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Q: Statistics: Rape cases & how the clothes of the victim is blamed? ( Answered,   0 Comments )
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Subject: Statistics: Rape cases & how the clothes of the victim is blamed?
Category: Relationships and Society > Law
Asked by: tinkywinkey-ga
List Price: $50.00
Posted: 25 Oct 2006 18:03 PDT
Expires: 24 Nov 2006 17:03 PST
Question ID: 776945
Hi,

I was interested to know if there are statistics out there for rape
cases and how the victim and how they were dressed was used against
them?

-Mao
Answer  
Subject: Re: Statistics: Rape cases & how the clothes of the victim is blamed?
Answered By: bobbie7-ga on 25 Oct 2006 21:46 PDT
 
Hello Mao,

Below you will find statistics, information and studies regarding the
relation of rape and the blame on clothing.



Utah State University Sexual Assault and Anti Violence Information

Myth: Rape victims provoke the attach by wearing provocative clothing

-  A Federal Commission on Crime of Violence Study found that only
4.4% of all reported rapes involved provocative behavior on the part
of the victim. In murder cases 22% involved such behavior (as simple
as a glance).

-  Most convicted rapists do not remember what their victims were wearing.

- Victims range in age from days old to those in their nineties,
hardly provocative dressers.

Utah State University 
http://www.usu.edu/saavi/pdf/myths_facts.pdf


===========================================


?Like domestic violence, rape is a crime of power and control. Myths
that rape only happens to young, beautiful women wearing provocative
clothing perpetuate the idea that rape is a crime of passion, when in
fact all women are vulnerable to rape, regardless of age, race, class,
education or physical appearance. Research also shows that 60-75% of
rapes are premeditated and motivated by aggression and hatred, not
sex.?

Arizona?s State Plan on Domestic and Sexual Violence
http://www.governor.state.az.us/cyf/womens/state%20book/Unit%203%20-%20Defining%20the%20Problem.pdf


===========================================

Amnesty International in a national survey 

34% believe women who flirt can be blamed if they are raped and 26%
say if a woman is in sexy clothing she is partly to blame

?WOMEN who flirt, get drunk or wear sexy clothes are asking to be
raped, according to a shocking new survey.?

?More than a third of people - mainly males - believe girls trying to
chat up men are partially or totally responsible for being attacked.?

?A quarter reckon a woman wearing a provocative outfit is at least
partly to blame - especially if she has been drinking.?

?One in 12 thinks she is a natural target if she has had a number of
sexual partners.?

?And a third believe she is responsible to some degree if she has
clearly failed to say No?

?The disturbing attitudes towards rape and rape victims were uncovered
by Amnesty International in a national survey to promote its Stop
Violence Against Women campaign.?

(?)

Spokeswoman Kate Allen said: "The poll shows a shocking proportion of
the public blame women for being raped. The Government must launch a
new drive to counteract this sexist culture."

?Ms Allen added: "The poll highlights public ignorance of the problem
as well as the dreadfully low conviction rates.?

?Joanna Perry, policy manager at Victim Support, said: "It is alarming
to read that so many people seem to believe that a woman is
responsible for inviting a rape or sexual assault because of what she
was wearing, what she drank or how she behaved.?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16393921&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=asking-for-it-name_page.html


===========================================


Myths and Facts about Sexual Assault

?You may have heard mistaken ideas about the crimes of rape and sexual
assault. Here are some of the myths followed by the real facts as
reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Myth: Victims provoke sexual assaults when they dress provocatively or
act in a promiscuous manner.

Fact: Rape and sexual assault are crimes of violence and control that
stem from a person's determination to exercise power over another.
Neither provocative dress nor promiscuous behavior are invitations for
unwanted sexual activity. Forcing someone to engage in non-consensual
sexual activity is sexual assault, regardless of the way that person
dresses or acts.?

Sonoma State University: Women's Resource Center
http://www.sonoma.edu/campuslife/sv/myth.htm


===========================================


?Most sexual assault victims are wearing regular clothes like blue
jeans or pajamas when they are assaulted, not provocative clothing.?

Prevention Pathways
http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/vawp/vawp_supps_pg11.htm


===========================================


Dress of Victim as an Attributed Cause of Date Rape

?Research provides evidence that how a woman dresses may be
interpreted as a cue to her character, vulnerability, willingness to
have sex, and provocation of a male's behavior and, consequently,
affects the likelihood of sexual assault, including date rape. For
example, 449 university students were surveyed about sex, dating, and
date rape; 57% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "You can
pretty well tell a girl's character by how she dresses," implying
dress is related to likelihood of occurrence of date rape (Dull &
Giacopassi, 1987).?

?Information applicable to exploration of victim's dress as an
attributed cause of date rape is provided by two studies that
investigated stranger rape. Kanekar and Kolsawalla (1980) found that
greater fault was attributed to a victim dressed provocatively than to
a victim dressed unprovocatively. Feild (1978) found that convicted
rapists endorsed the view that victims precipitate (i.e., cause) rape
through their appearance or behavior.?

An Examination of Date Rape, Victim Dress, and Perceiver Variables
Within the Context of Attribution Theory
Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  August, 1999  by Jane E. Workman, 
Elizabeth W. Freeburg
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_3_41/ai_57786728


===========================================


The effect of participant sex, victim dress, and traditional attitudes
on causal judgments for marital rape victims

Abstract

"This study investigated the effects of participant sex, victim dress,
and attitudes influencing the tendency to blame a marital rape victim.
College undergraduates completed the Attitudes toward Marriage Scale,
an intervening cognitive task, and a read fictitious scenario of a
marital rape incident where the victim was dressed somberly or
seductively. Participants then completed a brief questionnaire. As
predicted, males rated the victim more deserving of the attack than
females. As predicted, the suggestively dressed victim was rated more
responsible and deserving than the somberly dressed victim. As
predicted, participants holding more traditional attitudes toward
marriage were more likely to assign more victim responsibility and
deservingness than participants with more egalitarian attitudes. These
findings are discussed within an attitudinal framework."
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16885786


===========================================


MYTH: Provocative dress can cause a rape.

FACT: Victims are chosen because of their vulnerability, not because
they are sexually provocative.

Wichita State University
http://webs.wichita.edu/?u=police&p=/sexual_assault/


===========================================


The Re-victimization of the Victim:  Record Access in Sexual Assault Trials

Abstract: 

?In this research report, the author provides a literature review of
various perspectives on rape and sexual assault in contemporary
society. By employing data obtained from interviewing four
Saskatchewan service providers whose client records were subpoenaed to
court, the author examines the relatively recent trend toward record
access in sexual assault cases.?

?Notions such as women ask to be raped because they wear provocative
clothing or go on a date with a man not only serve to justify male
violence against women but also limit women?s personal freedoms and
rights to self-expression. As Johnson writes, for women "to break
certain rules is to invite or deserve rape "

Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan
http://www.sasktelwebsite.net/sass/revictimization_paper.html


===========================================


Clergy?s Attitudes and Attributions of Blame Toward Female Rape Victims

?TheWoman?s Provocative Behavior was an important category
that emerged in the qualitative analyses for the acquaintance and
date rape scenarios. This finding is consistent with the numerous
studies (e.g., Best & Demmin, 1982; Kanekar & Kolsawalla, 1980;
Kanekar, Kolsawalla, & D?Souza, 1981) demonstrating that
degree of rape victim blame relates to a woman?s clothing and
whether her behavior is seen as sexually provocative.?

Download the complete study here:
http://vaw.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/8/2/233.pdf

===========================================


Effects of Clothing and Behavior on Perceptions Concerning an Alleged Date Rape
Johnson and Lee Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal.

Read abstract here:
http://fcs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/332


===========================================


Search terms:
Rape sexual assault provocative dress OR clothing statistics OR studies percent


I hope the information provided is helpful!

Best regards,
Bobbie7

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 25 Oct 2006 21:56 PDT
The Social Problem: Blaming Rape Survivors

"Rape survivors are faulted by our society for being victimized by
rapists. They are blamed by rapists and by all components of the
judicial system, including police officers, prosecutors, state's
attorneys, juries, and judges. They are blamed by friends, family
members, and, worst of all, by themselves. There is no survivor of
rape who is not blamed by some other person or by themselves. Some are
pitied, but all are blamed."

"Blaming rape survivors has become such a problem that in 1993 it was
officially recognized by the establishment of the Violence Against
Women Act. In Section 143 of this act a task force was established
which included "representatives of state and local law enforcement,
judicial administration, prosecution, legal experts, survivors of
violence, and people devoted to the protection of victims' rights" to
investigate the problem."



?Also included in the act are sections stating the inadmissibility of
the victim's past sexual history, any evidence claiming that the
aleged victim's clothing "incited or invited the offense charged," or
that the alleged victim "invited or provoked the commission of the
offence." These provisions in the law show social recognition that
this is considered a social problem.?


http://www.siue.edu/~jfarley/melanie.htm

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 25 Oct 2006 22:03 PDT
Another informative article:

Is Clothing Probative of Attitude or Intent?
Implications for Rape and Sexual Harassment Cases
http://char.txa.cornell.edu/lennon.htm
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