DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – With April designated as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” in Michigan, it’s a good time to point out just how dangerous the state is for women. According to World Population Review, Michigan has the fourth-highest rape rate with 72.4 rapes per 100,000 inhabitants. This data comes from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s 2019 report.
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With a population in Michigan reported to be 10,077,331, that amounts to more than 7,200 rapes in a single year. And that’s just the ones that are reported to law enforcement. World Population Review says, “It is important to note that rape is widely unreported, and therefore statistics on rape are not always accurate depictions of the actual number of incidents.”
They point to the #MeToo campaign for an increase in reported rapes and sexual assault incidents, including a 150% increase in rapes reported at the University of Michigan between 2017 and 2018. They also report that rape is especially prevalent in Detroit, where in 2018, the number of reported rapes jumped 28% from the year before. They cite factors such as demographics, culture, economics and law enforcement capabilities as reasons why rape statistics vary from state to state.
Overall in the United States, the FBI Crime Report lists that there were 139,815 rapes in the country in 2019 under their revised definition that came into place in 2017.
Pregnancy resulting from rape occurs with significant frequency and it’s estimated that among adult American women, about 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year. An older 1996 study found a national rape-related pregnancy rate of 5% per rape among victims between the ages of 12 and 45 with the majority of pregnancies occurring from rape among adolescents resulting from an assault by a known, often related, perpetrator.
Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer proclaimed April as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” to recognize the strength and courage of survivors of sexual assault or abuse and to raise public awareness around the impact of sexual violence and educate communities on prevention methods. The governor says in her statement that survivors of sexual assault are represented in every Michigan community as well as sexual orientation, religion, race, ability, age and gender identity and that in 2021, Michigan State Police statistics indicated that nearly 11,000 sexual offenses were reported to law enforcement in the state. It’s also reported that about eight in ten perpetrators of sexual assault know their victims.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women and one in 16 men reported being sexually assaulted while in college and that the sexual violence had s deep and enduring impact on the survivors and their psychological, emotional, social and physical health.
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The governor has joined with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Victim Services, the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, and sexual assault/abuse advocates across the state to acknowledge the importance of working together to educate our communities about sexual violence prevention, supporting survivors, and speaking out against harmful attitudes and actions that support a culture that fosters the acceptance of sexual violence.
If you or someone you know has experienced any form of domestic violence or assault, call 911, or the U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and TTY 1-800-787-3224, or the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
