A press release about rape in America from Dennis Mahoney had the following to say:
With the systematic use of rape as a tool of war in places like the Congo, it is easy to forget that hundreds of thousands of women are raped each year here in the United States. One of the reasons this epidemic remains hidden is because well over eighty percent of the attackers are known to their victims, with sixty percent falling into the category of an intimate (boyfriend, husband, etc.). The subject is so uncomfortable to people that no one wants to talk about it. But silence is not the answer.
October is Crime Prevention Month when government agencies, civic groups, schools, businesses, and youth organizations in an effort to create safer, more caring communities reach out to educate the public. There is an abundance of information available from women’s support organizations that could help to educate women. Unfortunately due to a lack of funds that would enable these support groups to disseminate the information on a wide scale, most women who receive it are already victims.
Theresa Murphy and Dennis Mahoney are working to change this with their book, A Different Ending: Lessons In Violence Evasion by presenting this information given generously from numerous women’s support organizations, in an effort to help prevent the violence.
One of the most misunderstood areas of crime is sexual violence. Sexual violence remains the most dramatically under reported crime. It’s estimated that two-thirds of attacks go unreported in large part due to the inaccurate stigma that the victim was some how responsible for the attack.
I agree with everything he says in the press release, except his first statistic that hundreds of thousands of women get raped in the United States each year. From my previous research, I believe the number is around 100,000 per year. Perhaps, his number comes from an estimation of unreported rapes.
For more information about rape prevention from Theresa Murphy and Dennis Mahoney, you can get a free copy of The Seven Steps of Self-Protection at www.LessonsInViolenceEvasion.com.
What do you think?
Monday, November 5th 2007 at 4:19 pm
Thank you so much for helping to heighten the awareness of sexual assault against women. I teach R.A.D. courses to women and have presented seminars to a variety of groups. Unfortunately, the statistics say that only 1 in 10 rapes are reported. And 1 in 4 women will be affected by Rape at some point in their life time.
Who has taught this country’s men that it is okay to act this way? That women are a lesser human and that “they asked for it?”
And when it comes to reporting…who would report this crime when the victim is blamed, has to now pay in some areas for their own rape kits, many perps aren’t prosecuted. And what about our children who are affected by sexual assault?
From the family member of a victim and advocate for women’s safety – again, thank you for your story (also don’t forgot those victims of domestic violence! A whole other group of victims in the US).
Kimberly Elliott
http://www.execdeftech.com
Friday, October 26th 2007 at 11:03 am
It’s sad there are so many violent attacks against women in this country. Getting some self defense training never hurts, as well ask keeping a pepper spray on your key chain to blast any punk who gets near you. It’s wise to travel with another person, and stay in well lit areas to cut down on the risk of being a victim.
Defend Thyself!
Christopher Winkler
http://defendthyself.com