The FBI has been using this definition of rape for its Uniform Crime Report since 1929:
The carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.
That definition excludes victims of forced anal or oral sex, rape with an object, statutory rape and male rape. And that definition hasn’t been changed in 82 years.
Let’s put this in perspective. The last time that federal law enforcement addressed the way we define and track rapes:
- We were still four years away from ending Prohibition.
- Sliced bread had only been on the market for a year.
- A loaf of that sliced bread cost 9 cents, a gallon of milk cost 14 cents, stamps were 2 cents and per-capita U.S. income was $652.
- The silent film era came to an end.
- The first telephone was installed in the Oval Office.
- The first Academy Awards were held.
- Pine-Sol, sunglasses and the game of BINGO had just been invented.
- Penicillin had just been discovered.
What’s more, the definition of rape that the FBI still uses today is older than:
- Betty Boop
- Twinkies
- The Great Depression
- The Empire State Building
- Mickey Mouse
- Gene Hackman, Warren Buffet and Clint Eastwood
Just imagine how much has changed about Warren Buffet since he was an infant. Now just think how little has changed about the way our federal government defines rape.
The slideshow below shows what the world looked like back when the FBI started using the “forcible” rape definition. It’s high time for a change. Tell FBI Director Robert Mueller that rape is rape.
(For info on each photo, click “Show picture list”)
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All photos from Wikimedia Commons.
