Public still holds on to misconceptions about rape

More than a quarter of the public believes that rapes only take place in the nighttime hours and one third agree that rape can be better prevented during the day.

By RUTH EGLASH
rape victim 88 (photo credit: )
rape victim 88
(photo credit: )
More than a quarter of the public believes that rapes only take place in the nighttime hours and one third agree that rape can be better prevented during the day. Those are the results of a study published Thursday by the Authority for the Advancement of Women in the Prime Minister's office. Released ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is to be marked worldwide on Sunday, the figures show that a large portion of the population is not aware that 80 percent of rapes are committed by a person known to the victim or that many of them happen during the daytime. According to the study, which sampled more than 500 men and women over the age of 18 throughout the month of October, 25% agreed with the assertion that rape was a crime that only happened after nightfall and 34% thought that daylight prevented such an attack from taking place. The study also found that 17% of the public still believes that the way a rape victim is dressed immediately prior to the crime and her behavior is one of the main causes of a sexual attack. Mirit Dinur, director of the Authority, said in a statement that only 10% of women actually file a report following a rape. She said the main reason for under-reporting was that many women fear no one will believe them, especially if the perpetrator is a person that they already know. Dinur said that the government had already budgeted NIS 10 million for programs to increase treatment of victims of sexual crimes, including three more centers for assisting rape victims in Nazareth, Jerusalem and in the south. Currently such operations exist only in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Rishon Lezion.