Fetish Sex

Rape is a form of assault where an individual forces another to have sexual intercourse against that person’s will. Most experts believe the primary cause of rape is an aggressive desire to dominate the victim rather than an attempt to achieve sexual fulfillment.[citation needed] They consider rape an act of violence rather than principally a sexual encounter.

Rape is generally considered one of the most serious sex crimes and can be very difficult to prosecute. Sexual violence can also be a war crime under international law. Consent may be absent due to duress arising from the use, or threat, of overwhelming force or violence, or because the subject is incapacitated in some way such as intoxication and/or underage innocence. In some cases coercion might also be used to negate consent.

There is no universally accepted distinction between rape and other forms of assault involving one or both participant's sexual organs. Some criminal codes explicitly consider all kinds of forced sexual activity to be rape, whereas in others only acts involving penile penetration of the vagina. Many restrict rape to instances where a woman is forced by a man. In recent years some women have been convicted of raping men; this is classed as either rape or sexual assault.[1] In some jurisdictions rape may also be committed by assailants using objects, rather than their own body parts, against the sexual organs of their target.

The rape of women by men is the most frequent form of the assault. Male-male rape is common, primarily in correctional facilities. There are an increasing number of female assailants being convicted for the rape of men, [2] most commonly, statutory rape.[citation needed] It is thought that female rapists who rape other women are almost never caught or convicted[3] and research on female rapists is rare.[4]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History of rape
* 2 Definitions of rape
* 3 Types of rape
* 4 Rape statistics
* 5 Effect of rape
* 6 Sociobiological analysis of rape
* 7 Loss of control and privacy
* 8 Notes
* 9 Further reading
o 9.1 Academic and reference books
o 9.2 Others
* 10 External links
o 10.1 Further Research and Information
o 10.2 National Organizations
o 10.3 Support Resources
* 11 See also

History of rape

Main article: History of rape

The Rape of the Sabine Women, a 1582 sculpture by Giambologna.
The Rape of the Sabine Women, a 1582 sculpture by Giambologna.

The word rape originates from the Latin verb rapere: to seize or take by force. The word originally had no sexual connotation and is still used generically in English. The history of rape, and the alterations of its meaning, is quite complex. The Latin term for the act of rape itself is raptus. Historically, rape has been seen (incorrectly) as a 'female' issue. Rape is now considered to be a crime committed against members of either sex, by either sex.

Many developments in law with regard to rape took place during the twentieth century. These included landmark decisions by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda that defined rape as an institutionalized weapon of war and a crime of genocide.[citation needed]

Male-male rape has historically been shrouded in secrecy due to the stigma men associate with being raped by other men. Fewer than one in ten male-male rapes are reported, according to one expert. As a group, male rape victims reported a lack of services and support, and legal systems are often ill equipped to deal with this type of crime.[5]

Most cultures worldwide have not considered the possibility that women can commit rape against men and women.[citation needed] Most legal codes on rape do not legislate for this as a crime, as rape is generally defined to include the act of penetration on behalf of the rapist.[citation needed] As of 2007, in South Africa a gang of women has reportedly been raping young men.[6]

Definitions of rape

In most jurisdictions the crime of rape is defined to occur when sexual intercourse takes place (or is attempted) without valid consent of one of the parties involved. It is frequently defined as penetration of the anus or the vagina by a penis. In some jurisdictions the penetration need not be by penis but can be by other body parts (e.g. one or more fingers, i.e. digital penetration) or by objects (e.g. a bottle), or may involve the forcing of a vagina or anus onto a penis by a female assailant.[7][citation needed]

Other jurisdictions expand the definition of rape to include other acts committed using the sexual organs of one or both of the parties, such as oral copulation and masturbation, for example, again enacted without valid consent.

The lack of valid consent does not necessarily mean that the victim explicitly refused to give consent. Generally, consent is considered invalid if it is obtained from someone who is:

* Under any kind of duress (force, violence, blackmail, etc.)
* Judgmentally impaired or incapacitated by alcohol or drugs (legal or otherwise)
* Mentally impaired whether by illness or developmental disability
* Below the age of consent defined in that jurisdiction

In Pakistan, under the Hudood Ordinance in force from 1979 to 2006, the definition of rape required a woman to have supporting evidence from four male eye-witnesses. The sexual act was otherwise considered adultery.

Statutory rape refers to a sexual act that is considered rape by the law regardless of whether it was coercive or consensual. Such laws are common and exist in order to prevent adults from having sex with minors who are deemed legally unable to give effective informed consent.

Sexual activity involving a person below the age of consent is often known as statutory rape although some jurisdictions prefer terms such as "unlawful sexual intercourse" to avoid the forcible connotation of the word.

The Brazilian Penal Code defines rape as unconsensual vaginal sex. Therefore, unlike most of Europe and the Americas, male rape, anal rape, and oral rape are not considered to be rape crimes. Instead, such an act is a "violent attempt against someone's modesty" ("Atentado violento ao pudor"). The penalty, however, is the same.

The definition used by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in its landmark 1998 judgment was "a physical invasion of a sexual nature committed on a person under circumstances which are coercive."[8]

In certain jurisdictions, it is not possible to be guilty of the rape of a spouse, either on the basis of "implied consent" or (in the case of former British colonies) because of a statutory requirement that the intercourse must have been "unlawful" (which is legal nomenclature for outside of wedlock).[9] However, in many of those jurisdictions it is still possible to bring prosecutions for what is effectively rape by characterising it as an assault.[10]
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Types of rape

Main article: Types of rape

There are several types of rape, generally categorized by reference to the situation in which it occurs, the sex or characteristics of the victim, and/or the sex or characteristics of the perpetrator. Different types of rape include but are not limited to: date rape, gang rape, marital rape, prison rape, acquaintance rape, and wartime rape. For more information on specific types of rape, see.[11] It is important to note that almost all rape research and reporting to date has been limited to male-female forms of rape. Research on male-male and female-male is beginning to be done. However, almost no research has been done on female-female rape. Such widespread research biases and social double standards can and do cause systemic biases in how rape is reported and acknowledged. Sometimes animals are accused of rape, yet sometimes it is unclear who was doing the raping in these situations.[12] Women can be charged with rape, although it is usually in situations involving underage males.[13] However, there have been cases where women have raped adult men.[14]

Rape statistics

Main article: Rape statistics

A United Nations report compiled from government sources showed that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded by police annually. The reported data covered 65 countries.[15]

Many reports suggest that rape statistics are not reliable because some kinds of rape are excluded from official reports altogether, (The FBI's definition for example excludes all rapes except forcible rapes of adult females by males), because a significant number of rapes go unreported even when they are included as reportable rapes, and also because a significant number of rapes reported to the police cannot be verified and possibly did not occur.[16]

In addition, rape by women is a barely understood phenomenon that is widely denied in most societies and one that usually causes surprise, shock, or utter revulsion.[17]

In the United States, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the adjusted per-capita victimization rate of rape has declined from about 2.4 per 1000 people (age 12 and above) in 1980 to about 0.4 per 1000 people, a decline of about 85%. [18] But other government surveys, such as the Sexual Victimization of College Women study, critique the NCVS on the basis it includes only those acts perceived as crimes by the victim, and report a higher victimization rate. [19]

While researchers and prosecutors do not agree on the percentage of false allegations, one study has shown that approximately 40% to 50% of charges are recanted by the victim. This number does not include unresolved allegations held “in limbo” where evidence is too weak to try the case even under shield laws, relaxed rules, and comparatively weak evidential standards applied to rape cases. Many times this is cited as being "false" reports. However, one can only guess at what really happened. Recanting can have many causes. It could be that the rape never occurred. Or it could be that legitimate victim found going through the legal system harder than they imagined and felt blamed by those around for it. Some perpetrators threaten their vivtims not to tell.

Some statistics:

* A survey of all the forcible rape complaints during a three-year period at two large Midwestern state universities found that 50 percent of the accusations the victim recanted.[20]
* In a nine-year study of all resolved rape cases in a Midwestern U.S. city of 70,000, the accusers recanted their charges 41 percent of the time. The 41 percent figure does not include the other accusations that the police department recorded as unfounded, for which there was insufficient evidence to establish the assault. [21]

The belief that rapes are often "false" is very common, another factor that makes victims feel like they are put on trial for reporting:

* According to a report of the Defense Department Inspector General released in 2005, approximately 73% of women and 72% of men at the military service academies believe that false accusations of sexual assault are a problem.[22]
* Linda Fairstein, former head of the New York County District Attorney’s Sex Crimes Unit, noted, “There are about 4,000 reports of rape each year in Manhattan. Of these, about half simply did not happen. ... It’s my job to bring justice to the man who has been falsely accused by a woman who has a grudge against him, just as it’s my job to prosecute the real thing.” (Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape. William Morrow & Company, 1993.)

However most rapes-63% are not even reported to police. One factor relating to this is the myth that rapists are strangers hiding in bushes. In reality 38% of victims were raped by a friend or acquaintance, 28% by "an intimate" and 7% by another relative. Only 26% were committed by a stranger to the victim. About four out of ten sexual assaults take place at the victim's own home. Two in ten take place in the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. And only one in ten take place outside, away from home. [23] The myths make it hard for many victims in the majority, who are raped by someone they know in a familiar place, to even understand what happened to them as "rape". According to a study by MS magazine almost three quarters of women who experienced acts that met the definition of rape did not identify the act as such. [24]

Even when rapes are reported to the police, the chance of a successful conviction is very small:

* If the rape is reported to police, there is a 50.8% chance that an arrest will be made.
* If an arrest is made, there is an 80% chance of prosecution.
* If there is a prosecution, there is a 58% chance of a felony conviction.
* If there is a felony conviction, there is a 69% chance the convict will spend time in jail.
* So, even in the 39% of attacks that are reported to police, there is only a 16.3% chance the rapist will end up in prison.
* Factoring in unreported rapes, about 6% of rapists — 1 out of 16 — will ever spend a day in jail. 15 out of 16 will walk free.

Effect of rape

For more details on this topic, see Effects of rape and aftermath.

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Rape

After being raped it is common for the victim to experience intense, and sometimes unpredictable, emotions, and they may find it hard to deal with their memories of the event. Victims can be severely traumatized by the assault and may have difficulty functioning as well as they had been used to prior to the assault, with disruption of concentration, sleeping patterns and eating habits, for example. They may feel jumpy or be on edge. In the month(s) immediately following the assault these problems may be severe and very upsetting and may prevent the victim from revealing their ordeal to friends or family, or seeking police or medical assistance. This may result in Acute Stress Disorder. Symptoms of this are:

* feeling numb and detached, like being in a daze or a dream, or feeling that the world is strange and unreal
* difficulty remembering important parts of the assault
* reliving the assault through repeated thoughts, memories, or nightmares
* avoidance of things -places, thoughts, feelings- that remind the victim of the assault
* anxiety or increased arousal (difficulty sleeping, concentrating, etc.)
* avoidance of social life or place of rape

In 1972, Ann Wolbert Burgess and Lynda Lytle Holstrom embarked on a study of the psychological effects of rape. They interviewed and counseled rape victims at the emergency room of Boston City Hospital and observed a pattern of reactions which they named Rape Trauma Syndrome.[25]. They defined this as having two components which they called the Acute and Reorganization phases.

During the Acute Phase the survivor may experience shock and disbelief, or feel frozen, and may attempt to disconnect themselves from "the person who was raped". They may feel humiliated, confused, dirty, ashamed, or at fault for the assault, particularly if the assailant was an acquaintance. Extreme nightmares, heightened anxiety, frequent flashbacks, and a strong attempt to disconnect from one's emotions are common, as is denial - trying to convince oneself that the assault did not actually occur. If raped by an acquaintance the victim may try to protect the perpetrator.

Victims may respond to the rape in either an expressive or a controlled way. The expressive way involves obvious outward effects and emotions such as crying, shaking, rage, tenseness, ironic and uncomfortable laughter (part of their denial), and restlessness. The controlled way occurs when the victim appears to be quite calm and rational about the situation, even if facing severe internal turmoil. There is no single response to rape; every individual deals with their intensely traumatic emotions differently.

After the acute phase, the Reorganization Phase begins and the survivor attempts to recreate the world that they once knew. This stage may last for months or even years following the assault and despite their best efforts this phase is often riddled with feelings of guilt, shame, fear, and anxiety. Emotions such as anger, anxiety, denial, and loss (of security) surface. Development of an inability to trust is a frequent consequence of sexual assault. This loss of the fundamental need for security can wreak havoc on the survivor’s life, causing them to feel powerless and not in control of their body. They may feel unsafe, which can cause a heightened state of anxiety as well as difficulty with intimate relationships. Victims may attempt to return to normal social interaction (i.e. go out to social engagements) and find themselves unable to do so and their attempts to re-establish themselves in relationships may be hindered by a lack of trust.

Survivors often isolate themselves from their support network either physically or emotionally. The survivor may feel disconnected from peers as a result of the perceived personal experience. The shattering of trust can adversely affect intimate relationships, as survivors may have a heightened suspicion of others' motives and feelings.

Another area of research referred to as "second victimization," has to do with the caustic and interrogatory way the police and medical staff sometimes treats people who allege rape or sexual assault.

Sexual assault can affect an individual forever, changing them into someone living in a constant state of turmoil. In extreme cases the outcome may be suicide.[26]

Sociobiological analysis of rape

For more details on this topic, see Sociobiological theories of rape.

Some argue that rape, as a reproductive strategy, is encountered in many instances in the animal kingdom (ie: ducks, geese, and certain dolphin species).[27].[28] It is difficult to determine what constitutes rape among animals, as the lack of informed consent defines rape among humans. See also Non-human animal sexuality.

Some sociobiologists argue that our ability to understand rape, and thereby prevent it, is severely compromised because its basis in human evolution has been ignored.[29] Some studies indicate that it is an evolutionary strategy for certain males who lack the ability to persuade the female by non-violent means to pass on their genes.[30]

American social critic Camille Paglia, and some sociobiologists, have argued that the victim-blaming intuition may have a non-psychological component in some cases. Some sociobiological models suggest that it may be genetically-ingrained for certain men and women to allow themselves to be more vulnerable to rape, and that this may be a biological feature of members of the species.[31]

Loss of control and privacy

Rape has been regarded as "a crime of violence and control" since the 1970s. Psychological analysis literature identifies control as a key component in most definitions of privacy:

* "Privacy is not the absence of other people from one's presence, but the control over the contact one has with them." (Pedersen, D. 1997).
* "Selective control of access to the self." (Margulis, 2003)

Control is important in providing:

* what we need for normal psychological functioning;
* stable interpersonal relationships; and
* personal development. (Pedersen, D. 1997)

Violation of privacy or "control" comes in many forms, with sexual assault and the resulting psychological traumas being one of the most explicit forms. Many victims of sexual assault suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, which also center around control issues. Therefore, some argue that it makes more sense to look at the issue of sexual assault as an invasion of privacy (Mclean, D. 1995):

The more comfortable a person is with talking about invasion of privacy and in insisting that he or she has privacy that deserves respect, the clearer that person’s understanding of rape will be…

Approaching rape through the concept of privacy helps bypass certain social stigmas.

Custodial rape is a form of rape which takes place while the victim is "in custody" and constrained from leaving, and the rapist or rapists are an agent of the power that is keeping the victim in custody. When it happens in prison, it is known as prison rape. While some definitions of custodial rape define it as taking place in a state-owned institution, and perpetrated by a state agent,[1] the term more generally refers to any situation where the power of a state agent is used to enable rape; thus, when prisoner-on-prisoner rape happens as a result of neglect by the prison authorities, it may be considered custodial rape.

Custodial rape is an endemic problem in certain nations; some police forces who have been charged with numerous instances of custodial rape have responded by instituting mandatory "virginity tests" for all female prisoners to "prove" that sexual assault has not happened during custody, despite the objection of gynecologists that virginity is not medically verifiable, and protests from human rights organizations that such tests are so invasive as to constitute sexual assault in themselves.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Prisoner rape in the United States
* 2 See also
* 3 News
* 4 External links

[edit] Prisoner rape in the United States

According to SPR.ORG, a website devoted to combating rape in prison, one in five male inmates is raped in prison, mostly by fellow prisoners. Among women the number is one in four and the offenders are more likely to be prison staff members.

According to the same source new Federal Law, Public Law 108-79 was passed in the United States in 2003.

According to the same website,

The bill calls for the gathering of national statistics about the problem; the development of guidelines for states about how to address prisoner rape; the creation of a review panel to hold annual hearings; and the provision of grants to states to combat the problem. "Unfortunately, in many facilities throughout the country sexual abuse continues virtually unchecked," said Stemple. "Too often, corrections officers turn a blind eye, or in the case of women inmates, actually perpetrate the abuse. We hope federal legislation will not only create incentives for states to take this problem seriously, but also give facilities the tools and information they need to prevent it."

Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff. According to Human Rights Watch, there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race. Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc. statistics indicate that there are more men raped in U.S. prisons than non-incarcerated women similarly assaulted. They estimate that 25,000 inmates are raped each year; that young men are five times more likely to be attacked; and that the prison rape victims are ten times more likely to contract a deadly disease.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Racial dimensions of prison rape
* 2 Prison rape and sexuality
* 3 U.S. cultural attitudes
* 4 U.S. law
* 5 Other countries
o 5.1 Russia
* 6 In popular culture
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 External links

[edit] Racial dimensions of prison rape

According to a detailed study of prison rape in US prisons by Human Rights Watch, white prisoners are disproportionately targeted in terms of victimization statistics. The report stated:

Past studies have documented the prevalence of black on white sexual aggression in prison.(213) These findings are further confirmed by Human Rights Watch's own research. Overall, our correspondence and interviews with white, black, and Hispanic inmates convince us that white inmates are disproportionately targeted for abuse. Although many whites reported being raped by white inmates, black on white abuse appears to be more common.[1]

[edit] Prison rape and sexuality

In prison rape, the perpetrator and victim are generally the same sex (due to the gender-segregated nature of prison confinement). As such, a host of issues regarding sexual orientation and gender roles are associated with the topic.

In U.S. male prisons, rapists generally identify as heterosexual and confine themselves to non-receptive sexual acts. Victims, commonly referred to as "punks" or "charlon" or "bitches," may or may not be seen as homosexual. Punks are generally confined to performing receptive sexual acts. Moreover, though "punks" sometimes agree to a sexual arrangement with an aggressor, these men generally consider themselves heterosexual.

Transgendered inmates face further difficulties, and Stop Prisoner Rape asserts that such inmates have an almost certain chance of being sexually assaulted in prison. Some prisons separate homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgenders from the general prison population to prevent rape and violence against them.[citation needed]

Shame regarding perceived homosexuality may contribute to the underreporting of prison rape by victims. Prison rape statistics may be higher than reported, as many victims are afraid to report, being threatened with physical violence by rapists if reported.

[edit] U.S. cultural attitudes

Many human rights groups, such as the Human Rights Watch and Stop Prisoner Rape, claim that prison staff tolerate rape as a means of controlling the prison population in general.

Suicide among rape victims is a problem of unknown proportions.[citation needed]

The topic of prison rape is relatively common in American humor. Jokes such as "don't drop the soap" seem to suggest that prison rape is an acceptable consequence of being sent to prison. This phenomenon is exemplified by the 2006 U.S. feature film Let's Go to Prison.

Prison rape cases have drastically risen in recent years, mostly attributed to an increase in counseling and reporting. The threat of AIDS, which affects many of those raped in prison, has resulted in the increase of reported cases for the benefit of medical assistance.

[edit] U.S. law

U.S. Federal law, under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, calls for the compilation of national prison rape statistics, annual hearings by a review panel, and the provision of grants to the states to address prison rape.

[edit] Other countries

[edit] Russia

In Russian male prisons, prison rape is quite common. There are many taboos in Russian prison culture associated with this topic. Victims of rape belong to the very bottom of prison hierarchy, to the layer called "opushchennye" (Russian: опущенные; literally, "those who were moved down", singular "opushchennyi") or "petookhi" (Russian: петухи; literally, "roosters", singular "petookh"). The circumstances of rape doesn't matter; the very fact of homosexual contact in passive mode makes prisoner a "petookh"; thus, if a prisoner had a homosexual contact before prison and this fact becomes known to other inmates, he is also moved to this group. "Petookhs" are untouchables: other prisoners may touch them only during the rape; they live in a separate corner of a prison cell, every object that is touched by a "petookh" is befouled: if another inmate touches it, he becomes a "petookh" too; it is even forbidden to beat "petookhs" with hands (only beating with legs is permitted). "Petookhs" are forced to do the most filthy job: to clean toilets, to empty trash cans, etc.
When another prisoner requests sex, a "petookh" must obey or he will be beaten. "Petookhs" are often given female names (Sveta, Masha, Tanya etc.) and must respond when they are called by these names. When a "petookh" is transferred to another prison where nobody knows him, he must immediately inform other inmates about his status. Failure to do this may lead to very severe consequences to the "petookh" including his murder when his status becomes known. According to "proper" traditions, there are very few reasons of raping a prisoners: lodging information against other inmates to authorities, theft of other prisoners' property, failure to pay debt in time. The status of "petookh" is life-long, there is no way to get out of this layer (At least untill the inmate is released or paroled; but if he will be jailed again, he will again be considered as a "petukh".) The very word "petookh" is a taboo: inmates tend to use it as little as possible. To call a "petookh" somebody who is not the one is a very hard insult that may lead to death.

See http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Опущенный

[edit] In popular culture

In the David Mamet film Edmond, William H. Macy is raped by his black cellmate who he later falls in love with.

In the 1989 film An Innocent Man, Tom Selleck is framed by policemen and then gang raped in prison.

In the film Office Space, the characters refer to federal prison as 'federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.'

In the film Half Baked, a character who goes to prison drops the soap in the shower.

In the film The Shawshank Redemption, the main character Andy is raped regularly by a group of inmates.

In the film Reservoir Dogs, Chris Penn's character Nice Guy Eddie jokes his friend Vic Vega (played by Michael Madsen), recently released from 4 years of prison, by saying 'I think you've had so much black semen pumped up your ass you're talking like a nigger' (paraphrase).

In the film American History X, Edward Norton's character Derek Vinyard is attacked and raped by a group of inmates in the shower while serving a stretch of time for manslaughter.

Serial rape is a term used to describe a series of three or more incidents of rape.

Serial rapists don't seek sexual gratification (contrary to serial killers), but control and domination of their victims above all.

A Rapist is someone who involves other people in sexual activity against their will. The legal definition of rape commonly requires non-consensual coupling of penis and vagina to occur, although just about anything that can be done with or against genitalia may appear in legal codes somewhere on the planet, so someone who is defined to be a rapist in one jurisdiction may not be in another.

The rapist can be of either sex and of any sexual orientation. Their assault(s) can confirm or contradict their own preferences for sexual activity (e.g. a self-identified heterosexual man could attack either a woman (confirmation) or another man (contradiction) or a self-identified homosexual woman could rape either another woman (confirmation), or a man (contradiction)).

Rape is a crime in most countries so rapists usually choose to conceal their activities from public authorities, their families and friends, unless they too are complicit in the assault.

Rapists appear in all walks of life, and can be of any age or social status; these considerations may influence their choice of targets.

Rapists may commonly be held to be wild-eyed strangers lurking down dark alleyways concealing weapons alongside their evil intent. In fact they are likely to be known in some way to the target of their assault, typically as family members, friends, neighbours, employers or colleagues. Despite pervasive social, political and legal conceptions that males commit the majority of rape, research is beginning to show that female rapists are much more prevalent than they were thought to be when rape research was limited exclusively to male rapists.[1]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Why do people rape?
* 2 How rapes are committed
o 2.1 Male rapist profiles
o 2.2 Female rapist profiles
o 2.3 Warning signs for potential female rapists

[edit] Why do people rape?

The belief that some people do not matter, have no rights, or cannot effect an outcome to their own advantage are strong incentives to other people to abuse them in a variety of ways, including sexually.

Someone who grows up in a family and social environment in which other people have no value may fail to develop any empathetic structures in their life and view the abuse of others' bodies as normal.

An unresolved childhood incident may fester into a profound hatred of one sex, typically the opposite to the later-to-become rapist, and this hatred may manifest itself in violent assault in adulthood.

The opportunity to rape may co-exist alongside the near certainty of getting away with it. This could easily apply within a family where even if a child complains they are likely to be disbelieved, particularly if their abuser is an adult of good standing within their community.

The belief that some people (usually women) do not have the right to occupy public spaces may prompt some men to commit assaults intended to punish the perceived trespass: the target will have "asked" for the assault they get.

In mens' prisons assaulting others may seem the only way to prevent oneself being so-treated or a way to acquire status in a limited environment.

Sex with junior colleagues may be seen as a prerogative of office. The junior may feel unable to respond for fear of the sack.

[edit] How rapes are committed

If someone intends to rape they can either attack at random or chose a target from among people known to them in some way. In both cases the attack can be either a carefully planned operation, or a moment of casual violence.

In a casual assault on a random target the rapist attacks where an opportunity to do so presents: for example, a lone pedestrian in an isolated alleyway that the rapist happens to be innocently using at the same time.

In a planned attack on a random target the rapist will have been patrolling the above mentioned alleyway (e.g.) for some time in the hope of finding sport there. A casual attack on a chosen target is the inverse of this: the rapist has been "patrolling" people known to them in some way and attacks at a moment when one of them is isolated and vulnerable.

An attack on someone known to the rapist can also be the result of a plan that has been refined over a period of time to trap just that person. This type of behaviour can be what is commonly referred to as "grooming" - where the rapist builds up the trust of an acquaintance only to exploit it. This type of assault causes moral panics over childrens' use of internet chat rooms in which ne'er-do-wells are able to achieve considerable influence over immature respondents.

[edit] Male rapist profiles

Dr. A. Nicholas Groth, author of Men Who Rape: The Psychology of the Offender, described four types of deliberate rapists, based on their motivations and behavior patterns. Forensic scientists, criminologists, and law enforcement agencies often use these profiles to analyze rapists, in the hope of preventing future rapes.

* The power-assertive rapist: This is argued to be the most common type of rapist, accounting for about 40 percent of all reported rapes. Wishing to be an alpha male, he tends to value machismo and physical aggression, and often rapes victims that he meets in public spaces, where he may pose as, or be, an authority figure. Power-assertive rapists rarely target specific people for rape and, while not intending to kill their victims, often traumatize and humiliate them.
* The power-reassurance rapist: Responsible for about 27.5% of reported rapes, this type of rapist has been described by law enforcers as the "gentleman rapist". He is usually:
o of average intelligence;
o not physically aggressive;
o socially-deficient; and
o unable to develop interpersonal or romantic relationships.

Usually, he will select and stalk a victim before committing the crime. The victim is usually someone whom he knows, eg. a neighbor or work acquaintance. Power-reassurance rapists often force the victim to emulate foreplay, and take "trophies" of the rape; they may even record the event in a personal journal. Power-reassurance rapists tend to be the least violent type of rapists, often fantasizing about consensual sexual relationships with women, rather than violent conquests.

* Anger-retaliatory rapist: Responsible for about 28% of rapes, this type of rapist is often a substance abuser, with impulsive behavior and anger-related pathologies. He does not target specific victims, and often feels a general animosity toward the gender of his target. The anger-retaliatory rapist's attacks are usually spontaneous and brutal, and while he does not intend to kill the victim, he may beat her or him to death if she or he resists. This rapist usually has below-average intelligence, and is likely to leave more evidence than other types of rapists.
* The anger-excitation rapist: This type of rapist, considered the most dangerous and elusive, accounts for about 4.5 percent of rapes. The anger-excitation rapist may or may not choose his victims selectively. Often sadistic, this type of rapist frequently murders his victim either to protect themselves from being identified, or for gratification beyond that given by the assault. FBI profilists lists this type as "sexually sadistic rapists."

According to John Douglas, the (legendary) FBI profiler, rapists tend to fall into four basic categories:

* "power-reassurance rapist" (driven by feelings of inadequacy),
* the "exploitive" rapist (impulse-driven and overtly macho),
* the "anger" rapist (who uses sex to displace his rage),
* the "sadistic" rapist, who gets aroused from the suffering of his victims.

[edit] Female rapist profiles

Court TV's Crime Library lists 6 types of female sex offenders based on research by psychiatrist Janet Warren and psychologist Julia Hislop.

* Facilitators - women who intentionally aid men in gaining access to children for sexual purposes.
* Reluctant partners - women in long term relationships who go along with the sexual exploitation of a minor out of fear of being abandoned.
* Initiating partners - women who want to sexually offend against a child and who may do it themselves or get a man or another woman to do it while they watch.
* Seducers and lovers - women who direct their sexual interest against adolescents and develop an intense attachment.
* Pedophiles - women who desire an exclusive and sustained sexual relationship with a child.
* Psychotics - women who suffer from a mental illness and who have inappropriate sexual contact with children and/or adolescents as a result.

[edit] Warning signs for potential female rapists

According to Network LaRed woman on woman rape and domestic violence abusers exhibit certain behavior, including:

* Violent, negative verbal outbursts, throws objects, violates other's privacy, steals and/or breaks objects.
* Separating themselves from family in order to avoid jealous behavior.
* Exhibiting behavior that is overly co-dependent in terms of money, and desires a close friend/relative to be dependent of them (or vice versa).
* Not allowing a close friend/relative access to medications or health care.
* Claiming alcohol or drug abuse as an excuse for violent behavior.
* Uses guilt to force others into decisions.
* Humiliates others intentionally.
* Blatant disrespect of personal boundaries.
* Controlling, manipulative behavior.

This behaviour includes, but is not limited to, mothers or care givers who abuse their children.