OF 1,170 RAPE VICTIMS WHO RESPONDED TO 'VIVA' MAGAZINE'S RAPE QUESTIONNAIRE CIRCULATED IN 1975, THE MEDIAN AGE RANGE WAS 18 YEARS 9 MONTHS, WITH ONLY 22 PERCENT BEING MARRIED. REFLECTING 'VIVA'S' READERSHIP, 93 PERCENT WERE WHITE. IN 41 PERCENT OF THE INCIDENTS REPORTED, THE RAPIST WAS A STRANGER; WHEN THE ATTACKER WAS KNOWN, HE WAS MOST LIKELY TO BE AN ACQUAINTANCE (23 PERCENT) OR A DATE (12 PERCENT). RAPISTS KNOWN TO THE VICTIMS WERE ALSO FRIENDS (8 PERCENT), KNOWN BY SIGHT (7 PERCENT), RELATIVES (5 PERCENT), EX-LOVERS (3 PERCENT), LOVERS (1 PERCENT), OR HUSBANDS (0.4 PERCENT). THE RAPES REPORTED OCCURRED MOST OFTEN AT NIGHT IN AN ENCLOSED AREA, RATHER THAN OUT OF DOORS. IT IS REPORTED THAT AS A RESULT OF THE RAPE, ALMOST HALF OF THE VICTIMS SUFFERED A LOSS OF TRUST IN MALE-FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS; ABOUT A THIRD WERE AFFECTED IN THEIR SEXUAL RESPONSES, HAD NIGHTMARES, AND FELT HOSTILITY TOWARD MEN IN GENERAL. ABOUT 25 PERCENT EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF SELF-RESPECT; THE SAME NUMBER RECEIVED PSYCHIATRIC CARE, 16 PERCENT HAD SUICIDAL FEELINGS; 16 PERCENT FELT A LOSS OF INDEPENDENCE; AND 14 PERCENT HAD PHYSICAL INJURIES. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE MORE INTIMATELY THE VICTIM HAD KNOWN THE ATTACKER, THE MORE LIKELY THE POSSIBILITY THAT SHE WOULD SUFFER SEXUAL BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS. IT IS BELIEVED AN ASSOCIATED DECREASE OF TRUST OF MEN IN CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS IS MOST POWERFULLY RELATED TO RAPES PERPETRATED BY MEN WITH WHOM THE VICTIM HAS BEEN CLOSE AND EMOTIONALLY VULNERABLE. THE ATTITUDES OF POLICE AND HOSPITAL PERSONNEL WERE FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES IN DETERMINING THE DEGREE OF LOSS OF SELF-CONFIDENCE AND TRUST AND THE STIMULATION OF GUILT AND SHAME. THE CONVICTION OF THE ATTACKER, ATTENDED WITH RELATIVELY SEVERE SENTENCING, WAS FOUND TO RELIEVE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS IN THE VICTIM. WHILE THERE WERE A NUMBER OF REPORTS OF POLICE INSENSITIVITY WHEN RAPES WERE REPORTED, THERE ARE STRONG INDICATIONS OF GROWING POLICE SENSITIVITY TO VICTIMS OF RAPE, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE AUTHOR STRONGLY URGES THAT WOMEN REPORT INCIDENTS OF RAPE. DATA OR REFERENCES ARE NOT INCLUDED. (RCB)