Unsettling Report on An Epidemic of Rape

THE STATISTICS ARE HORRIFYING ENOUGH TO MAKE a mother rush her daughters into hiding -- and perhaps join them. According to a federally funded survey published by the National Victim Center last week, 683,000 adult women were forcibly raped in the U.S. in 1990. That figure is five times the number of sexual assaults reported by the Justice Department for the same year.

Tabulating the answers from a cross section of 4,000 women, the survey authors estimated that more than 12 million American women have been raped at least once in their life, but the true shocker is that 61% of rape victims were younger than 18 at the time of their attack. Three out of 10 had not yet reached their 11th birthday. In almost 80% of cases the victim knew her rapist.

As testimony to the continued stigma of rape, only 16% of the assaults are reported. Half the victims surveyed said they would be "much more likely" to go to the police if assured their name would not be used. As a result, the survey's authors recommended that more states adopt laws to keep the names of rape victims confidential.

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CREDIT: TIME Graphic by Steve Hart

[TMFONT 1 d #666666 d {Source: National Victim Center}]CAPTION: RAPE VICTIM'S AGE . . . AND RELATIONSHIP TO RAPIST