Sexual Violence as a Global Issue

The Global Health Burden of Rape Summary of Key Points

• Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala legally recognize rape only if the woman is considered honest and chaste.
• Courts in Pakistan devalue the testimony of women of "easy virtue." To determine this, they see if her vagina can accommodate two fingers. If this is the case, they assume she has sex habitually and devalue her testimony. (This finding is from a 1990 study.) They also made a law that a woman's testimony in court is worth 1/2 a man's. Women who do not meet the standard of proof can be jailed for adultery based on their admission of intercourse.
• In Peru, rape penalties decrease with the increasing age of the victim, with virtually no punishment for rape of older women. Girls aged 12-16 in Peru who give birth got pregnant 90% of the time by rape, most often by a father, stepfather, or other close relative.
• Guatemala, Peru and Chile have laws that excuse rape of a minor if the man agrees to marry the victim.
• In 1993, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights finally recognized rape as a war crime.
• A 9-month civil war in Bangladesh resulted in 250,000 to 400,000 rapes.
• In WWII, the Japanese forced 100,000 to 200,000 Korean women to be sex slaves for the Japanese Army.
• 2% of Korean women report rape when it happens to them.
• Among college students, rape and attempted rape statistics are: United States - 28%, New Zealand - 25%, Canada - 23%, Korea - 22%, United Kingdom - 19%.

References: Koss, M.P., L. Hiese, and N.F. Russo. "The Global Health Burden of Rape." Psychology of Women Quarterly 18 (1994): 590-37.Summary of Main Points obtained from Foubert, J. (2000) The Men's Program: How to Successfully Lower Men's Likelihood of Raping. Holmes Beach, FL: Learning Publications, Inc.