June 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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June 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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RAINN hails abrupt decline in US rapes 14 June 2001
Yesterday, the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics announced that the US violent crime rate fell by 15% overall from 1999 to 2000. It is the largest one year decline since 1973, the first year the Bureau kept records. The overall rate is now as low as it was 28 years ago. Violence against women, including sexual assault and what the Bureau coldly describes as 'completed rape,' were down even more, by about 30%. RAINN (the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that provides a 24 hour toll-free hotline for victims of assault, hailed the decline. RAINN president Scott Berkowitz said yesterday “It appears rape has, in one year, gone from being the only violent crime that was increasing to being a great success story. While it’s impossible to isolate a single reason for the decline, it does suggest that tougher sentences and national education programs by RAINN and others are having an effect. We have seen a cultural shift: Just a few years ago, rape was not something discussed in polite company. This year, every single national TV network has donated airtime to publicize RAINN’s hotline. Today’s evidence of success shows that the good guys are winning, for a change.” Despite the apparent dramatic decline, rape and sexual assault remain epidemic in the US, where more than 260,000 women were sexually assaulted or raped last year—a rate of more than 700 a day. The assault rate for women 16-19 years of age is more than double the overall rate. And a careful reading of the report reveals that its statistical accuracy is rather low. The actual decrease may have been much less—as little as 5%. The RAINN hotline number, for free and confidential counseling, is (+1) 800-656-HOPE. | RAINN | | 2000 violent crimes report from US Dept. of Justice | | Violence Against Women Office of US DOJ | | top of page | |
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