ONE IN FIVE US WOMEN FACES RAPE

The National Violence Against Women Survey reveals that nearly one in five American women have been the victim of rape.  Eight thousand randomly selected women were interviewed in the US during 1995-1996.  Eighteen percent said they were the victim of rape or attempted rape.  Translated into a statistic, that would reflect the whole country, it would mean about 18 million American women have been the victim of a rapist.  Evidently, rape is more prevalent than we had thought.  In 40% of these women, the assailant was a current or former intimate partner.  More than half of all rape victims are minors.  The report generated by this study recommends improved training in the medical community to handle the needs of female rape victims, many of whom suffer prolonged trauma.