Indicator Profile of Rape
Why Is This Important?
The 2005 Rape in Utah Report from the Utah Commision on Criminal and Juvenile Justice identified that Utah violent crime rates were lower than national rates for homicides, robberies, and aggravated assaults. Despite the low rates of violent crimes as a total, since 1991 the rape rate in Utah has been consistently higher than the national rate. Furthermore, in 2005, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 7.1% of Utah high school students reported being physically forced to have sexual intercourse. Rape devastates families and changes lives forever. It is a violent act that impacts everyone, including men, women, and children of all ages, races, religions, and income levels. Rape victims often suffer long-term emotional consequences of the rape incident. According to the report, women who have been sexually victimized were much more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Furthermore, the impact of sexual violence on the community is costly and has far-reaching health implications. At $127 billion per year, rape has the highest annual victim costs of any crime. According to one study, each rape is estimated to cost $86,500, which includes medical expenses, lost wages, quality of life losses, and pain and suffering.
Data Notes
The FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines rape as: the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and/or against her will; or not forcibly or against her will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of her youth).Data Sources
Bureau of Criminal Identification, Utah Department of Public Safety; U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Population Estimates: Utah Governor's Office of Planning and Budget; U.S. Bureau of the Census;Definition
The rape rate is reported as the number of rapes among Utah females per 100,000 females.How We Calculated the Rates
| Numerator: | Number of rapes among females in Utah. |
| Denominator: | Total female population of Utah. |
Page Content Updated On 10/30/07,
Published on 11/21/07
