Every minute in America there are 1.3 forcible rapes of adult women.
While this statistic shows rape is fairly common, many students have misconceptions about rape.
Mark McKinney and Diane Frye, prosecuting deputies for Delaware County, discussed the myths about rape on Tuesday in their presentation "Prosecuting Rape and Sexual Assault Cases." Both have been prosecuting sex offenders for 11 years.
The view of a rape has changed over time from the 1960s definition, a man who gains carnal knowledge of a woman, not one's wife, by force or against her will, to the current definition, a person who knowingly or intentionally has sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex when the other person is compelled by force, the other person is unaware that the sexual intercourse is occurring or the other person is so mentally disabled or deficient that consent to sexual intercourse cannot be given.
Six out of 10 women believe they are most likely to be raped by a stranger; however, 80 to 82 percent of all rapes are by someone know to the victim, presenters said.
"That percentage rises to 92 to 95 percent in child molestation cases," McKinney said.
Rape victims are also surrounded by myths such as they should resist strongly and report it immediately.
During trial, 59 percent of jurors believe that a victim should have resisted more during the rape even though more than 70 percent of rape victims report no physical injury, presenters said.
Also, 25 percent of victims don't report the rape until more than 24 hours after the attack, Frye and McKinney said.
"Only 16 percent of rapes are ever reported to police," Frye said.
A person's behavior is not consent to perform sexual acts, they said. Dressing provocatively, drinking alcohol, using drugs, accepting a date and consenting to previous sexual acts are not an invitation for sex, presenters said.
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