Types of rape

Rape can be categorized in different ways: for example, by reference to the situation in which it occurs, by the identity or characteristics of the victim, and/or by the identity or characteristics of the perpetrator. These categories are referred to as types of rape.

Date rape

Main article: Date rape

Date rape is a non-domestic rape committed by someone who knows the victim.^[1] This constitutes the vast majority of rapes reported. It can occur between two people who know one another usually in social situations, between people who are dating as a couple and have had consensual sex in the past, between two people who are starting to date, between people who are just friends, and between acquaintances. They include rapes of co-workers, schoolmates, friends, and other acquaintances, providing they are dating.^[2] Date rape is considered the most unreported crime on college campuses.^[3] The term date rape is often referred to as ‘acquaintance rape’ or ‘hidden rape’ and has been identified as a growing problem in western society.^[4] College and University campuses are prime locations for date rape to occur due to the high volume of students interested in sexual relationships. A college survey conducted by the United States' National Victim Center reported that one in four college women have been raped or experienced attempted rape.^[5] This report indicates that young women are at considerable risk of becoming a victim of date rape while in college.

Gang rape

Gang rape occurs when a group of people participate in the rape of a single victim. Rape involving at least two or more violators (normally at least three^[6]) is widely reported to occur in many parts of the world. Systematic information on the extent of the problem, however, is scant.

One study showed that offenders and victims in gang rape incidents were younger with a higher possibility of being unemployed. Gang rapes involved more alcohol and other drug use, night attacks and severe sexual assault outcomes and less victim resistance and fewer weapons than individual rapes.^[7] Another study found that group sexual assaults were more violent and had greater resistance from the victim than individual sexual assaults and that victims of group sexual assaults were more likely to seek crisis and police services, to contemplate suicide and seek therapy than those involved in individual assaults. The two groups were about the same in the amount of drinking and other drug use during the assault. ^[8]

Spousal rape

Main article: Spousal rape

Also known as spouse, marital rape, wife rape, husband rape, partner rape or intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA), is rape between a married or de facto couple. Research reveals that victims of marital/partner rape suffer longer lasting trauma than victims of stranger rape.^[9]

Rape of children

Main article: Child sexual abuse

See also: Incest and Child-on-child sexual abuse

Rape of a child is a form of child sexual abuse. When committed by another child (usually older or stronger), it is a form of child-on-child sexual abuse. When committed by a parent or other close relatives such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, it is also incest and can result in serious and long-term psychological trauma.^[10] When a child is raped by an adult who is not a family member but is a caregiver or in a position of authority over the child, such as school teachers, religious authorities, or therapists, to name a few, on whom the child is dependent, the effects can be similar to incestual rape.

Statutory rape

Further information: Statutory rape

National and/or regional governments, citing an interest in protecting "young people" (variously defined but sometimes synonymous with minors), treat any sexual contact with such a person as an offense (not always categorized as "rape"), even if he or she agrees to or initiates the sexual activity.

The offense is often based on a presumption that people under a certain age do not have the capacity to give informed consent. The age at which individuals are considered competent to give consent, called the age of consent, varies in different countries and regions; in the US, the age ranges from 14 in Hawaii to 18 in California. Sexual activity that violates age-of-consent law, but is neither violent nor physically coerced, is sometimes described as "statutory rape," a legally-recognized category in the United States. Most states, however, allow persons younger than the age of consent to engage in sexual activity if the age difference between the partners is small; these are called close in age exemptions or a Romeo and Juliet exemption.

Prison rape

Main article: Prison rape

Rates of prison rape have been reported as affecting between 3% and 12% of prison inmates.^[11] Although prison rapes are more commonly same-sex crimes (since prisons are separated by sex), the attacker usually does not identify as homosexual.^[12]

The attacker is most commonly another inmate, but prison guards may also be involved.^[13]

War rape

Main article: War rape

During war, rape is often used as means of psychological warfare in order to humiliate the enemy and undermine their morale. Rapes in war are often systematic and thorough, and military leaders may actually encourage their soldiers to rape civilians. Likewise, systematic rapes are often employed as a form of ethnic cleansing. For an example, see the Rape of Nanking.

War rape has only been considered a war crime since 1949. Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits wartime rape and enforced prostitution. These prohibitions were reinforced by the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions.^[14] Therefore during the post-war Nuremberg Trials and Tokyo Trials mass war rape was not prosecuted as a war crime.

In 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda established by the United Nations made landmark decisions that rape is a crime of genocide under international law. In one judgement Navanethem Pillay said: "From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as spoils of war. Now it will be considered a war crime. We want to send out a strong message that rape is no longer a trophy of war."^[15]

Rape by deception

Main article: Rape by deception

Rape by deception occurs when the perpetrator gains the victim's consent through fraud.

See also

• Corrective rape
• Motivation for rape
• Rape by gender
• Serial rape

References

1. ^ Humphreys, Terence Patrick (1993). Gender differences in the perception of rape: The role of ambiguity (M.A. thesis) Wilfrid Laurier University
2. ^ Cambridge Police 97 crime report
3. ^ "K-State Perspectives". http://www.kstate.edu/media/webzine/Didyouhearyes/mostunreported.html. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
4. ^ "Perspectives on Acquaintance Rape". http://www.aaets.org/arts/art13.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
5. ^ Office of Justice Programs (1996). National Victimization Survey, U.S. Department of Justice. 
6. ^ Neumann, Stephani. Gang Rape: Examining Peer Support and Alcohol in Fraternities. Sex Crimes and Paraphilia. Hickey, Eric W., 397-407
7. ^ Ullman, S.E. (1999). "A Comparison of Gang and Individual Rape Incidents". Violence and Victims 14 (2): 123–133. PMID 10418766. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/springer/vav/1999/00000014/00000002/art00001. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
8. ^ Gidycz, C.A.; Koss, M.P. (1990). "A Comparison Of Group And Individual Sexual Assault Victims". Psychology of Women Quarterly 14 (3): 325–342. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1990.tb00023.x. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1990.tb00023.x. 
9. ^ Finkelhor and Yllo (1985) and Bergen (1996)
10. ^ Courtois, Christine A. (1988). Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 208. ISBN 0393313565. 
11. ^ Struckman-Johnson, C. & Struckman-Johnson, D. (2006). "A Comparison of Sexual Coercion Experiences Reported by Men and Women in Prison". Journal of Interpersonal Violence 21 (12): 1591–1615. doi:10.1177/0886260506294240. PMID 17065656 
12. ^ No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons - IV. Predators and Victims hrw.org
13. ^ Beck, Allen J. & Harrison, Paige M., July 2006, "Sexual Violence Reported by Correctional Authorities, 2005", Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report
14. ^ Askin, Kelly Dawn (1997). War Crimes Against Women: Prosecution in International War Crimes Tribunals. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 17 ISBN 9041104860..
15. ^ Quoted in citation for honorary doctorate, Rhodes University, April 2005 accessed at [1] 2007-03-23