25 Facts About Rape in America

  1. The FBI’s definition of “forcible rape” in their Uniform Crime Report (UCR): “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” [PDF]
  2. What that definition leaves out: anal, oral and statutory rape; incest; rape with an object, finger or fist; rape of men
  3. Number of men raped in any year, according to the UCR: 0 [PDF]
  4. Estimated number of men actually raped each year, according to the Dept. of Justice: 93,000 [PDF]
  5. Number of women raped in 2007 under the UCR definition: 91,874
  6. Number of sexual assaults in 2007–which includes rapes the FBI leaves out–according to the National Crime Victimization Survey: 248,300
  7. Dept. of Justice estimate of how many women are actually raped each year: 300,000 [PDF]
  8. Number of arrests for rape in 2007 (UCR): 23,307
  9. Percentage of rapes that result in incarceration: 0.35 percent [PDF]
  10. Number of murders/manslaughters in 2007 (UCR): 17,157
  11. Number of arrests for murder/manslaughter in 2007 (UCR): 13,480
  12. Percentage of murders that result in incarceration: 20 percent or more [PDF]
  13. Average number of rapes to every murder committed annually: 5 to 1
  14. Two of the top five cities in the U.S. with the most “unfounded” (i.e., false or baseless reports, according to police) rapes: New Orleans and Baltimore
  15. Percentage of rape reports deemed “unfounded” by New Orleans police in 2008: 60 percent
  16. Percentage of rape reports deemed “unfounded” by Baltimore police in 2009: 32 percent
  17. Percentage of actual estimated false rape reports in any given year according to research studies: 2-8 percent
  18. Percentage of rape reports deemed “unfounded” by the FBI in 2006: 5 percent
  19. How Baltimore police once explained their “unfounded” rape rate: “One of the things we know is that victims do lie.”
  20. Percentage of rape reports deemed “unfounded” (i.e. falsely reported) by Philadelphia police in 1983: 52 percent
  21. The year Philadelphia was forced to clean up its rape reporting practices: 1999
  22. Percentage of rape reports deemed unfounded in Philadelphia in 2007: 10 percent
  23. What a Philadelphia police officer once called his city’s sex crimes unit: “The lying bitches unit.”
  24. “Reasons” women lie about rape, according to Philadelphia’s police department in 1984: revenge; free abortion; covering up truancy, pregnancy, infidelity, lost money, sexual precocity.
  25. Number of people who have signed a letter urging the FBI to change its definition of rape: 2,019 (and counting)

For more on rape in America, pick up the new issue of Ms. on newsstands now, or subscribe today to get Ms. delivered straight to your mailbox. Then head over to our No More Excuses! campaign headquarters to sign a letter urging FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder to change the definition of rape.


About

Stephanie hails from Toronto, Canada. She is a Ms. writer, a master of journalism candidate and a hip hop dancer/instructor/choreographer. She got her start in feminist journalism at the age of 16 when she was a member of the first editorial collective at Shameless magazine—and she has never looked back.