Types of Crime - Rape

The FBI defines forcible rape as "the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Assaults or attempts to commit rape by force or threat of force are included; however, statutory rape (without force) [inter-course with a consenting minor]…and other sex offenses are excluded." Rape is a crime of violence in which the victim may suffer serious physical injury and long-term psychological pain. In 2002 95,136 forcible rapes were reported to law enforcement agencies, an increase of 4.7 percent from 2001. (See Table 2.1.) Forcible rape totals show a decrease of 10.3 percent since 1993. The rate of forcible rape in 2002 was 33.0 per 100,000 females. This represents a decline of 4.3 percent from 1998, and a 19.8 percent decline from 1993 figures, but a 3.6 percent increase over 2001 figures.

For several reasons, the statistics on rape are difficult to interpret. The crime often goes unreported. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimates that only about one-third of the cases of completed or attempted rape are ever reported to the police. Because their data are collected through interviews, the BJS recognizes an underreporting in its statistics as well. Homosexual rape and "date rape" (sex forced upon a woman by her escort) are not included in BJS data.

Public attitudes and legal definitions of rape are changing to encompass an ever-widening range of sexual events. These actions can include varying degrees of violence, submissiveness, and injury, but all involve women having sex against their will. (By the UCR definition, the victims of forcible rape are always female. The number of reported cases of rapes of males is so small that no statistics are available.) A majority of cases involve acquaintance rape. By the late 1990s most states also recognized marital rape, for which a husband could be charged with raping his wife. David Beatty, public policy director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, commented that acquaintance rape is far more common than stranger rape. Most experts conclude that in 80 to 85 percent of all rape cases, the victim knows the defendant.

From 1979 through 1992 the rape rate increased 23 percent. Most experts attributed at least part of the

TABLE 2.5
Murder circumstances, by relationship,* 2002

Circumstances	Total murder victims	Husband	Wife	Mother	Father	Son	Daughter	Brother	Sister	Other family	Acquaintance	Friend	Boyfriend	Girlfriend	Neighbor	Employee	Employer	Stranger	Unknown
Total	14,054	133	601	113	110	239	210	87	20	271	3,217	352	154	444	110	5	10	1,963	6,015
Felony type total:	2,314	4	17	4	3	8	9	4	1	32	586	50	8	18	16	0	1	595	958
Rape	43	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	11	2	0	0	1	0	0	7	17
Robbery	1,092	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	13	221	10	4	1	11	0	0	396	432
Burglary	96	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	21	1	1	1	1	0	1	39	26
Larceny-theft	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	5
Motor vehicle theft	16	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	6
Arson	59	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	0	1	9	3	0	3	0	0	0	17	21
Prostitution and commercialized vice	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3
Other sex offenses	8	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1
Narcotic drug laws	657	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	245	22	2	2	0	0	0	67	315
Gambling	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Other—not specified	315	4	14	2	0	6	5	1	0	10	68	11	1	9	3	0	0	51	130
Suspected felony type	67	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	57
Other than felony type total:	7,097	109	516	93	88	199	184	69	17	202	2,179	257	134	348	77	4	7	999	1,615
Romantic triangle	130	1	9	0	0	1	0	1	0	9	57	10	2	14	1	0	0	15	10
Child killed by babysitter	38	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	7	23	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Brawl due to influence of alcohol	153	1	6	0	3	0	2	0	0	5	68	10	1	4	0	0	0	41	12
Brawl due to influence of narcotics	84	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	36	3	0	3	1	0	0	8	25
Argument over money or property	203	0	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	7	104	13	0	3	8	0	1	17	40
Other arguments	3,527	81	334	45	47	52	29	51	11	111	1,154	170	105	243	48	4	3	496	543
Gangland killings	73	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	30
Juvenile gang killings	911	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	221	0	0	0	0	0	0	200	489
Institutional killings	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Sniper attack	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	3
Other—not specified	1,955	26	160	43	36	145	151	15	6	59	484	48	26	81	19	0	3	193	460
Unknown	4,576	20	68	15	19	32	17	14	2	37	446	44	12	78	17	1	2	367	3,385
*Relationship is that of victim to offender.
SOURCE: "Table 2.12: Murder Circumstances, by Relationship, 2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

increase in reported rape cases to a more sympathetic attitude by law enforcement authorities and a greater awareness of women's rights. After peaking in 1992, the rate steadily declined until 2002, when the rate began to climb again. (See Table 2.1.)

When and Where

In keeping with a five-year trend, rapes in 2002 occurred most frequently during the summer months of July and August. (See Table 2.10.) The rate of rape in metropolitan statistical areas in 2002 was 66.5 per 100,000 females. The rate of rape was highest in cities outside of metropolitan areas, and lower in rural counties. (See Table 1.2 in Chapter 1.) Regionally, the highest total volume of rapes (37.5 percent of all rapes) occurred in the South (the most populated region in the United States) while 13.5 percent of all forcible rapes in 2002 occurred in the Northeast. (See Table 2.2.)

Arrests

Less than half (44.5 percent) of reported forcible rapes were cleared by arrest in 2002. Of persons arrested for forcible rape, 46.1 percent were under the age of 25 and 63.4 percent were white. Juveniles (under 18) amounted to 16.7 percent of all those arrested for forcible rape in 2002.