Those signs with frightening statistics have caught the eyes of many students. While eating in the Pit, the freshman pointed out a table with four girls and noted that the sign means that one of them is a statistic.
Such signs raise awareness, but they also incur reactions of disbelief and hostility from some people. A male student reacted with hostility by announcing in Tribble Hall that if he saw one more rape sign he would go out and rape someone himself. Such a statement is easy to dismiss as an unintentional outburst from a student who surely would never rape someone; however, consider what the percentage means for male students. Logically, it follows that if a large number of women are sexually coerced, then there must be a large number of men doing the coercing; in other words many men are rapists.
Consider the meaning of the statistic that "25 percent of college women have been raped or have suffered attempted rape." Much of the research on this subject claims that huge percentages of women suffer sexual violence from men. The 25 percent figure, a result of the research of Mary P. Hoss during the 1980s, demands our attention because of its magnitude.
If one-in-four college women suffer rape or attempted rape, then this is a mainstream problem in our society. Part of Rape Awareness Week is to realize the extent of our society's problem with the treatment of women. The "one in four" fraction is just for college women, but Diana Russell's much cited study of San Francisco women concludes that 44 percent of all women identified themselves as victims of rape and attempted rape. So many women are victims of sexual assault that some researchers and sociologists say that we live in a "rape culture." Feminist writers often describe a society which encourages sexual aggressiveness in males, and in females an acquiescence to men and lack of self-worth.
People always have their opinions about society, but hard scientific evidence is not often available to support arguments. Those calling our culture a "rape culture" point to surveys as scientific evidence of the nature of our society.
Furthermore, the research study providing the national statistics for the campus signs was funded by the National Institution of Mental Health.
In this way the research has been taken as partially legitimized. In searching for the truth behind that "one in four" figure, I learned that Koss' research is not even close to being a consensus study for the field. Simply put, Koss' statistical methods and the accuracy of her survey questions have been sharply criticized by some of her colleagues.
One of the most important criticisms of Koss is that she labeled women "rape victims" who did not consider what happened to them rape. Seventy-three percent of the students whom Koss called rape victims denied that they had been raped. Additionally, 42 percent of the students whom Koss called rape victims had sex again with their "rapist."
Why are the rape statistics so high? Take a look at how six points support the claim of high percentages of rape and attempted rape.
First, just as the PREPAR signs announce, the overwhelming majority of rapes are committed against the woman not by strangers, but by acquaintances and by dates. Second, many women in the surveys didn't recognize that they had been raped(mainly date and acquaintance rapes).
Third, rapes and attempted rapes -- particularly by acquaintances -- are massively underreported. Fourth, the definition of rape used by researchers such as Koss has been broadened to include any sexual intercourse against a woman's will which is verbally or physically forced, or is without her consent(unconscious or debilitated). Fifth, spousal rape, defined as a husband demanding or forcing his wife to engage in intercourse against her will, is included in the percentages of women raped. Sixth, attempted rape is now a large part of the percentages that includes a wide range of attacks from just shy of the act to only verbal coercion by the male.
The "one-in-four" number is also supported by some researchers -- and certainly by the media and women's interests groups. Last week on television I even saw a woman claiming to be a rape victim who told viewers that one out of every four women would be raped or suffer an attempted rape in her lifetime. A 1-800 number was then promptly displayed so that women could order pepper spray by phone. What a telemarketing technique!
The central problem with accepting high rape statistics is that such numbers may represent the fruits of advocacy research. Researchers are often involved in a movement which demands public attention, and such high numbers insure a response from the public.
For advocacy researchers, numbers like "one in 20" or "one-in-30" women raped just wouldn't draw enough public interest to the issue. On the other hand, percentages in the 20-50 percent range should make the issue a mainstream concern as well as a national one.
With these considerations in mind, it seems that advocacy researchers -- even if some of their research is scientifically flawed -- may not be inflating the scope of rape, but are only exposing the "hidden" rape crimes that have been recently ignored.
I doubt that anyone will admit to wanting to live in a so-called rape culture. Since we don't want to live in a rape culture, we don't want to see gross rape statistics around our campus.
The numbers challenge our perception of society, but remember that rape awareness has only recently been promoted.
Still, it is most disturbing that PREPAR places signs on campus which shock many students into denial of the problem. I didn't believe those numbers at first, but I had to read three books on the subject just to understand why feminist researchers call so many women rape victims.
It is counterproductive for PREPAR to provoke hostility and disbelief with rape statistics. There is a dilemma for a student who sees a PREPAR rape sign. Believe them and we live in a rape culture. Believe them not and risk ignoring an important issue for our society.