Citation

Adams-Clark AA, Chrisler JC. Violence Against Women 2018; 24(16): 1867-1886.

Affiliation

Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801218755975

PMID

29519197

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.

Language: en

Keywords

forced oral sex; marital rape; rape; sexual assault