Rape: America's Least Reported Crime

Reports allege that more than 20 peoplegenders unspecifiedwatched, took photos and even participated in the rape. After being assaulted for more than two hours, the survivor was found abandoned, barely conscious and seminude near a picnic table on her high school campus.

There is no question that the bystanders who watched their peer suffer the most unspeakable violation a woman can survive betrayed their classmate, failed to protect her from harm. But the question that still looms is how we, as a local community and national society, failed to provide them with the assurance that had they reported the crime, justice would be served. Rape is widely perceived as the most underreported crime in America.

Hard facts must be contributed to this discussion, numbers that underscore the fact that most people in our country, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity, either cant overcome the cultural shame associated with outing oneself as a rape survivor, dont believe that reporting rape is an effective way to combat it, or both. This is undoubtedly at least partially because our legislators and law enforcers have failed to make stopping rape a priority, as these numbers demonstrate. The fact remains that sexual violence pervades American culture, and there are plenty of numbers to prove it:

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