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Classic Rape - When Do Victims Report?

NCJ Number
93903
Journal
Social Problems Volume: 31 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1984) Pages: 459-467
Author(s)
L S Williams
Date Published
1984
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper suggests that victims of the 'classic' rape situation, involving violent attack by a stranger, are most likely to report to police because they see themselves as true crime victims.
Abstract
Women who are raped by men they know, at home or in social settings, are less likely to report because they question their role and responsibility in the attack. I look at the cases of 246 raped women who contacted a rape crisis center, and analyze their relationships to their rapists and such characteristics of the attack as the setting, the threat and use of force, the degree of injury, and the need for medical treatment. Tabular data and 38 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)

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