What group is most prone to raping a woman?

My friend just said that he heard a woman is most likely to get raped by somebody she knows well. It’s not really a subject you think about very often, but it sort of makes sense. What’s the straight dope?

men?

You sexist.

Humans.

Humanist. I have never witnessed a human doing such a thing but I have witnessed several violent dog on leg assaults.

Rapists?

Heh. Now where’s that rimshot smilie…

Seriously, I’m not sure I want to get into this question because it always turns into something of a can of worms. However, I think that the answer will depend heavily on what you classify as “rape”. As we’ve seen in previous threads there is a lot of controversy (and politics) in the study and publishing of rape statistics. One thing that I find disturbing is that a relatively large percentage of women reportedly raped did not self identify as rape victims. I would expect that many of these women would fall into the category of “raped by someone they knew well”.

The search function seems to be down right now, but maybe someone later can find one of these threads for you. They come with lots of citations. Yay! The one that I’m thinking of had a title something like “x% of men have been raped?!” or similar.

Good luck and maybe someone later can be more helpful.

sinjin

Source: RAINN - Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network

Data compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (a branch of the Department of Justice) indicates that your friend is correct; a sexual assault victim is likely to know their assailant.

Well, I was raped as a child by guys I knew, but did not understand I had been sexually abused and raped until I was adult and revisited the memory.

The fact that practically all rapes are committed by men is not sexist. Nor does it mean that practically all men are rapists.

Just out of interest, how did you revisit the memory as an adult?

Well if most rapes are done by friends and acquantances of the person raped. Then it could be conjectured that someone with no friends or acquantances is the least likely person to be a rapist.
Doesn’t the use of probabilities incorrectly lead to some funny answers?

Also, how is it possible to mistake being raped? :confused:

I can understand that a young child might not comprehend the act; what puzzles me is the comment about revisiting the memory; if this was just a case of a conscious attempt to recall, how did it not happen earlier?

If I remember correctly, in at least one case “non-stranger” included a member of the same gang. :dubious:

So, what you really need to do is define “rape” and “someone you know well”.

In Duckster’s cite, you notice that "– 47% of perpetrators were a friend or acquaintance of the victim, 17% were an intimate ". So, it seems like “someone you know well” would be an “intimate” which is a smaller % than “stranger”. That “acquaintance” part bothers me- what exactly is an “acquaintance” for the purposes of this study?

If you defined “rape” as “convicted of a felony rape charge” I think the % would be very much smaller. And then if you excluded child abuse rape (the OP sepcified “a woman”), then even smaller again. In other words, it doesn’t seem like an adult female has much to fear from her close male friends as far as violent rape goes.

“Recovered Memories”?

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/forensic_psychology/9.html

That possibility was present in my mind, albeit at the worst end of my spectrum of expectations, when I read Johanna’s post -this is precisely why I’d like to get her to elaborate upon the comment.

Based on the impression I get from looking in the glass tit, I’m gonna go with high school and/or college athletes.

As Mangetout said, a child may not understant what is being done. My Merriam-Webster dictionary defines rape as “sexual intercourse by a man with a woman without her consent and chiefly by force or deception.” I, personally, extend the “deception” part to include emotional manipulation and blackmail.

A teenager can be manipulated by an adult in a position of power , i.e. “If you don’t have sex with me I won’t help you <fill in the blank>.” It may take some time before the significance of the act impacts the child. Having sex when you really don’t want to can have a very deep emotional impact, especially on someone who is emotionally vulnerable.

Mouse_Maven, rape survivor.

So, would “getting a woman on the rebound” count as “emotional manipulation” or “someone who is emotionally vulnerable”? :confused: 'Cause I’ve done that. And, that has been done to me, too.

I can’t say what Johanna’s experience was but…

In my own case, it was a memory not thought of, it wasn’t that I had forgot, it was just that I didn’t think of it, until I was almost an adult and figured out the context of that experience.

The molesters/rapists do not frame the attack as sex, in my case it was framed as a game - and it was supposed to be fun, except it hurt and it wasn’t fun.

Through out my childhood it was just a time I played a game which was not fun with a 16 year old boy, so I didn’t want to play with him ever again, and I never did - the memory was not “important”, because there are many times when you play games as a child and it wasn’t a fun game, so it is filed away in the part of the brain which less important memories go.

Then after gaining sexual experience I was thinking back to that part of my childhood, and I remembered the “game”, and realized what it was.

I can see how many people file away the meory as unimportant until they realize what happened in a more adult context.