Federal government redefines rape, and who can be a victim

[The_Dude 1,142]

Federal government redefines rape, and who can be a victim

On Friday, rape victims whose crimes have been overlooked by federal statistics gained new recognition. After more than 80 years, the federal government has changed its definition of rape for the Uniform Crime Report, the country’s report card for serious crime.

The change allows men and boys to be counted as victims and expands which assaults can be counted as rape.

“It kind of dispels the myth as to who are victims and what sexual assault looks like,” said Nancy Haag, executive director of Anchorage-based Standing Together Against Rape.

Alaska has the highest rates of rape in the nation. In Anchorage alone, from 1995 to 2007, the Anchorage police documented 3,914 sexual assaults. Of those, only 2,855 were reported the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report as rape, leaving more than 1,000 victims undocumented in the federal record.

Nationwide, 84,767 rapes were reported in 2010 under the old definition. “This estimate does not present an accurate picture,” Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama, told reporters Friday. “Definitions matter because people matter.”

While local crime statistics may be more comprehensive, counting as rape any non-consensual sexual contact involving penetration, the outdated federal definition only allowed a narrow segment of these rape victims to be officially recognized in the federal statistics.

The old definition classified rape as “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” That means “forcible male penile penetration of a female’s #######,” explained Susan Carbon, Department of Justice director of the Office on Violence Against Women.

The new definition includes penetration of the #######, rape with an object, and other forms of non-consensual sexual contact. Victim and perpetrator can be of any gender.

A definition change will aid public discussion of rape, in which people often focused on the old definition and failed to recognize other forms of assault as “real rape,” Carbon said. Excluding men and boys, and the use of other body parts or objects as the weapon, denied victims of such crimes legitimacy. It may also have caused them to miss out on support from family members and services that might otherwise have been available had the assault been defined as a rape, she said.

Source

[slim 1,530]

The CA/AK battle rages on.

You guys are like school girls!

[The_Dude 1,142]

The CA/AK battle rages on.

You guys are like school girls!

Well, I seem to be fine living in a state that pays more taxes than it takes in from the government, even though we have illegal immigrants here. Some people seem to be fine living in a welfare state that sucks off the federal government teat, all while leading the nation in meth addiction per capita, violent rapes, domestic violence and occurences of mental handicap. I suppose it all depends on your perspective.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Well, I seem to be fine living in a state that pays more taxes than it takes in from the government, even though we have illegal immigrants here. Some people seem to be fine living in a welfare state that sucks off the federal government teat, all while leading the nation in meth addiction per capita, violent rapes, domestic violence and occurences of mental handicap. I suppose it all depends on your perspective.

They don't have any daylight up there for like half of the year. What do you expect?

[The_Dude 1,142]

They don't have any daylight up there for like half of the year. What do you expect?

Is it really too much to ask people not to rape others or produce meth?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Is it really too much to ask people not to rape others or produce meth?

Have you ever lived in complete darkness for months at a time?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Is it really too much to ask people not to rape others or produce meth?

So then the FBI Uniform Crime Reports that shows decreases in crime for each state that has implemented non-discretionary concealed carry are accurate and should be used as a method of measurement of the effectiveness of reducing crime in any discussion of the topic.

http://www.anastasiadate.com/

Edited January 10, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[dalegg 143]

So they are saying up until now gay rape wasn't counted as rape?