New Rape Stats Are In: Over a third of victims are male.

[AthenaAwakened]

http://www.slate.com/articles/doubl..._reveals_that_men_are_sexually_assaulted.html

For years, the FBI defined forcible rape, for data collecting purposes, as “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” Eventually localities began to rebel against that limited gender bound definition; in 2010 Chicago reported 86,767 cases of rape but used its own broader definition, so the FBI left out the Chicago stats. Finally, in 2012, the FBI revised its definition and focused on penetration, with no mention of female (or force).

Data hasn’t been calculated under the new FBI definition yet, but Stemple parses several other national surveys in her new paper, “The Sexual Victimization of Men in America: New Data Challenge Old Assumptions,” co-written with Ilan Meyer and published in the April 17 edition of the American Journal of Public Health. One of those surveys is the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, for which the Centers for Disease Control invented a category of sexual violence called “being made to penetrate.” This definition includes victims who were forced to penetrate someone else with their own body parts, either by physical force or coercion, or when the victim was drunk or high or otherwise unable to consent. When those cases were taken into account, the rates of nonconsensual sexual contact basically equalized, with 1.270 million women and 1.267 million men claiming to be victims of sexual violence.





“Made to penetrate” is an awkward phrase that hasn’t gotten any traction. It’s also something we instinctively don’t associate with sexual assault. But is it possible our instincts are all wrong here? We might assume, for example, that if a man has an erection he must want sex, especially because we assume men are sexually insatiable. But imagine if the same were said about women. The mere presence of physiological symptoms associated with arousal does not in fact indicate actual arousal, much less willing participation. And the high degree of depression and dysfunction among male victims of sexual abuse backs this up. At the very least, the phrase remedies an obvious injustice. Under the old FBI definition, what happened to Rafael Yglesias would only have counted as rape if he’d been an 8-year-old girl. Accepting the term “made to penetrate” helps us understand that trauma comes in all forms.


So why are men suddenly showing up as victims? Every comedian has a prison rape joke and prosecutions of sexual crimes against men are still rare. But gender norms are shaking loose in a way that allows men to identify themselves—if the survey is sensitive and specific enough—as vulnerable. A recent analysis of BJS data, for example, turned up that 46 percent of male victims reported a female perpetrator

is the new definition a good thing or a bad thing? Will it encourage more victims, especially men, to come forward?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Ya, but how many of those so-called "rapes" are just fake rape claims made by evil bastards who just hate women so they withdrew their consent in the morning?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So we have 1 million men who are victims of rape and 1 million men who are victims of being falsely accused of rape.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

It is nice to see the double standard looking like its starting to wane, with more male victims being willing to come forward, and with them being taken more seriously. Perhaps they will eventually be as likely to come forward as female victims and not be laughed at and looked down on as much as they are now.

Does forced penetration include blow jobs? Does this definition exclude handjobs from being rape? It excludes stripping somebody and fondling breasts against her will? Was rape really once restricted to women? There was a time when it was legally speaking impossible to rape a boy? Is fingering somebody rape? Does it have to be genitals doing the penetrating?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

I think it is good that it is being looked at. Too often in the past men were considered to be unrapeable.

 

[doubtingt]

The inclusion of "being made to penetrate" is a very good idea because it makes it clear that coerced sex between any combination of genders.

However, this change is not likely responsible for the change in numbers being referred to. Those changes are more due to the elimination that any form of force or coercion is required for rape, and that the mere fact of the victim being "drunk or intoxicated" is sufficient. It is important to keep in mind that the "new" numbers are not people making rape charges. They are people (most of whom have never made a rape charge) getting an anonymous survey and checking a "yes" box in response to a highly ambiguous, poorly worded question that violates the most basic principle of survey construction in producing reliable and valid data.
One of those principles is you should not ask "double barreled" questions of the sort "Have you ever X and Y or Z? " Research shows that such questions always inflate "yes" responses, because many people will interpret it to mean that if any phrase applies, they should answer "yes", ignoring the logical meaning of "and" conjunctions. In this case, the definition is more like an octa-barrel question that allows any one of about 8 different criteria to be solely sufficient for a "yes" response. This makes the results an invalid overestimate, but also to be unreliable and alter the results in different ways for different people. This is because different people interpret the ambiguous question in different ways. It is also because different ones of the different components apply at different rates for different groups.
In this case, given that being drunk while having sex is much more common than forced sex or under threat of force, it is guaranteed to massivley inflate the numbers, and it is guaranteed to inflate the numbers more for men than women. This is because men are much less likely to be physically overtaken by a women thus much less likely to be the victim of sex by force or threat of force (for evidence, see every relevant biological fact; also note the OP quote that the majority of criminal charges for sexual assault against males is by other males). In contrast, men are more likely to drink to excess and use other illicit drugs. Therefore, men are more likely to happen to be "drunk" or "high" while having sex that is otherwise not coerced or against their will. Thus, the addition of this phrase to the definition of rape, inflates rape rates for all and notably more for men whose forcible rape rates by women are much much lower than for women by men.

Note that none of the above precludes the possibility of having intoxicated sex be crime of its own. It just means that when the crime of "rape" is so defined, it inherently increases the rates for all but at wildly different degrees for different groups, making all group comparison utterly invalid and meaningless apples to pebbles comparisons.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Only 54%? So 46% of the formal charges of rape of men are by women?

Can women rape women by this definition of rape? And if so how often does that happen?

 

[doubtingt]

Only 54%? So 46% of the formal charges of rape of men are by women?

Correct. So, even though heterosexual women outnumber homosexual men by about 10 to 1, there is more homosexual than heterosexual rape of men. This suggests that men are more than 10 times as likely to successfully force sex on a man than women.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Only 54%? So 46% of the formal charges of rape of men are by women?

Correct. So, even though heterosexual women outnumber homosexual men by about 10 to 1, there is more homosexual than heterosexual rape of men. This suggests that men are more than 10 times as likely to successfully force sex on a man than women.

Or that men raped by other men are more likely to come forward than men raped by women.

Would either the former or the latter surprise you? Neither would surprise me.

 

[Canard DuJour]

“Made to penetrate” is an awkward phrase that hasn’t gotten any traction.

that's what I thought..

 

[Underseer]

Ya, but how many of those so-called "rapes" are just fake rape claims made by evil bastards who just hate women so they withdrew their consent in the morning?

All of those men were asking to be raped because they were showing too much bicep.

 

[bigfield]

I noticed that prison rape is also getting a mention. Everyone knows about prison rape, but is often left out of conversations about the subject, as well as the statistics.

Ya, but how many of those so-called "rapes" are just fake rape claims made by evil bastards who just hate women so they withdrew their consent in the morning?

All of those men were asking to be raped because they were showing too much bicep.

And: Skinny-leg jeans = slut.

 

[bigfield]

is the new definition a good thing or a bad thing? Will it encourage more victims, especially men, to come forward?

If a man is "made to penetrate" without his consent, then it is rape. To have such an act counted as rape is a good thing because it is a correct categorisation, and makes us all better informed about the facts surrounding rape.

 

[Underseer]

is the new definition a good thing or a bad thing? Will it encourage more victims, especially men, to come forward?

If a man is "made to penetrate" without his consent, then it is rape. To have such an act counted as rape is a good thing because it is a correct categorisation, and makes us all better informed about the facts surrounding rape.

Obviously, they "asked for it" by engaging in lascivious behavior that probably resulted from having one beer too many. Also, they shouldn't leave home without a female relative to protect them.

 

[Bronzeage]

As a man and life long penis operator, I have a problem with applying the word "rape" to something as vague as "Made to penetrate." This expands the scope of statutory rape(sexual contact which is classified as rape by a specific law) to include adults. As far as I know, statutory rape laws also include provisions to protect the feeble or disabled, who are unable to express themselves, or unable to resist. "Made to penetrate" would include temporary disabilities, such as intoxication.

If we allow the definition of rape to include sexual contact where one partner is less than fully happy to be there, we serve no purpose at all, except to create the new crime of fuzzy rape. I see all of this as backlash against the past 50 or so years, when men have been forced to acknowledge that the various degrees of coercion which were once considered just part of the male nature, are now very bad behavior. The term "date rape" was coined for such incidents where the woman is as a disadvantage and the man presses his advantage.

There was a time when the common reaction was, "If she didn't want to have sex, she shouldn't have gone inside his apartment, gotten in his car, smiled at him in the library, etc. Placing herself in a situation where many people do have consensual sex was considered consent. One of the results of sexual freedom for women, is more women having sex outside of stable long term relationships. This is kind of sex most men have or seek, at least over some period of their life. There is no great negative judgment for this. For the woman, more opportunities for sex means more instances where she prefers to decline. It's simple arithmetic.

It's always difficult to convince a person that something they do without any pangs of conscience is wrong and may hurt others. There is very little difference between a passionate embrace and forceful restraint. Some people want the release of inhibitions one finds in alcohol or other drugs. Some people push others to overindulge, and afterwards take advantage. The actions are the same, but in one circumstance all is good, and in the other, it's very bad.

The basest form of justification is "they do it too." If men must learn a new social conduct code which makes them look bad because of previous behavior, some men are going to pull the "they do it too," lever. They are not trying to make women more aware of bad behavior, they are trying to diminish their own.

 

[Underseer]

So what you're saying is that men aren't asking to be raped, they're just having sex and changing their minds later? What a bunch of jerks!

 

[Bronzeage]

So what you're saying is that men aren't asking to be raped, they're just having sex and changing their minds later? What a bunch of jerks!

No, that's not what I am saying. The question posed in the OP is:

Will it encourage more victims, especially men, to come forward?

It will not encourage more victims to come forward. It will be used as justification for bad behavior, because "they do it too."

 

[doubtingt]

Only 54%? So 46% of the formal charges of rape of men are by women?

Correct. So, even though heterosexual women outnumber homosexual men by about 10 to 1, there is more homosexual than heterosexual rape of men. This suggests that men are more than 10 times as likely to successfully force sex on a man than women.

Or that men raped by other men are more likely to come forward than men raped by women.

Would either the former or the latter surprise you? Neither would surprise me.

Yeah, the latter would be surprising because their is no plausible psychological mechanism for it. It is at least as likely that heterosexual men would be more ashamed of admitted coerced homosexual sex than heterosexual sex. In contrast, the mechanism for my explanation (that men are physically stronger than women ) is such an established fact that it would actually be extremely surprising if it did not lead to more males raping males than females raping males. Also, the same trend of extremely disproportionate homosexual to hetero rape of males shows up on anonymous surveys with no need to go public and file charges, suggesting it has little to do with differential willingness to come forward to report the crime.

 

[Sabine Grant]

No, that's not what I am saying. The question posed in the OP is:

Will it encourage more victims, especially men, to come forward?

It will not encourage more victims to come forward. It will be used as justification for bad behavior, because "they do it too."

IMO, those stats will encourage male victims to come out because they will not feel so "alone" any longer. To add that one of the rape trauma effects being the experiencing of feeling shameful, knowing that there are others "out there" is bound to decrease that experiencing. When I look at the trauma effects which prevent reporting the crime to the local authorities, they affect both genders. So far the main difference has been an established network of support and counseling for female victims while the network for male victims has been minimal. We can only hope that the stats will encourage greater attention for the need to establish more support/counseling networks for male victims.

 

[doubtingt]

No, that's not what I am saying. The question posed in the OP is:

Will it encourage more victims, especially men, to come forward?

It will not encourage more victims to come forward. It will be used as justification for bad behavior, because "they do it too."

IMO, those stats will encourage male victims to come out because they will not feel so "alone" any longer. To add that one of the rape trauma effects being the experiencing of feeling shameful, knowing that there are others "out there" is bound to decrease that experiencing. When I look at the trauma effects which prevent reporting the crime to the local authorities, they affect both genders. So far the main difference has been an established network of support and counseling for female victims while the network for male victims has been minimal. We can only hope that the stats will encourage greater attention for the need to establish more support/counseling networks for male victims.

The "made to penetrate" language will increase criminal reporting by men, if they believe they have been coerced into sex by force or threat of force.
However, the changes overall (the massive broadening of the definition) will lead to far less effective counseling and treatment. The changes basically violate rule #1 of healthcare, which is that treatment efficacy depends upon a specific and accurate diagnosis. Starting the processes by pasting the same "rape" label to such a disparate set of events with very different psychological and physical factors related to them will lead to people being treated for issues they don't have and not treated for issues they do have. T