Why Isn't Rape Reported?

If you were raped, would you report it? Would you see a prosecution through so that your abuser is sent to jail? For many of us, the initial response is "yes, of course."

Every statistical study of rape produces vastly differing numbers, with little asterisks everywhere reminding us that much of the information is based on estimates. What statistics have to take into account is the reality that a huge majority of rape cases are never reported, and never mentioned. Why is there so much silence, when reporting crime is fairly straightforward, and generally encouraged?

Let's consider a scenario (trigger warning: rape and sexual abuse trauma) -
A woman is raped by her partner in her home. Immediately after it happens, she knows she needs help, but right now she is traumatised and in shock. The next day she considers going to the police, but is so horrified by her experience that the thought of speaking about it aloud is unbearably triggering for her. After a few days, she finally feels confident enough to go to the police. They ask her gruelling questions about exactly what happened in graphic detail, was she drunk, had she promised him sex earlier that day, had he ever hurt her before. They keep asking her why she didn't come earlier, and mentioned their incredulity at the validity of her claim seeing as she only bothered to report it several days after. They tell her to go home and they'll contact her for further inquiries. Meanwhile, her partner finds out she reported him, and threatens to kill her if she doesn't drop the charges immediately. She can't leave him, as she is financially dependent on him, and he has emotionally manipulated her to believe she must stay in the relationship. She rings the police and tells them she lied, and she won't be pressing the case. The charges are dropped. The woman continues to be raped by her partner, and continues to be silent about it.

Scenario Two -
A girl is drunk at a party, and raped by her boyfriend's mate. Something similar happened to a girl at her school a few months ago, and she remembered how that girl was bullied and shamed for reporting her "rape" and potentially ruining the boy's life, when she was just a drunk slut who wanted to cover up that she had cheated on her boyfriend. The girl doesn't tell anyone she was raped.

Those two scenarios cover the most common circumstances where a woman might be raped, and we can see the plethora of reasons a rape charge may never come through. We need to understand that going to an often male police officer with details of a traumatic experience which you are still in shock from is simply impossible for so many people. Burying the rape and trying to forget the pain is often the easiest path, and the most beneficial to a victim's short term wellbeing, and expecting any different is unrealistic. There are so many legitimate reasons a person might not report a rape immediately, or choose not to pursue the case in court.

Often people will try to invalidate the existence of a rape culture by pointing out the constant inconsistencies in statistics. But what the unknown gap in reported rape cases tell us is that we live in a world where women do not feel comfortable or safe reporting their abuse. The fact that numbers on false rape claims fluctuate so much does not prove women's inherent victim complex, but indicate that it is impossible to know how many women are actually lying, and how many have been coerced and bullied to go back on their claim. The fact that both male and female victims of rape are so likely to be put in manipulative situations while they face the emotionally taxing process of reporting rape needs to be understood, both in statistical studies, or when we consider reforms to legislation which makes it easier to prosecute for rape.

Rape culture extends beyond the frequency of rape, and describes the environment where rape victims have to bear the onus of their abuser's actions in a society which blames them for their trauma, and doesn't listen to their claims.

Hannah