Too few studies have been conducted on the crime of rape and the general public is not made aware of the statistics available through rape crisis centers and law enforcement. Consequently, data regarding the rapist personality characteristics, how, when, and where the rape is most likely to occur, and the consequences of rape on the victim aren't public knowledge. The lack of information perpetuates a complete misunderstanding of rape in society, resulting in the victim being seen as having contributed to the crime, which in turn leads to her unwillingness to report and subsequently prosecute her attacker. In no other crime is the victim further harassed, dehumanized, and shamed by society, law enforcement, the courts, family or friends than is the rape victim. She, in effect, becomes the accused, the criminal.
Some of the more recently quoted studies which have challenged the more prevalent myths surrounding rape are Sex Offenders by Dr. Albert Cans, Patterns in Forcible Rape by Dr. M. Amir, and Rape, Offenders and Their Victims by John MacDonald. Although the studies are excellent sources of data and help enlighten society, none of the completed studies have been by women or from a woman's point of view. More recently, a number of books on the subject of rape have become available which are written by women and from the woman's point of view: Against Rape by Andrea Medea and Kathleen Thompson; Rape: How to avoid it and what to do if you can't by Jane Bundy Csida and Joseph Csida; Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape by Susan Brownmiller; and The Politics of Rape by Diana E. H. Russell.
Some of the more prevalent myths about rape are listed below.
1. Perhaps the most common myth is the widely held belief that a rapist is a sexually unfulfilled man carried away by a sudden uncontrollable surge of desire. The actual facts: Dr. Amir's study showed that 90% of group rapes were planned in advance and that 58% of rapes committed by a single man were planned. Generally, rape is not a crime of impulse. As to the myth that rapists are sexually unfulfilled, Dr. William Prendergast of the New Jersey State Prison states that all of the rapists that he has studied had available sexual relationships. Sixty percent of the men in Dr. Amir's study were, in fact, married and led normal sexual lives at home.
