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Elements of the crime of rape

Essential elements of the crime of rape include:

• Proof that a sex act occurred as defined by statute

• Proof that force (actual or threatened) was used to perform the sex act

• Proof that the sex act occurred "without the consent" or "against the will" of the victim

Characteristics of rapists

There is no simple explanation of the etiology of rapist. Not all are alike but their are some shared characteristics.

• Rapist are usually young. Some 80% are under the age of 30 and 75% are under the age of 25.

• Most rapists are from the lower socioeconomic class, are often minority group members, and typically chose victims of their own race.

• Rapist tend to see men as takers in sex and women as the givers.

• Most rapists are unarmed and in 25% of the cases where a weapon is used, the weapon was a knife.

• Most rapists plan their attacks but many act on the spur of the moment.

• Rapists usually have a history of violence.

• Rapists usually come from average homes and are sell-groomed, intelligent, employed, and live with others in a family context.

• Adolescent rapes usually take place on a weekend near the end of summer vacation. They usually take place in the victim's home or in an automobile. Many involve multiple rapists and involve the use of alcohol by the rapists and the victims.

Rapists are often:

• Very attractive

• In their late teens through mid 30s

• Married or with a sexual partner

• Fathers of small children still at home

• Of average or above-average intelligence

• In jobs that require travel

• respected in their neighborhoods

• Insure; their childhoods are often marked by cruelty

Types of rapists

• Power rapist. One who suffers from great personal insecurity and compensates by controlling other weaker persons. Believes women want to be raped and often dates women before raping them. May ask a women for a date after raping her.

• Anger rapist. One who believes he must retaliate for an imagined wrong or loss. These attacks are usually unplanned, explosive attacked directed at randomly selected victims. Rapist may vent his rage and anger by beating and degrading his victim. He may force here into aberrant sexual acts as use vulgar language.

• Sadist rapist. One who seeks revenge and punishment from another person by the use of violence and cruelty. The victim is typically only a symbol of the source of his anger. He is usually very deliberate in his rapes and plans each one carefully He is often ritualistic in his attacks. The victims are often traumatized, suffer extreme physical injuries, and, in many cases, are murdered.

• Gang rapists. One who rapes in the company of peers. They reduce the victim to the status of an object. Gang rapists seek confirmation of their masculinity by expressing power over others. The first person to rape the victim is usually the gang leader. Usually the age of the victim reflects the age of the gang members. 

• Date rapist or acquaintance rapist. One who knows the victim and forces his unwanted sexual advances on her. Since the rapist and the victim know each other, some do not consider this type of rape as serious as stranger rape. Regrettably, date rape trials usually do not end with a conviction.

Killer Instinct

When attacked, you must respond with animal-like determination and a no-holds-barred willingness to do the unthinkable. Once an assault is underway and escape is not an immediate option, the single most important strategy a woman can employ, regardless of technique, is to become the predator, attacking her targets like a lioness—ruthless and relentless.The killer instinct endows us with our most fierce, Darwinian resolve. Once uncorked and applied with focused intent, the hidden potential of the killer instinct can transform even petite women into formidable fighters.

Contrary to the myth that women will only get hurt worse if they fight back research consistently shows that “forceful resistance” is effective, particularly in repelling sexual assaults. For example, the only woman to escape serial rapist Ted Bundy was the one who fought back.

Predatory attacks can be swift and vicious. Even a seemingly low level assault, such as an uninvited sexual advance, may quickly escalate into a violent encounter. Assailants use their greater size and strength to overpower and subdue their victims. Pins, chokes, slapping, and “stunning blows” are common tactics. In sexual attacks, women are often brutally forced to the ground and barraged by vile language, in an effort to psychologically overcome them.

Because hesitation can mean the difference between life and death or being raped or not raped, the first few seconds of a physical assault are critical. There must be an immediate and explosive counterattack. The longer an assailant has control the more difficult it becomes to escape. Because women are typically smaller, to escape and survive they must be far more vicious and determined than their aggressors.

“When women disengage completely from their traditional role, they become more ruthless and savage than men,” observed anthropologist Margaret Mead. Mead also said “Men and male animals will fight to show off their prowess and to impress females, but when women fight, it is fierce and to the death. .. Women are naturally suited to kill for survival.”

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