In this era of #MeToo and rampant sexual assault allegations, many media outlets, politicians, and scholars are misleading people about the prevalence of rape. They accomplish this by publicizing unscientific studies, mischaracterizing reliable ones, and making statements that have no basis in reality.

Statistics

Although precise figures on rape don’t exist, credible data gathered from females in the U.S. indicates that:

• about 11.5 percent of women say they have been the victim of acts that fit the legal definition of forcible rape.
• each year, about 0.2 percent of women enrolled in college explicitly state that they have been raped, but this figure grows to 1.0 percent if they are prompted with graphic descriptions of acts that fit the legal definition of rape.
• each year, roughly 2.1 percent of college women say they have been the victim of acts that fit the legal definition of rape. However, only 1.0 percent consider these acts to be rape.
• college-age women who are not enrolled in college are about 50 percent more likely to be raped than women who are enrolled in college.
• about 40 percent of female rape victims were first raped before the age of 18, and 79 percent were first raped before the age of 25.
• cases that involve “date-rape drugs” appear to be a very small portion of all rapes, but the data is uncertain.

No Sound Estimates for False Allegations

Contrary to the claims of some reporters and notable organizations, there are no sound estimates for the portion of rape claims that are false. In fact, a widely cited study alleged to show that only 2 percent of rape claims are false actually shows many times more than that.

Certain preventative measures appear to be very effective at reducing the incidence of rape, but they chafe against notions of political correctness. Hence, many people ignore them, leaving more women vulnerable to rape.

Confirmation bias and poor critical thinking skills lead people to embrace or dismiss rape-related claims based merely on their personal experiences, assumptions, or prejudices. Coupled with false information that arises from across the political spectrum, there is ample opportunity for all sides to become misinformed. This article corrects the record by thoroughly documenting numerous facts about this horrid crime and ways to thwart it.

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Copyright 2018 Just Facts Daily. Republished with permission.