht things I've suffered in the past were indeed assault. Thankfully, I've never been forced into intercourse or the like, but I've been groped and jumped on. I've had to kick where it hurts to get away. It's so common we don't even think of what we've been through as assault, but it is! Dammit it is and it needs to stop. Maybe just maybe humans are evolving forward a bit by bringing these things to light instead of hiding them and shaming the victims.
All women experience harassment
Most women are raped - which could be penetration or some sort of forced sex act
Even a significant minority of men are.
It's just the way things are.
I'm pretty sure all men experience harassment of the sort that women experience, as well.
Your responses are the reason that the #metoo campaign exists. What I said, and you quoted, was that the #metoo campaign isn't meant just for women who were raped. It's meant for women who have been raped, assaulted, harassed and otherwise mistreated based solely on their gender. I didn't invent the campaign, I'm just telling you what it's intentions were.
The CDC says 1 in 4/5 women are raped. You can disagree with them all you want, but here are their sources:
I notice on their page, it has the exact 2013 report that I used as a resource. So, did they disregard the report in coming up with their stat? If so, it's an interesting interpretation of 1 in 1000. And even more interesting that they apparently have enough faith in that document to post it as a RESOURCE on the site.
This is why I asked WHERE they got the information. If you are going to use a number you need to know exactly where it comes from.
So, since you didn't check, I did.
The 1 in 5 (18%) statistic came from this document, and the survey was done by phone interview:
Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, Smith SG, Walters ML, Merrick MT, Chen J, Stevens MR. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2011.
Complete interviews were obtained from 16,507 adults (9,086 women and 7,421 men).
And I quote directly from that survey (Lifetime and last 12 months added in by mean to show the difference): (Lifetime) Nearly 1 in 5 women (18.3%) and 1 in 71 men (1.4%) in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives, including completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration or alcohol/drug facilitated completed penetration."
THEN:
(Last 12 months) "One percent, or approximately 1.3 million women, reported being raped by any perpetrator in the 12 months prior to taking the survey."
This number-- 1%-- MATCHES the reported numbers of rapes as shown by the NCVS, a report that is featured as a resource on the CDC page for sexual violence.
Let's take a look at another statistic:
(Lifetime) "Nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner"
THEN:
(Last 12 months) "An estimated 1 in 17 women and 1 in 20 men (5.9% and 5.0%, respectively) experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in the 12 months prior to taking the survey." (
This means rape/sexual assault is decreasing at an exponential rate to drop from a
lifetime of 1 in 5 to last 12-months of 1 in 100, and from lifetime of 3 in 10, to last 12-months of 1 in 17 ...
it means that the 1 in 5 figure is wrong or at best outdated. The yearly incidence does not sustain the 1 in 5 estimate.
Having been through a court case for attempted rape and assault with a deadly weapon, (as the victim), I can assure you that abuse from the defense attorney was simply awful. He used all the stereotypical ideas of the "enticing" clothing I was wearing (it was summertime and I was wearing shorts), and being in the wrong place (I was walking through a college campus in broad daylight), etc. Basically he tried to paint me as some temptress who enticed his client beyond all reason to (a) knife and then (b) strangle me with the intent to rape me. Fortunately the judge didn't buy his BS. Oddly enough, the perp was caught the day after my attack trying to break into his next door neighbor's house where two little girls lived. I guess they must have been budding sirens.
It is incredibly demeaning to sit on a witness stand in front of a crowd of total strangrs and have an attorney make accusations and allusions to your dress, looks, background, etc. in an attempt to get his client off or with a reduced sentence. I never told any of my friends about the incident at the time, and only told my parents two years after the trial was over, and that was due to a slip of the tongue - they were horrified, to say the least. If I had actually been raped, I'm not sure I would ever have told anyone due to shame.
I would say two very big reasons. The first being victim blaming. There is a thread in the philosophy forum that women should take some responsibility. Imagine a night where you had one too many and are raped. How many people would say "well if you didn't drink so much it wouldn't have happened." Women start to question what they could have done differently, when in reality it isn't their fault.
The second is proving it. It's your word against your attacker. Ivanka Trump accused Donald of raping her. No one believes it. Why? Because there isn't solid proof.
Women should take some responsibility for their action for their own good. It isn't victim blaming, it's common sense. Even as a guy I don't take unnecessary risks such as carrying a lot of cash on me or walk around certain neighborhoods at certain time of the night. It's a different world today, there are a lot more sickos out there than it before. A lot of sickos are people that you meet in school or at workplaces that are difficult to spot unless you know their history or background.
This is why there is a school rape culture right now because a lot of females thinks they should not be afraid of being out at night or with someone alone or drinking. Yes, nobody should take advantage of a woman while intoxicated but as a guy there are way too many guys that thinks otherwise. I know many men with all kinds of backgrunds and they exclusively look for girls that are intoxicated near colleges. I even knew guys who shared his rape story about drugging girls. He doesn't think it's a crime because he didn't kill anyone or force himself.
You can prevent this by being careful and have people you trust go out with you, such as having a trust worthy friend of the opposite sex. I don't think going out with a bunch of girlfriends do any good since they will be looking out for themselves.
Having been through a court case for attempted rape and assault with a deadly weapon, (as the victim), I can assure you that abuse from the defense attorney was simply awful. He used all the stereotypical ideas of the "enticing" clothing I was wearing (it was summertime and I was wearing shorts), and being in the wrong place (I was walking through a college campus in broad daylight), etc. Basically he tried to paint me as some temptress who enticed his client beyond all reason to (a) knife and then (b) strangle me with the intent to rape me. Fortunately the judge didn't buy his BS. Oddly enough, the perp was caught the day after my attack trying to break into his next door neighbor's house where two little girls lived. I guess they must have been budding sirens.
It is incredibly demeaning to sit on a witness stand in front of a crowd of total strangrs and have an attorney make accusations and allusions to your dress, looks, background, etc. in an attempt to get his client off or with a reduced sentence. I never told any of my friends about the incident at the time, and only told my parents two years after the trial was over, and that was due to a slip of the tongue - they were horrified, to say the least. If I had actually been raped, I'm not sure I would ever have told anyone due to shame.
All defense attorneys go after the accuser. This is nothing new, and they all use dirty tactics, which is also nothing new, no matter what the case is about.
Not saying it's right, but a defense attorney will use every tactic in the book to ensure a not guilty verdict.
I think at least a portion of the reason so many go unreported (in addition to the multitude of previous responses) is that most women know the person who assaulted them. Some statistics suggest that up to 80% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone known, whether a friend, colleague, family member, or intimate partner. That complicates the process and fall out of reporting tremendously. Plus, I think many people erroneously believe that if you are assaulted by someone you know, you should have known better. It's a belief that truly needs to be challenged head on in order for change to occur.
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The recent news has made me more aware taht things I've suffered in the past were indeed assault. Thankfully, I've never been forced into intercourse or the like, but I've been groped and jumped on. I've had to kick where it hurts to get away. It's so common we don't even think of what we've been through as assault, but it is! Dammit it is and it needs to stop. Maybe just maybe humans are evolving forward a bit by bringing these things to light instead of hiding them and shaming the victims.
