Rape In The Netherlands

Statistics on rape and other sexual assaults are commonly available in industrialized countries, and have become better documented throughout the world. Inconsistent definitions of rape, different rates of reporting, recording, prosecution and conviction for rape create controversial statistical disparities, and lead to accusations that many rape statistics are unreliable or misleading.

In some jurisdictions, male-female rape is the only form of rape counted in the statistics. Countries may not define forced sex on a spouse as rape. Rape is an under-reported crime. Prevalence of reasons for not reporting rape differ across countries. They may include fear of retaliation, uncertainty about whether a crime was committed or if the offender intended harm, not wanting others to know about the rape, not wanting the offender to get in trouble, fear of prosecution (e.g. due to laws against premarital sex), and doubt in local law enforcement.

A United Nations statistical report compiled from government sources showed that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded by police annually. The reported data covered 65 countries. In a survey by United Nations, for 100 women that suffered sexual violence in their lifetimes, 14% had experienced attempted rape and 2.3% had experienced rape.

Research

Most rape research and reporting to date has been limited to male-female forms of rape. Research on male-male and female-male is beginning to be done. However, almost no research has been done on female-female rape, though women can be charged with rape in a few jurisdictions. A few books, such as ''Violent Betrayal: Partner Abuse in Lesbian Relationships'' by Dr. Claire M. Renzetti, ''No More Secrets: Violence in Lesbian Relationships'' by Janice Ristock, and ''Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence: Does She Call It Rape?'' by Lori B. Girshick also cover the topic of rape of women by other women.

By country

This table indicates the number of, and per capita cases of recorded rape by country. It does not, and of course cannot, include cases of rape which go unreported or unrecorded. It does not specify whether recorded means reported, brought to trial, or convicted. Each entry is based on that country's definition of rape, which varies widely throughout the world. The list does not include the estimated rape statistics of the countries, per year, such as South Africa having 500,000 rapes per year, China having 31,833 rapes a year, Egypt having more than 200,000 rapes a year, and the United Kingdom at 85,000 rapes a year.

* Changes in definitions and/or counting rules are reported by the Member State to indicate a break in the time series.

As reference and verification of the mentioned numbers for the EU-27 could be used: "Violence against women: an EU-wide survey – Main results" published in 2014 - Table 2.1: Women who have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by current and/or previous partner, or by any other person since the age of 15, by EU Member State (%) and Table 2.7: Women who have experienced various forms of sexual violence by a partner or other persons since the age of 15 (%) - FRA gender-based violence against women survey dataset, 2012

Policy and statistics by country

Afghanistan

Rape in Afghanistan is a crime which can be legally prosecuted, but in practice it is very rarely reported, because of the immense risks that women face if they report it. Rape victims in the country face a double risk of being subjected to violence: on one hand they can become victims of honour killings perpetrated by their families, and on the other hand they can be victimized by the laws of the country: they can be charged with adultery, a crime that can be punishable by death. Furthermore, they can be forced by their families to marry their rapist. In 2011, Afghanistan made international news in regard to the story of a woman who was raped by a man, jailed for adultery, gave birth to a child in jail, and was then subsequently pardoned by president Hamid Karzai, and in the end married the man who raped her. In 2012, Afghanistan recorded 240 cases of honour killings and 160 cases of rape, but the number for both honour killings and rapes is estimated to be much higher. In 2013, in eastern Ghazni, a man attacked a woman and attempted to rape her, and as a result the relatives of the woman killed both the woman and the man in an honour killing. In Afghanistan, crimes such as adultery, rape and trafficking are often conflated with each other, and it is generally not acceptable for a woman and a man to be alone together (unless married or related), and if this happens the response can be very violent: an Afghan medical doctor and his female patient were attacked by an angry mob who threw stones at them after the two were discovered in his private examining room without a chaperon. Recently, the security forces have been also alleged to rape children in the country.

Algeria

Article 336 of the Penal Code stipulates that rape is a punishable offence, but does not give a definition of rape, as this is left to the courts. The lack of a clear definition of rape in Algerian law makes it difficult for women to report the act and seek legal remedies.Algerian authorities must investigate and prosecute attacks against women – Amnesty International Australia

The Hassi Messaoud was reported in 2001, 2005, and 2010 to sexually assault, traffic, and abuse women.

There have been continuous allegations that during the Algerian War French troops had engaged in acts of torture and rape against Algerians.

Australia

Non-consensual sexual penetration is termed "rape" in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania; "Sexual Assault" in New South Wales; "Sexual intercourse without consent" in the ACT and the Northern Territory; "Sexual penetration without consent" in Western Australia. All these offences are gender neutral and applicable in marriage. The laws in Australia have evolved from the English common law offence of rape, but have gradually changed, especially in the late 20th century.

In Australia the reported rape rate per 100,000 people is relatively high, although it is in a decreasing trend, coming down from 91.6 in 2003S. Harrendorf, M. Heiskanen, S. Malby
INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS on CRIME AND JUSTICE
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (2010) to 28.6 in 2010. This stands in contrast to reported rape rate of 1.2 per 100,000 in Japan, 1.8 per 100,000 in India, 4.6 rapes per 100,000 in Bahrain, 12.3 per 100,000 in Mexico, 24.1 per 100,000 in United Kingdom, 28.6 per 100,000 in United States, 66.5 per 100,000 in Sweden.

During the 12 months prior to interview in 2011–12, an estimated 51,200 (0.3%) Australians aged 18 years and over were a victim of sexual assault. Almost a third (30%) of victims of sexual assault had the most recent incident they experienced reported to the police.

The Australian Women's Safety Survey conducted by the Bureau of Statistics in 1996 involved a random sample of 6,300 women aged 18 and over. It produced incidence finding of 1.9 per cent for sexual assault in the previous 12 months. Men who are known to the woman accounted for over two-thirds of assailants (68%). Only 15% of the assaulted women in the sample reported to the police.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has received criticism for its employment of the "two-finger test" in rape investigations. This test consists of a physical examination of women who report rape during which a doctor inserts two fingers in the woman's vagina to determine whether the woman is "habituated to sex". This examination has its origin in the country's British colonial-era laws dating back to 1872. This deters many women from reporting rape. More than 100 experts, including doctors, lawyers, police, and women's rights activists, signed a joint statement in 2013 asking for the test, which they called "demeaning", to be abolished, as it "does not provide any evidence that is relevant to proving the offence." On 12 April 2018 Bangladesh High Court banned the "two-finger test" on the ground that the tests have no scientific merit or evidential value.

Between the years of 2010 and 2013, the United Nations Multi-country Study on Men and Violence asked men in rural and urban Bangladesh if they had forced a woman to have sex at any point in their lives. 14.1% of men in rural Bangladesh and 9.5% of men in urban Bangladesh said yes (10% averaged). 2.7% of men in rural Bangladesh and 0.5% (6/1252) in urban Bangladesh had raped in the past year. In rural Bangladesh 41.4% of rapists perpetrated more than once, 3.7% had four or more victims, and 40% first raped as a teenager. 82% of rural Bangladeshi and 79% of urban Bangladeshi men cited entitlement as their reason for rape. 61.2% of urban Bangladeshi men who had raped did not feel guilty or worried afterwards, and 95.1% experienced no legal consequences. 3.7% of men in rural Bangladesh had raped another man. 89.2% of urban Bangladeshi men agreed to the statement "if a woman doesn't physically fight back, it's not rape."

Belgium

In 2008, the incidence of rapes recorded by the police was 26.3 per 100,000 people, according to data by UNODC."Rape at the National Level, number of police recorded offenses".
United Nations.

Rape in Belgium is defined by Article 375 of the Penal Code as "any act of sexual penetration, of whatever sort and by whatever means, committed on a non-consenting person". Marital rape is also illegal under this law.

Apart from criminal proceedings, committing marital rape has also consequences in a divorce case. The new amendments of the Civil Code regulating marriage and divorce, that came into effect in September 2007, state that any of the spouses, following a divorce, may receive alimony if they need the money; but a spouse who has committed rape or other violent crimes against the other spouse cannot receive alimony. Article 301 reads: "The court may refuse to grant the application for a alimony if the defendant proves that the applicant has committed a serious offense that rendered it impossible to continue living together. Under no circumstances will alimony be given to a spouse who was found guilty of an act referred to in Articles 375, 398-400, 402, 403 or 405 of the Penal Code, committed against the person of the defendant, or an attempt to commit an act referred to in Articles 375, 393, 394 or 397 of the Code against the same person."

Belize

According to the Belize Police Department, in 2013 there were 26 cases of rape reported in the country. The estimated total population in 2013 was 334,297.

In 2006, the incidence of rapes recorded by the police was 15.3 per 100,000 people, according to data by UNODC.

According to a 2009 report, bribery in rape investigations, including those involving child rape, is common. Suspects often offer money to the police or to the victims/their families.

The laws were amended in Belize in 1999 to criminalize marital rape; the law defines marital rape that happens at the time the spouses are cohabiting more narrowly than rape in other circumstances; it stipulates that the act is criminal if "The act of sexual intercourse is preceded or accompanied by or associated with, assault and battery, harm or injury to the female spouse". Rape between unmarried persons, or between separated spouses is defined by lack of consent.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

During the Bosnian war, rape was prevalent. In 1993, a European Community commission estimated that around 20,000 women were raped, while the Bosnian Government put the figure at 50,000.

Botswana

In a 2009 study, 4.9% of 1244 women of 13–24 years reported having been raped in their lifetimes. 10.3% of 654 women reported that they had been raped in their lifetimes in a 2011 study. 4.6% had been raped in the past year. 3.9% of 613 men had been raped in their lifetimes and 4.2% had raped in the past year.

Brazil

In Brazil, rape is "alarmingly under-reported" and there are no accurate data to compare rape rates among the country's twenty-six states and federal district. However, in 2012, there were 6,029 rapes in the state of Rio de Janeiro; 4,993 of the victims were women. On average, 416 women a month were raped that year and according to Rio's stat
Institute of Public Security
(ISP) the rate of rape in the state is 37 per 100,000 population for victims of both sexes. Rio's civil police say that in the first quarter of 2013, 1,822 rapes were committed, while there were only 70 individuals arrested for the crimes. Typically, the victims were mainly black women, aged between 20 and 30 years, and coming from any social class.

Burma

Systematic rape committed by the military against civilians has been documented in Myanmar. A 2002 report by The Shan Human Rights Foundation and The Shan Women's Action Network, titled ''License to Rape'', details incidents of sexual violence committed by Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001.

The military of Burma has also been accused of continuing to use rape as a weapon of war after the elections of 2010. In 2014, a women's group, ''The Women's League of Burma'', said it had documented more than 100 cases of rape by the military since 2010.

According to a 2012 report by Human Rights Watch, the Burmese security forces have committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims.

Burundi

Marital rape was criminalized in 2009, albeit with a rather symbolic sentence of only 8 days imprisonment and a fine of 10.000 to 50.000 Fbu. The new 2009 Criminal Code also criminalized homosexuality which was legal before; but it also abolished the capital punishment in the country, therefore the new Code received mixed reactions from human rights organizations.

A report by Amnesty International found that rape was very common in Burundi, rarely prosecuted, and that victims faced strong social stigma and a high risk of reprisal.

Cambodia

In Cambodia, rape is estimated by local and international NGOs to be common, but only a very small minority of these assaults are ever reported to authorities, due to the social stigma associated to being the victim of a sexual crime, and, in particular, to losing virginity before marriage (regardless of how this happened). From November 2008 to November 2009, police had recorded 468 cases of rape, attempted rape and sexual harassment, a 2.4 percent increase over the previous year. ''Breaking the Silence – Sexual Violence in Cambodia'' is a report produced by Amnesty International, and released in 2010, which examined the situation of sexual violence in Cambodia. The report found that, in the small minority of rapes which are reported, a very common response is for law-enforcement officials, including
police and court staff, to arrange extralegal out-of-court 'agreements' between the victim and the perpetrator (or their families), in which the rapist pays a sum of money which is shared between the authorities and the victim (and her family), after which the victim has to withdraw any criminal complaint against the perpetrator, and public prosecutors close the case. When a rape is investigated, a complainant is generally expected to pay an extralegal sum of money to the authorities, to ensure that the court investigates the case, otherwise progress is slow, and it may take over two years for anything to happen. During the pre-trial period, there is always a risk that the perpetrator's family will pay a bribe to secure his acquittal or reduced charge.

The UN reported results in 2013 from a study that they did in six Asia-Pacific countries about violence against women. 20.4% of Cambodian men said that they had raped a woman in their lifetime and 11.3% had raped in the past year. 3.3% had raped another man at some point and 23% had participated in gang rape, the largest percentage out of the nine areas surveyed. Cambodia was the only area where gang rape was the most commonly reported form of non-partner rape. 45% answered that sexual entitlement was their motive for raping a woman and 42% said they raped to punish a woman. 11.7% of rapists had raped 4 or more women. 52% first perpetrated rape as teenagers and 15.8% first did so under the age of 15. 44.5% of rapists experienced no legal consequences.

Canada

In Canadian colonies, rape was an offence at common law. The conceptualization of rape was based on English common law understanding of this offence. English legal precedent was very important. Canada got its first statutory definition of rape in 1892, under the 1892 Criminal Code, which read: "Rape is the act of a man having carnal knowledge of a woman who is not his wife without her consent, or with consent which has been extorted by threats or fear of bodily harm, or obtained by personating the woman’s husband, or by false and fraudulent representations as to the nature and quality of the act." A boy under 14 could not be convicted of rape.
The rape law remained virtually unchanged until 1983, when the criminal offence of "rape" was abolished and replaced by three sexual assault offences. Unlike the previous rape offence, the sexual assault offences are applicable in marriage and are gender neutral. These three offences are:
* Sexual assault
* Sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm
* Aggravated sexual assault.

The most frequently cited research on sexual violence was conducted by Statistics Canada in 1992, which involved a national random sample of 12,300 women (Johnson and Sacco, 1995). The research found that over one in three women had experienced a sexual assault and that only 6% of sexual assaults were reported to the police. According to Justice Institute of British Columbia, one out of every 17 women is raped, 62% of rape victims were physically injured, 9% were beaten or disfigured.

China

Between the years of 2010 and 2013, the United Nations multi-country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific asked men in urban and rural areas of China if they had ever forced a female to have sex. 22.2% said yes. 9.3% had done so in the past year. 55% of the men who had raped had done so more than once and 23.2% had raped more than one woman. 86% cited sexual entitlement as their motive, 57% said that they raped out of fun or boredom, and 46% out of anger or punishment. And despite 47% of them reporting consequences of punishment, threats or violence as a result, 72.4% had not experienced legal consequences. 1.7% had raped another man. 2.2% had participated in gang rape. 25% who had raped reported first doing so as a teenager, the lowest percentage in the study. And while only 11.8% of men and 10.2% of women surveyed approved of generally blaming the victim, 53.7% and 53.5% of each agreed with the statement "if a woman doesn't physically fight back, it's not rape."

According to the US Department of State, there were 31,833 cases of rape in China in 2007.

Colombia

The armed conflict in Colombia has resulted in increased sexual violence against women; and Colombian authorities have been accused of failing to investigate rape complaints and failing to control sexual attacks in the country. Marital rape was criminalized in 1996. Rape is very common among internally displaced women: it is reported that one in five of these women were raped.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

In eastern Congo, the prevalence and intensity of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. It is estimated that there are as many as 200,000 surviving rape victims living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today. A new study says more than 400,000 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo annually. War rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo has frequently been described as a "weapon of war" by commentators. Louise Nzigire, a local social worker, states that "this violence was designed to exterminate the population." Nzigire observes that rape has been a "cheap, simple weapon for all parties in the war, more easily obtainable than bullets or bombs."
In an analysis of 2565 patients who received medical care in the Médecins Sans Frontières sexual violence clinic in the capital of Ituri, Bunia, between 2005 and 2006, 73% (95.2% of male victims) reported being raped by armed men. 74.5% experienced gang rape (89.3% of male and 73.9% of female victims), with attack by between two and four perpetrators being the most common scenario (58.9%) for both sexes. 48.6% of victims were attacked while doing daily domestic activities outside their homes.

Denmark

Although only approximately 500 rapes are reported to the Danish police annually, several studies estimate that only a small minority of all rapes are actually reported, and only one in five reported rapes result in a conviction in court. For example, according to a 2014 study published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Denmark had the highest prevalence rate of physical and sexual violence against women in Europe.

The Danish government was harshly criticized for inadequate laws in regard to sexual violence in a 2008 report produced by Amnesty International. The Danish criminal provisions regarding sexual crimes had remained nearly unchanged for 30 years, which lead Amnesty International to declare that "legislation on rape and sexual violence onflictedwith human rights principles concerning the need to protect an individual's sexual and physical integrity and right to self-determination." The organization repeatedly urged Denmark to bring legislation on rape in line with international law over several years, which lead to an amendment to the sexual offences code in 2013, following a change in government after the 2011 elections.

Sexual offences ( da, Seksualforbrydelser) are defined in the Danish Penal Code, Chapter 24, Section 216–236. References in legislation to marriage were removed following the 2013 amendment (previously providing for a reduced sentence or a pardon), and sexual acts performed on victims in a helpless state now also count as rape.

In Denmark it was only 1999 that the first rape crisis centre was established.

East Timor

Marital rape was made illegal in East Timor in 2010, under the ''Law on Domestic Violence, Law No. 7/2010'' which states that "Sexual violence is understood as any conduct that induces the person to witness, to maintain or participate in unwanted sexual relations, ''even within a marriage'', through intimidation, threats, coercion or use of force, or which limits or nullifies the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights".

The UN claimed that thousands of East Timorese women were raped during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and that rape was used by the Indonesian military as a weapon of war. The UN commission stated that: "Rape, sexual slavery and sexual violence were tools used as part of the campaign designed to inflict a deep experience of terror, powerlessness and hopelessness upon pro-independence supporters."

Egypt

Marital rape is not a criminal offence in Egypt. Unlike many other countries in the Middle East, Egypt has, in 1999, abolished the law which stipulated that a man could escape a rape conviction if he married his victim after the fact.

Women are generally fearful when it comes to reporting rape. Engy Ghozlan of Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights and others suggest that the number of rape cases is over 200,000 every year. Ghozlan further adds that rapes are not decreasing because young men lack adequate income and employment, so their marriages are delayed.

During the current Egyptian protests, rape has been carried out publicly, on 3 July 2013, it was reported that about 91 women were raped and sexually abused in Tahrir Square in four days. By some estimates, the figure was about 169.

Ethiopia

Rape is a very serious problem in Ethiopia, and the country is infamous for the practice of marriage by abduction, with the prevalence of this practice in Ethiopia being one of the highest in the world. In many parts of Ethiopia, it is common for a man, working in co-ordination with his friends, to kidnap a girl or woman, sometimes using a horse to ease the escape. The abductor will then hide his intended bride and rape her until she becomes pregnant. As the father of the woman's child, the man can claim her as his wife.BBC, "Ethiopia: Revenge of the Abducted Bride" Subsequently, the kidnapper may try to negotiate a bride price with the village elders to legitimize the marriage. Girls as young as eleven years old are reported to have been kidnapped for the purpose of marriage.

Ethiopia is estimated to have one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world. A report by the UN found that women in Ethiopia are the most likely to suffer domestic violence at the hands of their partners, and that nearly 60% of Ethiopian women were subjected to sexual violence. The 2004 Criminal Code of Ethiopia creates the offence of rape, by Article 620, which states that: "Whoever compels a woman to submit to sexual intercourse outside wedlock, whether by the use of violence or grave intimidation, or after having rendered her unconscious or incapable of resistance, is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from five years to fifteen years". There are also certain aggravated circumstances which lead to an increased punishment for rape. Apart from the criminal offence of rape, there are also other sexual offences in the Criminal Code. The age of consent is 18. As can be seen above, a woman cannot charge her husband with rape. However, the 2004 Criminal Code brings major improvements for women's rights in the country, by criminalizing several forms of violence against women, such as female genital mutilation, violence against pregnant women, marriage by abduction, child marriage, trafficking and sexual harassment, though ''Chapter III – Crimes Committed against life, person and health through harmful traditional practices'' (Articles 561–570) and other provisions (Articles 587, 597, 625, 635, 637, 648). Article 564 – ''Violence Against a Marriage Partner or a Person Cohabiting in an Irregular Union'' is a major step forward.

The Ethiopian military has been accused of committing systematic rapes against civilians. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly claimed that the army has attacked, beaten, raped and killed civilians, something which the Ethiopian authorities have denied. However, US scientists said that satellite images confirmed reports that the Ethiopian military had burnt towns and villages in Ethiopia's Somali region.

A study in Addis Ababa of high school boys found that 4.3% had been raped in their lives. According to the ''WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women'', 59% of women reported sexual abuse by a partner; while one third of women reported being "physically forced" to have sex against their will with their partner within the past 12 months. This was the highest prevalence of all countries surveyed.WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women - Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women's responses
WHO

Finland

In Finland, the legal regulations on sexual offences were revised with a law that came into effect on 1. January 1999. Under this revision, sexual offences were divided into three levels: rape, aggravated rape and forcing someone into a sexual act. The revision also affects the cause of action. The law on rape (Chapter 20 - Sex offences Section 1 - Rape) states that: "(1) A person who forces another into sexual intercourse by the use or threat of violence shall be sentenced for rape to imprisonment for at least one year and at most six years.
(2) Also a person who, by taking advantage of the fact that another person, due to unconsciousness, illness, disability, state of fear or other state of helplessness, is unable to defend himself or herself or to formulate or express his or her will, has sexual intercourse with him or her, shall be sentenced for rape." The Finnish government does not produce data on rape on a regular basis, beyond the raw numbers of reported rape to Finnish police. The laws and guidelines have been criticized for not making specific reference to "consent" and for offering the possibility of mediation between the victim and perpetrator. Specific information on women victims of rape can be found only from separate studies, the last one made in 2004, and that study was based on reported rape offences during the years 1998–1999. The study showed that of 468 rapes or attempted rapes reported to the police, only 47 rape charges were made, or that merely 10 per cent of the rapes reported to the police lead to a prosecution. In most cases the rape victim and the offender knew each other, only in every fourth case was the woman attacked by a stranger. Almost half the rape occurred among acquaintances (corresponding to a date rape), and intimate or family relations were involved in 13 per cent of the cases.

Finland had 980 cases of reported rape in 2013. The number of reported rape had increased in 2006 by 91% when measured since 1977, and by 27% when measured from 1997. According to a 2014 study published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, approximately 47% of women surveyed in Finland were said to have suffered physical and/or sexual abuse; which was the second highest rate after Denmark. Finland was one of the last countries in the EU to criminalize marital rape, making it illegal in 1994, after years of debate.

Convicted rapists receive very short penalties compared to other countries, although this may be due to the fact that Finland has one of the lowest incarceration rate

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