U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief Child Rape Victims, 1992 June 1994, NCJ-147001 Full text with tables available from: Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse 800-732-3277 (fax number for report orders and mail list signup only: 410-792-4358) Box 179 Annapolis Junction, MD. 20701-0179 Child Rape Victims, 1992 Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D. Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D. BJS Statisticians According to the FBI, 109,062 forcible rapes of females were reported to the Nation's law enforcement agencies in 1992 (FBI, Crime in the United States, 1992, p. 23, 1993). A Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) survey of the States (including the District of Columbia) solicited data on victims' ages. Thirty-six States reported that they did not keep such statistics, and the remaining 15 responded with information on 26,427 female victims, or nearly one-fourth the national total. Statistics from the BJS State survey revealed that: About 1 in 4 rape About 1 in 3 rape victims were under-- victims were under-- age 10 in Delaware, age 13 in Delaware, Michigan Michigan, North Dakota age 11 in North Dakota age 16 in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin age 14 in Arkansas age 17 in Alabama age 15 in Alabama, age 18 in the Pennsylvania, Wisconsin District of Columbia, Idaho age 16 in the District of Columbia, Idaho Female rape victims under age 18 Twelve States reported in sufficient detail to distinguish juvenile from adult rape victims. Their 20,824 victims comprised 20% of the national total. In the 12 States, 51% of female rape victims were juveniles under age 18. By comparison, females under 18 comprised 25% of the 1992 U.S. female population. State Number of victims of forcible rape Alabama 1,404 Arkansas 986 Delaware 783 District of Columbia 205 Florida 7,280 Idaho 221 Kansas 1,013 Michigan 4,731 Nebraska 290 North Carolina 2,397 North Dakota 124 Pennsylvania 2,996 Rhode Island 490 South Carolina 2,193 Wisconsin 1,314 Source: BJS State survey of rapes reported to law enforcement agencies in 1992. Female rape victims under age 12 Two Federal statistical programs provide national measures of rape incidence: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, which records rapes reported to law enforcement agencies, and the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which records reported and unreported rapes, based on Census Bureau interviews with the American public ages 12 years and older. While statistics from the NCVS provide details on victims' ages, they do not include children under age 12. Experts agree that this segment of the population cannot be reliably interviewed in the NCVS. Children under 12 are included in the UCR Program, but UCR national statistics provide no age details. Consequently, neither program offers information on rape victims under 12. In recent years a growing number of States have adopted a more detailed reporting system in the UCR program. Data from the developing system were gathered in the BJS survey of States and used here to estimate the number of rape victims under age 12. The estimate was based on those States that indicated the number of victims under age 12 or thereabout. Data from 12 States qualified: the 5 that reported the number under 12, 4 others that reported the number age 12 and under, and 3 others that reported the number under 11. The 12 States reported ages on 23,938 victims, or 22% of the national total (these are not the same 12 States that reported the number under age 18). Based on these data, an estimated 16% of rape victims, or 1 in 6, were under age 12. By comparison, females under 12 comprised 17% of the 1992 U.S. female population. Applying the 16% figure from the 12 States to the national total, BJS estimated that nationwide about 17,000 girls under age 12 (16% of 109,062) were raped in 1992. This is a conservative estimate because it was derived from statistics on rapes reported to law enforcement officials and did not include unreported rapes. Also, to some unknown degree the estimate is imprecise because the 12 States that formed its basis were probably not nationally representative. Victim-offender relationship Two sources provided information on rapists: interviews with rape victims reported to law enforcement agencies in 1991 in three States (Alabama, South Carolina, North Dakota), and 1991 interviews with rapists confined in the Nation's State prisons. Sources indicated similar accounts of rape victim ages: Percent of female rape victims _______________________________ Under 18 or 1991 Source Total 12 12-17 older Victims in 3 States 100% 14% 29% 57% Imprisoned rapists 100 14 24 62 Regardless of source, when the victim was under 12, the likelihood of a family relationship was relatively high: 46% of victims and 70% of imprisoned rapists. Additional detail from the three-State survey revealed that 20% of victims under age 12, 11% of victims age 12 to 17, and 1% of those 18 or older were raped by their fathers. Relationship between victim and offender The older the victim, the less likely that victim and offender were family members and the more likely they were strangers to one another: 4% of victims under 12 said the rapist was a stranger, compared to 33% of victims 18 or older; 6% of imprisoned rapists of females under 12 said the victim was a stranger, compared to 47% of imprisoned rapists of females 18 or older. Acknowledgment: Richard Florence (Justice Research and Statistics Association) collected State rape data through a telephone survey of State Statistical Analysis Centers, and police officials of D.C., Nevada, and Wyoming.