Rapes up in Amarillo, TX, but that may be due to reporting

Reported rapes are up 30% in Amarillo, Texas in 2007 as compared to 2006, but that doesn't mean that there are more rapes actualy occuring. It may mean that reported rapes are up, with more victims coming forward than in times past.

The Amarillo Police Department calls it incident based reporting. Cpl. Jerry Neufeld says when a break-in is reported, if an assault took place at that break-in, the police would report two incidents as opposed to the one event.

In 2007, 438 sexual assault exams were conducted in Amarillo. But La Viza Hollingsworth of Family Support Services says 347 of those were on children under the age of 18.

The FBI says Amarillo's rape rate is about 1.5 times higher than the national average. In fact, Amarillo has the highest rate per capita of sexual assault against women and children.

But Hollingsworth says in the last couple of years, more awareness has been raised. She says that is a good sign. She says "you do have to talk about it. You do have to get counseling, and it's ok to go to the police."

Hollingsworth says through counseling and saying out loud that it happened, victims can be helped.

She also points out that the typical rapist is not a stranger, but someone the victim lives with, whether a boyfriend or spouse.

A distubing finding is that 35% of men would rape someone if they knew they would not get caught, according to the Texas Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

When victims are treated like offenders, even to the extent of being polygraphed, and sex crimes against adults are minimized if the victim was drinking, involved with, or was a prostitute, there is a good chance that rapists won't get caught.

A person who wants to sexually exploit can stay away from these four things and they'll have a hard time getting more than a minor felony conviction, even if they break the law.

1) Minors - minor victims are taken more seriously that adult victims, even if the minor is 17 years and 11 months and the adult is 18 years and 1 month.

2) Force - most laws state use of force is required for a rape comviction against an adult.

3) Fiduciary or custodial relationships - without a teacher/student, guard/inmate or therapist/patient relationship with over 18s, adults with more power can literally get away with using their power to victimize without criminal charges. Sexual harassment lawsuits are civil charges.

4) Drugs or alcohol - without these, coerced or manipulated sexual behavior can never be seen as date rape under current laws.