Rape

20 The Bulgarian martyresses by Konstantin Makovsky (1877)

Rape is usually defined as having sexual intercourse with a person who does not want to, or cannot consent. Consent is when someone agrees of their own choice without being forced to. In France, it is more widely defined as 'unwanted sexual penetration'. Rape is a form of sexual assault. In most countries, rape is one of the most serious crimes. The International Criminal Court can also condemn it as a "crime against humanity", if done by a group. A person who rapes someone is a rapist. Rapists may use violence, drugs, or threats to get their way. People of any sex can be raped or commit rape. This was not recognized by the United States law until 2011. People often stay quiet about a rape because they feel ashamed about it.

How common it is

According to a study done in the European Union, of 2011, two percent of the women taking part said that they had been victims of sexual violence, in the preceding year. A representative U.S. study found that between 15 and 25 percent of women were raped at least once during their lifetime. According to a study by the United Nations, of 2013, about 25 percent of the men in the Asia Pacific region said that they had raped at least one woman, ten percent said they have forced a women to have sex with them who wasn't their partner.

Issues

Most of the rape are for sex. Rapists often add a drug in drink or in water to get control over the body of victim. It is occasionally seen that woman with exposure of their beauty are raped according to some resources. 98.3% records include the rape of women. Women are raped mostly. Women who believe in other stranger easily fall. Attractive women in India are seen to be raped. After raping a woman, rapists hide the clues and hints.

A case describes that woman are done fainted or unconscious often before someone rapes them. Forced rape may be either gang rape or individual desire to sex. Children under 18 have cases to rape 23 year of girl in deserted place. Women who live alone are typically raped in the cases.

In a case, a woman used to live in a flat. A boy thirsty of sex aged 21 went there and when the girl was alone going into roof — he made her faint by using chloroform. He sexed her for 8 hours. The chloroform was effective for 12 hours. The girl woke up next day and feared to report. After investigation it was all done by her school classmate and along this 2 were involved.

After being raped

People who have been raped, should do a number of things. These things have to be done rather quickly:

• Get a medical check at a doctor or hospital. This needs to be done for several reasons:
  • To examine and treat the damage done.
  • Collect DNA to identify who the perpetrator was. Often there are so-called rape kits that can be used for this.
  • To check against the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases. If done soon enough an infection may be prevented.
  • To prevent a likely unwanted pregnancy. Emergency contraception is often available, but it may have to be prescribed by a doctor.

• Tell the police, or be interviewed by the police. This interview will likely be recorded, or a transcript will be made. Usually, people will be interviewed by a police officer of the same sex. The police will then use the information to find the offender, and to press charges against them.
• In many countries there are organizations who support the victims.

People who cannot consent

A person may be unable to consent (say yes to) to sexual intercourse or other sexual activity. Having sex with a person who cannot consent is rape.

Children

• Children and teenagers under the age of consent are legally unable to consent. If an adult has sex with them, it is known as "child sexual abuse" or "statutory rape." In some places, teenagers who are about the same age can agree to have sex with each other. This is known as the "Romeo and Juliet" clause.

Adults who cannot consent

Some adults are unable to consent to sex.

• People who are sleeping or unconscious cannot consent to sexual intercourse.
• People who are under the influence of certain drugs such as alcohol may be unable to consent to sex. They may be unable to walk, may slur speech, or may be confused.
• People suffering from certain illnesses or disabilities are unable to consent, even though they may legally be adult. The conditions they have affect their thinking. They may not know what sex is, or they may be unable to judge the consequences of having sex. They may seem confused or unsure. Developmental disabilities, mental illness, and brain injuries can make a person unable to consent. A court may find someone unable to consent.

Forms of rape

There are different forms:

• Sometimes, the victims are children or young adults. Very often, the perpetrators act in groups. They charm people, to get their trust. Later they rape the victims. There may be sexual exploitation that lasts for a long time. This means that victims are often traumatized. In 2021, the members of such a gang were found in the city of Hull.
• A group of people rape one or more people. Usually, the perpetrators are younger than in the case that one single person rapes another one. Most of the time, the perpetrators are male, though there were cases were women also took part in the rape. Usually there is a hierarchy in the group of people who rape. Very often, the rape is planned in advance. In the group, people commit a serious crime, which any group members would not have committed if they had been on their own. Moral values within the group are important. Usually, the victims are humiliated and objectified. The victim feels helpless, also because there are many people acting in a group. In the group, this helplessness thrills the perpetrators, who see this as a form of leisure activity. If the perpetrators are more well-known, they will act more ruthlessly. This kind of rape causes severe physical and psychological damage to the victim. The damage will be more severe than in the case of one person raping another. There are few scientific studies, this is because this form of rape is relatively rare.
• In wars, civil wears and ethic cleansing operations, it is relatively common that women and children of the opponents are raped. This kind of rape is a war crime. Examples are forced prostitution in brothels. More than half of all the victims are children.
• Sometimes, rape occurs during military service. This is often not reported.
• Sometimes, rape is used as a method of torture.
• In some cases, women were raped with the consent of the regime. This was the case in Iran, where women sentenced to death were raped before being executed. The Shiite belief is that unmarried women who are killed enter paradise as virgins. Raping them before execution would prevent that, in the view of the people
• Rape that occurs between people who are married.

Marital rape

Marital rape is where the victim of rape is married to the person committing the rape. Non-consensual sex with a married partner is thought to be rape under the laws of some countries but not others. In the United Kingdom, marital rape was determined to be a crime in the case of R v. R (1991). Marital rape being illegal does not mean that the law is enforced. For example, in Ireland marital rape was made illegal in 1990, but by 2006 only one person had been convicted of it.

Effects of rape

A man rapes a woman in a field, drawing by Martin Van Maele

Rape is a medical emergency. People who are raped may be injured or have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). People may not know they are hurt or sick. Doctors can give medicine to treat an STD. HIV, an STD, can be prevented by early treatment. If seen quickly, a doctor can give medication called emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy. Rape is at least twice as likely to cause pregnancy as consensual sex. The reason for this is not known.

At the hospital, police can collect evidence from the victim and their clothing. Evidence may help find the rapist, and can help the police send them to jail. Waiting too long makes it hard to collect evidence. Also, taking a shower before telling the police or going to a hospital can wash off some of the DNA evidence.

Victims of rape often feel scared, sad, and/or guilty. They may think about the rape a lot, even when they do not want to. They may have nightmares about the rape. Many have post-traumatic stress disorder. People who are raped during childhood or adolescence often get borderline personality disorder. Talking to someone, like a counselor, can help. Rape counselors are trained to help rape victims. Sometimes doctors can give medicine to decrease fear and sadness. Calling a rape crisis center or hotline can help a victim find help.

Rapists

Rape is a form of sexual violence. The gender breakdown of rapists isn't known and estimates vary widely. Rapists are usually people who know the victim. In about 15 percent of the cases, the victim did not know the rapist. In many cases, the rapists were former partners of the victim. When the victim calls for help, or tries to oppose the attacker, these actions were successful more often, if the attacker was unknown.

Victims

In Zambia, 43% of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced some form of sexual violence.

Victims of rape or sexual assault come from a wide range of sexes, ages, sexual orientations, races, religions, ethnicities, geographical locations, cultures, and degrees of impairment or disability. When classifying rapes, there are a number of categories. These categories include things like if the victim knew the attacker, what kind of relationship they had. Kinds of rape include date rape, gang rape, marital rape, incestual rape, child sexual abuse, prison rape, acquaintance rape, war rape and statutory rape. Forced sexual activity can be committed over a long period of time with little to no physical injury.

Motives

The WHO states that the main factors that lead to sexual violence against women, including rape, are:

• beliefs in family honor and sexual purity;
• attitudes of male sexual entitlement;
• weak legal sanctions for sexual violence.

There is no single factor that can explain why people rape other people. The motives are usually multi-faceted. A few of the factors that have been proposed are:

• anger
• power (they do it because they can)
• sadism
• sexual gratification (it makes them feel good)

Rape may also have a benefit in evolution.

In many male groups, sexual aggression is a means of identifying, and of getting a higher status in the group. Men who resort to sexual aggression may get a higher esteem among male peers. Among young men, sexually aggressive behavior has been correlated with being part of a gang or a group, as well as having other delinquent peers.

Many male rapists think gang rape may be justified, to discourage women from behaviour the men consider immoral. Such behaviour may be that women wear short skirts, or that they visit a bar. Gang rape may also be used to punish women, if they engaged in such behaviour. In some areas in Papua New Guinea, women can be punished by public gang rape, usually through permission by elders.

Gang rape and mass rape are often seen as a means of male bonding. This can be seen among male soldiers. About three quarters of rapes in wartime are gang rapes. During peacetime, gang rape counts for less than a quarter of the cases. Commanders sometimes tell recruits to rape. Raping can be taboo and illegal. This means it will build loyalty among the people involved. Rebel groups who have forced recruitment as opposed to volunteer recruits are more involved in rape, as it is believed the recruits start with less loyalty to the group. In Papua New Guinea, urban gangs such as Raskol gangs often require new members to rape women as part of their initiation.

Perpetrators of sex trafficking and cybersex trafficking allow or carry out rape for financial gain and/or sexual gratification. Rape pornography, including child pornography, is created for profit and other reasons. There have been instances of child sexual abuse and child rape videos on Pornhub.

Rape culture

Some people believe in 'rape culture'. For example, they say that the United States has a rape culture. Rape culture is a culture that lets rape happen. It even encourages it. In the US 97% of rapists are never put in prison for their crimes. Some people are worried about women lying about being raped and men getting unfairly punished. This happens much less often than people think. In a study of college athletes, they thought that women lie about being raped 50% of the time. A 2005 study by the British Home Office found that 2.5% of rape reports were false.

Part of rape culture is victim blaming. This is when people say that someone who has been raped is the person to blame for their rape. An example of this is people saying that a rape victim was 'asking for it' because they were wearing a short skirt. It can also be more subtle. Victim blaming has been linked to the just world fallacy. This is when people think that the world is fair, so bad things only happen to people who have done something wrong. Victim-blaming is also related to 'slut-shaming'. The idea of rape culture has been criticized. Christina Hoff Sommers argues that rape is just one type of violent crime and America's culture of violence in general is what should be fought.

Rape in wartime

Ottoman soldiers raping women in the Balkans, Gottfried Sieben, Balkangreuel

Main article: Wartime sexual violence

Rape is frequently used as a form of psychological warfare and torture during wartime, and is considered a crime against humanity.

Statistics

Main article: Rape statistics

Statistics show that worldwide, most victims of rape are female and most perpetrators are male. Rapes against women and girls are rarely reported to the police and the number of female rape victims is significantly underestimated. Southern Africa, Oceania and North America report the highest numbers of rape.

Most rape is committed by someone the victim knows. By contrast, rape committed by strangers is relatively uncommon. Statistics reported by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) indicate that 7 out of 10 cases of sexual assault involved a perpetrator known to the victim.

Demonstration against sexual violence in South Africa following the murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, 2019

The humanitarian news organization IRIN claims that an estimated "500,000 rapes are committed annually in South Africa once called 'the world's rape capital.' The country has some of the highest incidences of child sexual abuse in the world with more than 67,000 cases of rape and sexual assaults against children reported in 2000. Welfare groups believe that unreported incidents could be up to 10 times higher. Current data suggest that the incidence of rape has risen significantly in India.

Most rape research and reports of rape are limited to male–female forms of rape. Research on male-on-male and female-on-male rape is rare. Fewer than one in ten male–male rapes are reported. As a group, males who have been raped by either gender often get little services and support, and legal systems are often ill-equipped to deal with this type of crime. Instances in which the perpetrator is female may not be clear and can lead to dismissing women as sexual aggressors, which can obscure the dimensions of the problem. Research also suggests that men with peers who display sexually aggressive behaviour are more likely to adopt the same behaviour.

Risk factors vary among different ethnicities in the United States. About one third of African American adolescent females report encountering some form of sexual assault including rape. One in three Native American women will experience sexual assault, more than twice the national average for American women.

Other websites

• International Rape Crisis Hotlines The is a list of International Rape Crisis Hotlines from Rape Crisis Information
• University of California, Santa Barbara's SexInfo Archived 2008-10-05 at the Wayback Machine This article discusses different types of rape including date rape, gang rape, marital rape, prison rape, acquaintance rape, and wartime rape.
• Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network RAINN is the largest anti-sexual assault organization.
• 1 in 6: Support for Men and Those who Care About Them Website for men who have been raped or sexually abused