How shall we correct this injustice?

[Heyo]

Rape rates have been declining since the '90s: Rape in the United States - Wikipedia

That is about the time when online porn was widely available. Let's keep it that way.

 

[BrightShadow]

This is actually an ETHICAL issue rather than political, since absolutely every political party has never addressed it. However, since no ethical forum exists, politics seems to be the best place for the thread.

Last summer, my son asked me an odd question. He said, "If you were lost out in the woods, would you be more scared if a bear approached you, or a man?? Without hesitation, I said, "A man." He couldn't wrap his head around that. I tried to explain to him that a bear wasn't going to bother me unless I bothered it, if I scared it in some way, or it was worried about cubs. But a man, out in the middle of nowhere, with no one else to witness, could do ANYTHING. Yeah, I'd be terrified.

The topic is sexual violence against women. This is not to suggest that men aren't victims of sexual violence. When a man is raped, it is just as horrifying and scarring as for a woman. However, sexual violence against men is much, much more rare. So, with all sympathy towards male victims, I'm going to plunge ahead with the topic. I'm also going to stick to US statistics, mostly from the RAINN website (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) but as we all know, sexual violence against women is a problem worldwide.

One out of every four women in the US is a victim of sexual violence. However, only about a third (310 out of every 1,000) of these women report it to the police. This meshes with my personal experience. I'm the sort in real life that others sense will be understanding and keep confidences, so I hear all sorts of private things from people, and of the many women who have told me they were raped, NONE went to the police.

Unlike the manosphere fear that women commonly accuse innocent men of rape, the truth is that genuine victims usually say nothing at all. The reasons are many.

• Shock. It's just easier to deny that something so horrible has happened. Going to the police makes it real.
• Shame. Even today in 2024, women are commonly blamed for their own rapes, everything from "Were you drinking" to "How were you dressed."
• Fear of retaliation. Self explanatory.
• Privacy. Women have a modesty that is just not as common among men. Most of us don't even feel comfortable undressing in front of other women in locker rooms. Sexual violence is something deeply personal, and many women just don't want to talk about it.
• Lying: No one suspects a mugging victim of making it up. No one suspects a home burglary victim of making it up. No one suspects a victim of a financial scam of making it up. But no sooner do you say rape, then the first thing that goes through the minds of most men is, "Is she making it up?"
• Concern for the perpetrator: Amazingly, 7% of all sexual assault victims say the reason they didn't go to the police was because they didn't want to get the perp (likely a friend or family member) into trouble.
• Danger: There are literally victims of rape in this country who are currently in jail for "filing a false police report." They first get bullied by overly zealous detectives to withdrawing their complaint, and then are arrested and prosecuted.
• Being raped a second time: If it goes to court, the victim has to endure the vicious attacks of defense attorneys, who will do all they can to drag her through the mud.
• Lack of faith in the system: The truth is, almost no perpetrators of sexual violence ever go to jail. They rape without consequence. Most victims think, "What good does it do to go to the police?" It is this last element that I want to do a deep dive on.

Let's look at some of the statistics. As I already mentioned, not even a third of all sexual assaults are reported to the police. As reported by RAINN: Out of every 1000 sexual assaults, 975 perpetrators will walk free. Only 50 reports will lead to an arrest. Only 28 will lead to a felony conviction. Only 25 will be incarcerated. Out of 1000.

This means that only 2.5% of women who are sexually assaulted will see their victimizer go to jail. And in case you think this website is too generous towards women, please know that I have chosen one that is more conservative. I've seen statistics as low as 0.15%.

The long and short of it is this: men continue to rape women with impunity. I'm not saying that most men are rapists. They're not. (And those many men who do treat women with respect, you have my undying love!) But for those who do harm women, they do a LOT of damage, and they do it without consequence.


So.... Let's get down to the brass tacks. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO CHANGE THIS? How can our laws be changed? How can police policies be changed? How can our justice department be changed?

I think you did put your OP in the correct place but I don't know enough about you to say if you did it intentionally or not.

Lately the so-called rape victims are coming out in numbers against political figures. The "me too" movement!

After Trump's win - there are women out there literally shaking in their boots and working their heads off 24/7 and trying to figure out how to take down some of Trump's picks. They are feeling threatened. Some of them may go an extra mile to fight for their pro-choice agendas or their stance that favors LGBTQ+ community. IMO

So, these folks want to know how they can effectively make some noise.
I get it!


Other than the issue I just mentioned - your OP is a well thought out post but do some further investigation. IMO

Apart from the victims who preserve the evidence of the crime and report it immediately (as those are possibly the real victims) - I would take the testimonies of the ones reporting late - with a grain of salt.

You mentioned few women report the crime and you spoke about the reason many women don't report the crime at all BUT you didn't mention anything about the ones who report it late or totally make up the accusation.

So - in my opinion your original post was biased as I can see you probably believe every single women always speak the truth. They don't!

Find out more about the ones who do the report but do it very very late (years later).
I have problems with their testimonies. Of course you could point out various reasons an alleged victim could wait years before reporting the crime but for fairness purposes and to preserve the integrity of the justice system and to protect innocents from being falsely accused - there should be a very short window to report this particular crime. Not only that is the right thing to do but you could potentially save other future victims if the crime is reported in a timely fashion.

You may see a pattern behind the ones who report 'late'.

#1. If the alleged victim waits too long to report then chances are the detail of the encounter becomes fuzzy and hence the detail could play a trick on her mind. It is very likely - as time passes - a need for self preservation kicks in. It helps create a false depiction in the mind that it was indeed a rape and it was not her fault. Self preservation kicks in to prevent any further mental agony. In this process the mind tries to shift the blame from thyself unto the other party (alleged attacker in this case) because the encounter may not have been a pleasant or pleasurable one or it took place when one might have been under the influence or one may have been out of her element at the time due to some other reason.

Just look at the examples of traffic infringers and especially the ones who cause traffic accidents - most realize and acknowledge their fault on the accident scene but once out of the accident site and days or months later - many try to deny accountabilities and try to go as far as claiming to be innocent. In some cases - some actual guilty folks who really caused the accident even truly start believing - they were innocent. They really start believing they were wrongly accused in the first place.
The lapse of time can play a number on you mind!
I am not saying - all incidents those are reported years later are false. But a great number probably are! IMO

#2. If the accused is famous then the accusation could be politically motivated and a crime by itself.

#3. If the accused is rich then the accusation could be financially motivated - maybe it is done to make some money out of the allegedly accused.

If the victim signs an affidavit that she only wants justice served under the criminal jurisdiction and that she won't take the accused through civil restitution process - then I would take her accusation more seriously.
But unfortunately most of the time it is about the 'money'.


There are always three sides of the story - the alleged victim's story, the alleged offender's story and the truth. And the judge tries to ascertain that 'truth' and that truth is always somewhere in the middle.

Silence is acceptance. Silence is concurrence. Silence is compliance.
No reason is good enough to be silent about a crime that was committed against you unless your life was in absolute danger had you reported it immediately or in a timely fashion.

As for how it can be rectified or eradicated or at least prevent it in any reasonable way...

#1 Change the law and make it severe for cases that can be proven beyond any doubt (i.e. the incident caught on camera, proven by DNA evidence and bodily injuries, multiple eyewitnesses accounts, etc.)
A brief period in jail is not not enough, Huge punishment will deter many.

#2 Forget your rights for your privacy when in public - place cameras at all strategic locations throughout your city if possible (every nook and corner) excluding public restrooms/ toilets. Don't worry about who is watching. If you don't break any laws then why not sacrifice privacy for safety?

#3 Install and allow satellite imagery or video and allow it to crime prevention agencies to monitor crimes. Again - sacrifice your privacy while under the open sky for your security.

#4 A future thing! Wear chips under the skin that can detect your location round the clock and match and find who was around you at a given moment when the crime is reported. It will also exonerate someone who was not there.

#5 Voluntarily allow to create a DNA database and records of fingerprints with the government - so that government can find the criminal fast. Why would anyone have a problem with this if they are not committing any crime? Don't you trust the government? Well, why then ask for help if you don't trust the police?
I really doubt that the government will misuse your information.

#6 Educate everyone from an early years. Some religions are dying out. Less folks are practicing nowadays - without objective morality - subjective morality is governing many folks and when the opportunity presents itself to such folks - sometimes nothing is stopping them from committing the crimes because they are not afraid about punishment afterlife.

Any how - if any or all mentioned above could be implemented or advocated then - crimes such as "rape" would be a thing of the past.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

That is about the time when online porn was widely available. Let's keep it that way.

The chart says it started declining in the early '90s. Online porn didn't start being widely available until the 2000s. Most people didn't have Internet at home until that time. Dialup was not very useful for viewing images or especially videos.

 

[SkepticThinker]

I think you did put your OP in the correct place but I don't know enough about you to say if you did it intentionally or not.

Lately the so-called rape victims are coming out in numbers against political figures. The "me too" movement!

After Trump's win - there are women out there literally shaking in their boots and working their heads off 24/7 and trying to figure out how to take down some of Trump's picks. They are feeling threatened. Some of them may go an extra mile to fight for their pro-choice agendas or their stance that favors LGBTQ+ community. IMO

So, these folks want to know how they can effectively make some noise.
I get it!


Other than the issue I just mentioned - your OP is a well thought out post but do some further investigation. IMO

Apart from the victims who preserve the evidence of the crime and report it immediately (as those are possibly the real victims) - I would take the testimonies of the ones reporting late - with a grain of salt.

You mentioned few women report the crime and you spoke about the reason many women don't report the crime at all BUT you didn't mention anything about the ones who report it late or totally make up the accusation.

So - in my opinion your original post was biased as I can see you probably believe every single women always speak the truth. They don't!

Find out more about the ones who do the report but do it very very late (years later).
I have problems with their testimonies. Of course you could point out various reasons an alleged victim could wait years before reporting the crime but for fairness purposes and to preserve the integrity of the justice system and to protect innocents from being falsely accused - there should be a very short window to report this particular crime. Not only that is the right thing to do but you could potentially save other future victims if the crime is reported in a timely fashion.

You may see a pattern behind the ones who report 'late'.

#1. If the alleged victim waits too long to report then chances are the detail of the encounter becomes fuzzy and hence the detail could play a trick on her mind. It is very likely - as time passes - a need for self preservation kicks in. It helps create a false depiction in the mind that it was indeed a rape and it was not her fault. Self preservation kicks in to prevent any further mental agony. In this process the mind tries to shift the blame from thyself unto the other party (alleged attacker in this case) because the encounter may not have been a pleasant or pleasurable one or it took place when one might have been under the influence or one may have been out of her element at the time due to some other reason.

Just look at the examples of traffic infringers and especially the ones who cause traffic accidents - most realize and acknowledge their fault on the accident scene but once out of the accident site and days or months later - many try to deny accountabilities and try to go as far as claiming to be innocent. In some cases - some actual guilty folks who really caused the accident even truly start believing - they were innocent. They really start believing they were wrongly accused in the first place.
The lapse of time can play a number on you mind!
I am not saying - all incidents those are reported years later are false. But a great number probably are! IMO

#2. If the accused is famous then the accusation could be politically motivated and a crime by itself.

#3. If the accused is rich then the accusation could be financially motivated - maybe it is done to make some money out of the allegedly accused.

If the victim signs an affidavit that she only wants justice served under the criminal jurisdiction and that she won't take the accused through civil restitution process - then I would take her accusation more seriously.
But unfortunately most of the time it is about the 'money'.


There are always three sides of the story - the alleged victim's story, the alleged offender's story and the truth. And the judge tries to ascertain that 'truth' and that truth is always somewhere in the middle.

Silence is acceptance. Silence is concurrence. Silence is compliance.
No reason is good enough to be silent about a crime that was committed against you unless your life was in absolute danger had you reported it immediately or in a timely fashion.

As for how it can be rectified or eradicated or at least prevent it in any reasonable way...

#1 Change the law and make it severe for cases that can be proven beyond any doubt (i.e. the incident caught on camera, proven by DNA evidence and bodily injuries, multiple eyewitnesses accounts, etc.)
A brief period in jail is not not enough, Huge punishment will deter many.

#2 Forget your rights for your privacy when in public - place cameras at all strategic locations throughout your city if possible (every nook and corner) excluding public restrooms/ toilets. Don't worry about who is watching. If you don't break any laws then why not sacrifice privacy for safety?

#3 Install and allow satellite imagery or video and allow it to crime prevention agencies to monitor crimes. Again - sacrifice your privacy while under the open sky for your security.

#4 A future thing! Wear chips under the skin that can detect your location round the clock and match and find who was around you at a given moment when the crime is reported. It will also exonerate someone who was not there.

#5 Voluntarily allow to create a DNA database and records of fingerprints with the government - so that government can find the criminal fast. Why would anyone have a problem with this if they are not committing any crime? Don't you trust the government? Well, why then ask for help if you don't trust the police?
I really doubt that the government will misuse your information.

#6 Educate everyone from an early years. Some religions are dying out. Less folks are practicing nowadays - without objective morality - subjective morality is governing many folks and when the opportunity presents itself to such folks - sometimes nothing is stopping them from committing the crimes because they are not afraid about punishment afterlife.

Any how - if any or all mentioned above could be implemented or advocated then - crimes such as "rape" would be a thing of the past.

One of the most perfect demonstrations of why women have traditionally not reported rapes over the millennia, that I've ever seen.
Bravo.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

This.

Nothing establishes rape better then a good ol' medical examination. And the sooner after the fact it is done, the better chance of having good documented evidence is.

The perp just says it was consensual sex, and that she wanted it rough.

 

[Samael_Khan]

My solutions have nothing to do with controlling anybody's religious beliefs though which is a whole different subject. And when it comes to things like that, who can be trusted with controlling religion?

Better for decent people to create a culture of respect and decency and common sense and appropriately dealing with bad actors whatever their origins.

Well good luck with that.

Americans just voted in a president who makes grabbing a woman by the "you know what" a casual joke and the whole attack on women's rights through anti abortion legislation has bad implications for women who get raped. This is pushed by the evangelical nutjobs. They are going the same route as the Taliban who try to control women with their legislation in Afghanistan. Seems like these fundamentalist religions are making lives worse for women and this results in men viewing them as lesser and objects to own.

It seems like the only places relatively safer for women in the world is europe. The place with a large atheist population. And the most liberal.

Seems like the indecent are gaining power in the world whereas the decent are either too timid to push an agenda based off decency or so radical that the world panics. That says a lot about where the world is at. And alot about how legislation is attacking womens rights, and by extension how that legislation and culture views rape.

 

[SkepticThinker]

The perp just says it was consensual sex, and that she wanted it rough.

There's a Law & Order: SVU episode about exactly that. Probably more than one.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I'm trying to better understand the statistics. Could you please provide a link to the first quote? I'd also like to know if the category "victim of sexual violence" is the same as "victim of rape." Thanks.

Different states have different definitions of rape, so it's not really possible to provide a clear line. In California, rape is penetration by any foreign object, not just a penis. So while Trump shoving his fingers up her vagina was only sexual assault in New York, it would have been considered rape in California.

Generally speaking "sexual violence," usually called sexual assault, refers to any nonconsensual act that has to do with sex, such as groping someone at a party, harming someone's sexual parts, exposing yourself such as flashing someone in the park or sending dick pics to someone without their consent, secretly filming people in the bathroom, forcing someone into prostitution, filming your girlfriend having sex with you without her knowledge, forcing someone to watch pornography, pressuring someone to have sex against their will using manipulative tactics such as threats, verbal abuse, abuse of power, playing on vulnerabilities, etc, forced kissing and touching, you get the idea.

Most of the statistics I presented came from rainn.org, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. as I said. It has a LOT of statistics beyond what I presented. Here is a main chart, and the link:

The Criminal Justice System: Statistics | RAINN

The majority of perpetrators of sexual assault will not go to prison.

rainn.org

 

[Foxfyre]

Well good luck with that.

Americans just voted in a president who makes grabbing a woman by the "you know what" a casual joke and the whole attack on women's rights through anti abortion legislation has bad implications for women who get raped. This is pushed by the evangelical nutjobs. They are going the same route as the Taliban who try to control women with their legislation in Afghanistan. Seems like these fundamentalist religions are making lives worse for women and this results in men viewing them as lesser and objects to own.

It seems like the only places relatively safer for women in the world is europe. The place with a large atheist population. And the most liberal.

Seems like the indecent are gaining power in the world whereas the decent are either too timid to push an agenda based off decency or so radical that the world panics. That says a lot about where the world is at. And alot about how legislation is attacking womens rights, and by extension how that legislation and culture views rape.

America just elected a man who years ago was being egged on by a friend in locker room talk who did NOT say he actually did any of those things and who was terribly embarrassed when it was made public. And before you cast the first stone, tell me that there is nothing in your life that you keep private but that would look really terrible on the front page of the newspaper or leading the evening news.

The 'nutjobs' exist in all spectrums of the human experience and the fast majority of religious people are not culpable in any way to any rape culture. And if the indecent are gaining power in the world it is because good people are not speaking up and stopping it.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

It makes me wonder, presuming the latter is true rather than the former, why that is the case. Maybe being constantly on guard to protect yourself against rape has made you more afraid of rape than murder, since you are much more likely to be a victim of the former than the latter in your daily life?

It's not that bears never attack people. We are talking probability here. The chances of the bear attacking me are considerably lower than the man attacking me. The truth is a good old black bear just foraging in the forest is going to be more scared of me than I am of it. It's most likely not going to attack me. It's going to leave because black bears are shy and avoid humans.

I'm sure that a lot of my views about bears come from the many bears I've encountered. My family camps at Yosemite every summer, and I've run into more bears than I can count, and none have ever attacked me or anyone else.

 

[SkepticThinker]

America just elected a man who years ago was being egged on by a friend in locker room talk who did NOT say he actually did any of those things and who was terribly embarrassed when it was made public. And before you cast the first stone, tell me that there is nothing in your life that you keep private but that would look really terrible on the front page of the newspaper or leading the evening news.

He not only bragged about doing "those things" but he was also found civilly liable by a judge and two juries of actually doing "those things" to a woman.

I know of no men who speak and act like that, and if I did, I wouldn't know them for very long. Please don't try to minimize such disgusting behaviour.

The 'nutjobs' exist in all spectrums of the human experience and the fast majority of religious people are not culpable in any way to any rape culture. And if the indecent are gaining power in the world it is because good people are not speaking up and stopping it.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I put most of it on the incorrect 'entitlement' of the perpetrators,

Very good post.

I was a little iffy about the above remark. It seems to suggest you think rape is about sex. It's not. Rape is about power, control, domination. I do understand what you are saying about celebrity rape and entitlement. But even in those cases, I don't think they would have any problems finding women who consent. The reason they rape is to show how they can do whatever they want, and that makes it a power thing. I'm not sure if that makes sense to you.

 

[Samael_Khan]

America just elected a man who years ago was being egged on by a friend in locker room talk who did NOT say he actually did any of those things and who was terribly embarrassed when it was made public. And before you cast the first stone, tell me that there is nothing in your life that you keep private but that would look really terrible on the front page of the newspaper or leading the evening news.

The 'nutjobs' exist in all spectrums of the human experience and the fast majority of religious people are not culpable in any way to any rape culture. And if the indecent are gaining power in the world it is because good people are not speaking up and stopping it.

Nah. Firstly he was filmed talking to someone on the set of Days of Our lives when he said that. I have said some bad stuff in my life but I never said anything remotely implying that I want to force myself on a woman like that. So i will grab a rock and bash his head in thanks.

The nutjobs are more pronounced in our world amongst religious nutjobs who believe they are special to God. Undoubtedly. I also think that if people in said religions uphold their institutions which hide child abuse cases then they are just as culpable to any rape culture.

I agree with your last sentence.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

A few wilds card, to this topic, that have an impact, are socially acceptable promiscuity, for both men and women, and how public education deals with sex education for children...

I'm not sure why you are bringing up sex. Rape has nothing to do with sex. It has to do with power, control, and domination.

Decades ago, when more females were more modest about sex;

I thought the old, "Rape is the fault of the woman, because she was dressed immodestly" had died out. I see I was wrong.

There is a difference between raping a prostitute versus a raping a virgin or married woman.

OMG, no there's not. OMG I can't believe you are actually saying such a thing, and in public.

I'm not going to read your post further. I've read enough to know that you have no understanding what rape is, and it's deeply disturbing. Your ignorance is very, very much part of the problem. I pray with all my heart that you don't work in law enforcement.

 

[Koldo]

It's not that bears never attack people. We are talking probability here. The chances of the bear attacking me are considerably lower than the man attacking me.

How did you reach this conclusion?

 

[Koldo]

Very good post.

I was a little iffy about the above remark. It seems to suggest you think rape is about sex. It's not. Rape is about power, control, domination. I do understand what you are saying about celebrity rape and entitlement. But even in those cases, I don't think they would have any problems finding women who consent. The reason they rape is to show how they can do whatever they want, and that makes it a power thing. I'm not sure if that makes sense to you.

I always dislike these remarks about rape not being about sex, because even though it is often not about sex, there are many times where it is also about sex. Generally speaking, if there is an intercourse involving an erected penile, you can count on it involving sexual gratification as being at least one of the main drivers behind the act much much much more often than not. It takes a very peculiar set of (undesirable) skills for a male to pull that off without feeling sexual arousal.

 

[Revoltingest]

I always dislike these remarks about rape not being about sex, because even though it is often not about sex, there are many times where it is also about sex. Generally speaking, if there is an intercourse involving an erected penile, you can count on it involving sexual gratification as being at least one of the main drivers behind the act much much much more often than not. It takes a very peculiar set of (undesirable) skills for a male to pull that off without feeling sexual arousal.

It's especially about sex when a nearly-of-age
girl is involved with an older of-age male.
It's still called it "rape".

 

[IndigoChild5559]

My country has a huge problem with sexual violence, especially against women and children. I think it is still called the rape capital of the world.

I wondered if it might be India, because that is what I get the most news feeds about. But AI says it is South Africa that is the rape capital of the world. Did I get that right about you?

The one law I would make though is that men who sexually assualt others should be castrated and left to bleed.

If I shared what I think should happen to rapists and child molesters, I would get kicked out of this forum.

How do we actually solve the problem?

Lots of education and honest debate.

I think I've lost faith in this. The women's movement has been around for over a half a century, and it really hasn't made a dent in this particular issue.

Also research on what the root causes are really and mitigating them.

I'm all for scientific research.

Somehow, we must counter the idea of hatred of women just for being women.

Most men are not like that. It's just that the men who are do so much damage. They seem to be scared of women having power, perhaps because it unnerves them that they cannot help but sexually respond to the presence of women and it terrifies them that they are not in control???

Us men have such fragile egos that, here in Africa, women tend to fear rejecting men who approach them for fear of consequences.

Yes. I can't tell you how many women I've known who have gone along with sex they really didn't want because they were afraid what might happen if they refused.

We must also get rid of very toxic ideas that us men get taught, such as the idea that when a woman says no, then she actually means the opposite

I think we've made some progress with that here.

or that it just means that you should try harder.

Now THIS is still a very big problem.

And I think one of the biggest changes that can be made, is that when other men speak derogatory about women or harrass women in any way, we as men should call them out in a way that will make them think and change. Especially if they are in our circle of friends.

That would be nice. I guess I just have lost faith that anything like this will ever happen.

There is the occasional person who does intervene when someone is being bullied, sexually or otherwise, but the overwhelming majority of the time people just think it's not their business, or that there is something about the victim that brought it on. I think in the back of people's minds is the thought that if the victim didn't cause it, that this means they themselves might also end up being a victim. There are women who are harder on rape victims than men.

 

[Koldo]

It's especially about sex when a nearly-of-age
girl is involved with an older of-age male.
It's still called it "rape".

What do you mean by "nearly-of-age"? As in being nearly an adult? Here in Brazil it is odd because you become an adult by 18 but can consent to sex (with nearly anyone) by 14.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

So I do question a statistic that suggests one out of four of us have been sexually assaulted.

The statistics actually vary widely. I've seen everything from 1 out of 3 to 1 out of 10. RAINN puts it at 1 out of 6. It depends on a great many factors. How the question is worded. Who is doing the questioning. What population is being questioned. I went with the 1 out of 4 statistic because among my personal family and friends, that's what it is, or at least, that's how many have shared it with me.

I certainly don't minimize that women are more susceptible to sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment etc. than men. But in my opinion what we do about it is:

1. Do not allow home grown sexual predators to have easy access to women and children.

How?

2. Control our borders and deny admission to those who have not come through the legal immigration system. To invite in sexual predators, sex traffickers among millions of migrants is just plain nuts.

I realize that right now everyone is on the "illegal immigrants are all rapists and criminals." Certainly some are. But according to the National Institute of Justice, immigrants are LESS likely to commit these crimes than citizens.

Undocumented Immigrant Offending Rate Lower Than U.S.-Born Citizen Rate

An NIJ-funded study examining data from the Texas Department of Public Safety estimated the rate at which undocumented immigrants are arrested for committing crimes. The study found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and...

nij.ojp.gov

Certainly, certainly anyone entering our country should undergo a check to see if they have a record. That's just common sense.

3. Keep private spaces--public restrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms--restricted to biological women. Don't put women in the position of having a biological male assigned as a roommate etc.

While I agree with this, I think it is irrelevant to the topic.

4. And most importantly, teach young women to exercise common sense, respect themselves, their bodies, the importance of decency and modesty and good manners.

Wow , this is the second time in the last half hour that someone has suggested that rape victims bring this on themselves. Trust me, no rapist has ever chosen his victim by what clothing she is wearing.

And teach young men to not strike or otherwise use their superior strength to mistreat women but rather protect them, to be modest themselves, decent, courteous, and respectful.

This goes without saying, although I really think that domestic violence, while horrible, is also a separate issue.

One of the things that strikes me about your post is that you seem to be afraid of men and situations that really are less likely to be connected with rape. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of sexual assaults are committed by family and friends. Stranger rapes do occur, but they are statistically just not typical. And THAT is a terrifying thought, that someone I know and trust might violate me this way.