Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force
Rape myths affect many aspects of the investigative and criminal justice systems. One such myth, the‘real rape’ myth, states that most rapes involve a stranger using a weapon attacking a woman violently atnight in an isolated, outdoor area, and that women sustain serious injuries from these attacks....
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier España S.L.
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31895/ |
| _version_ | 1848794290391613440 |
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| author | Waterhouse, Genevieve F. Reynolds, Ali Egan, Vincent |
| author_facet | Waterhouse, Genevieve F. Reynolds, Ali Egan, Vincent |
| author_sort | Waterhouse, Genevieve F. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Rape myths affect many aspects of the investigative and criminal justice systems. One such myth, the‘real rape’ myth, states that most rapes involve a stranger using a weapon attacking a woman violently atnight in an isolated, outdoor area, and that women sustain serious injuries from these attacks. The presentstudy examined how often actual offences reported to a central UK police force over a two year periodmatched the ‘real rape’ myth. Out of 400 cases of rape reported, not a single incident was found withall the characteristics of the ‘real rape’ myth. The few stranger rapes that occurred had a strong link tonight-time economy activities, such as the victim and offender both having visited pubs, bars, and clubs.By contrast, the majority of reported rape offences (280 cases, 70.7%) were committed by people knownto the victim (e.g., domestic and acquaintance rapes), occurred inside a residence, with most victimssustaining no physical injuries from the attack. The benefits of these naturalistic findings from the fieldfor educating people about the inaccuracy of rape myths are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31895 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:51Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier España S.L. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-318952020-05-04T20:04:49Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31895/ Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force Waterhouse, Genevieve F. Reynolds, Ali Egan, Vincent Rape myths affect many aspects of the investigative and criminal justice systems. One such myth, the‘real rape’ myth, states that most rapes involve a stranger using a weapon attacking a woman violently atnight in an isolated, outdoor area, and that women sustain serious injuries from these attacks. The presentstudy examined how often actual offences reported to a central UK police force over a two year periodmatched the ‘real rape’ myth. Out of 400 cases of rape reported, not a single incident was found withall the characteristics of the ‘real rape’ myth. The few stranger rapes that occurred had a strong link tonight-time economy activities, such as the victim and offender both having visited pubs, bars, and clubs.By contrast, the majority of reported rape offences (280 cases, 70.7%) were committed by people knownto the victim (e.g., domestic and acquaintance rapes), occurred inside a residence, with most victimssustaining no physical injuries from the attack. The benefits of these naturalistic findings from the fieldfor educating people about the inaccuracy of rape myths are discussed. Elsevier España S.L. 2016-01 Article PeerReviewed Waterhouse, Genevieve F., Reynolds, Ali and Egan, Vincent (2016) Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force. European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, 8 (1). pp. 1-10. ISSN 1889-1861 Rape; Sexual offending; Rape myths; Police reporting; Stranger rape http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1889186115000244 doi:10.1016/j.ejpal.2015.04.001 doi:10.1016/j.ejpal.2015.04.001 |
| spellingShingle | Rape; Sexual offending; Rape myths; Police reporting; Stranger rape Waterhouse, Genevieve F. Reynolds, Ali Egan, Vincent Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force |
| title | Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force |
| title_full | Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force |
| title_fullStr | Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force |
| title_full_unstemmed | Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force |
| title_short | Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force |
| title_sort | myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a uk police force |
| topic | Rape; Sexual offending; Rape myths; Police reporting; Stranger rape |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31895/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31895/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31895/ |