NCJ Number
182098
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 95-108
Editor(s)
Vincent B. Van Hasselt,
Michel Hersen
Date Published
2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The authors surveyed the prevalence of forced sexual intercourse and reviewed 21 investigations that measured the incidence and prevalence of forced sexual intercourse to compare definitions, sampling procedures, study time span, geographic locations, and reported rates of forced sexual intercourse.
Abstract
In the survey, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to a random sample of men and women at a southern university. The survey focused on incidents in which men were offenders and women were victims. About 19 percent of women reported that they had been forced to have sex sometime during their life. The comparison of 21 recent studies found considerable variation in reported victimization rates, and it was determined that much of the variations in the prevalence of forced sexual intercourse could be attributed to variations in research methods. Time span appeared to be the most influential variable, followed by definitions used, sampling techniques, and geographic factors. 59 references and 3 tables