What Constitutes Rape? The Effect of Marital Status and Type of Sexual Act on Perceptions of Rape Scenarios. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Adams-Clark, Alexis A.; Chrisler, Joan C.
• Is Part Of: Violence against women. Volume 24:Number 16(2018)
• Page Start: 1867
• Page End: 1886
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: rape -- marital rape -- sexual assault -- forced oral sex; Abused women -- Periodicals; Women -- Crimes against -- Periodicals; Violent crimes -- Periodicals; Femmes victimes de violence -- Périodiques; Femmes, Crimes contre les -- Périodiques; Crimes violents -- Périodiques; 362.8292
• DOI: 10.1177/1077801218755975
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8012

Abstract

Many people believe that rape is always perpetrated by a stranger and involves vaginal intercourse. To clarify perceptions of rape that do not follow traditional beliefs, participants were presented with a vignette that described a rape in which the marital status and sexual act were manipulated. Participants were then asked to assess the incident's severity and the victim's responsibility. Results indicated that there was no difference in perceptions between vignettes based on marital status. However, rapes involving vaginal intercourse were associated with lesser degrees of victim blame and minimization than were rapes involving forced oral sex or digital sex.