This article addresses 3 major topics, including screening and case finding, assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other rape-related problems, and treatment issues. 7 This suggests that a history of rape victimization is not uncommon in patients with psychiatric disorders. Of particular relevance to the topic of this article, data from a large probability sample of psychiatric patients with serious mental illnesses found that the lifetime prevalence and past-year prevalence of rape was substantially higher in female patients than the estimates just reviewed. Furthermore, past-year prevalence estimates for forcible rape are comparable to those reported in the early 1990s, raising doubts about claims that the annual incidence of rape is decreasing. Recent lifetime prevalence estimates of forcible rape are higher than those obtained in the early 1990s using similar methodology 3 and suggest that the prevalence of rape in the United States has increased over the past 2 decades. This same study found that the past-year prevalence (ie, the proportion of the sample who had been raped within the past year) was 0.94%, or an estimated 1.1 million women. Based on 2005 US Census data, this means that an estimated 20.2 million women have been raped. 3-5 One recent national survey 4 found that 18% of a national probability sample of women in the United States had been victims of at least 1 forcible rape (16.1%) or drug- or alcohol-facilitated rape (5.4%). The best epidemiological studies indicate that the lifetime prevalence of forcible rape (ie, the proportion of women who have been raped) is between 12.6% and 16.1%.

There is substantial evidence that rape is a major problem for women in the United States. This means that proper case finding and screening must make use of procedures that counteract these stereotypes. Many rape victims themselves believe these stereotypes and think of rape as something that only happens to adult women, is committed only by strangers, and that always involves excessive levels of physical force. Fourth, although many people expect victims of rape to have sustained serious physical injuries, the reality is that most rape victims sustain either minor or no physical injuries, perhaps because most of them are fearful that the perpetrator will kill or seriously injure them if they resist.Third, although the stereotype is that most perpetrators are strangers, the data indicate that perpetrators are much more likely to be someone the victim knows well.Second, contrary to stereotype, many women who have been raped have been raped more than once 3,5,6 women who seek treatment for a recent rape may have been raped in childhood or in adolescence.Data from carefully conducted epidemiological studies suggest that more than half of women who have been raped were first raped before age 18.

First, contrary to stereotype, rape is not an experience that only happens to adult women.

Rape can happen to boys and men as well as to girls and women, 2 but this article will focus primarily on women.īefore describing data on rape prevalence, it is important to address some common stereotypes so that mental health professionals will have an accurate understanding about the true nature and scope of rape. Drug- or alcohol-facilitated rape occurs when the victim is passed out or highly intoxicated because of voluntary or involuntary consumption of alcohol or drugs. Forcible rape involves unwanted sexual penetration obtained by the use of force or threat of force.

1 Generally speaking, there are 2 major types of rape. Rape is a crime that is defined as an unwanted sexual act that results in oral, vaginal, or anal penetration.

Rape trauma syndrome