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As children we were warned not to talk to strangers. The fact is that
we are more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone we know: a friend, a
relative, an employer, a date or someone we have recently met.
There are many different kinds of acquaintance rape. Date rape is one
of the most confusing kinds. Some men believe that spending money on a
woman creates a situation where the date owes them sex at the end of the
evening. Some men also believe that women play hard to get, say
"no" and mean "yes," and enjoy being pursued by an
aggressive male. Because some men perceive that sex is their right, many
women are raped by the men they are dating. It is not simply a lack of
communication. Nor is it a result of sexual frustration or a lack of
control. Rape is an act of violence and of power which is often
planned. Sexual assault is NEVER the victim's fault. It is the
responsibility of the person who committed the act of violence.
 | A woman has a 4 times greater chance of being raped by someone she
knows than by a stranger. Robin Warshaw, 1988
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| Only 17% of rapists are strangers; 83% of perpetrators are acquaintances
(friends of the family, dates, boyfriends, relatives, authority figures).
Diana Russell, 1986
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| In a study by Mary P. Koss at Kent State University, one out of every
eight women students had been raped. Of those:
| 10.6% reported being raped by strangers |
| 24.9% reported being raped by acquaintances |
| 30% by steady dates |
| 21% by casual dates |
| 8.9% by family members |
Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1991
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| 55% of rapes where the perpetrator is a stranger are reported to the
police, while only 19% of acquaintance rapes are reported. Only 2% of
acquaintance rapes were reported when the perpetrator was a friend of the
family or a date. Diana Russell, 1986 |
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