Some might want to pick sources other than the WaPo, perhaps picking more directly from the DOJ, FBI, , CDC and Children's Bureau of DHS. Fortunately, the ICRW has done that for you in one of their reports on
Child Sexual Abuse. I found this bit of data interesting.
Out of every 100 Rapes:
40 get reported to the police
10 lead to an arrest
8 get prosecuted
4 lead to a felony conviction
3 will spend even a single day in prison.
---------------------------------------------
97 will walk free.
Draw you own conclusions about children being safer.
Rape is a horrible act and as a society we should work towards eliminating it. However I don't think it's a major factor when discussing the safety of children especially when talking about letting them walk to school and go out to play by themselves.
The link you provided to the ICRW was very useful. I found two sections especially interesting. One was about the perpetrators.
Taken from the ICRW report
@JonDouglas shared:
Perpetrators of CSA are often patient, manipulative and willing to put a lot of energy into molding a relationship with a victim, which makes it difficult for the victim to easily detach. The National Center for Victims of Crime website, like many others, captures the general process of cultivation (often called grooming) that allows a perpetrator to gradually introduce sexual acts into a relationship with a child.
The other was about locations:
Perpetrators most often sexually abuse their victims in a home. A report from the Child Advocacy Center of Houston shows that 84 percent of sexual victimization of children under 12 years old took place in a residence — either the victim’s or the perpetrator’s — which was also true for 71 percent of victims ages 12-17.
Another study I found from The Rape Crisis Center lists 12 to 17 year old victims of rape represent 15% of all rape victims. Interestingly enough it seems as if rape victims under 12 are less than 1% based on the numbers they reported, but that may be a reporting problem.
https://rapecrisis.com/statistics/
Additionally from the first report it appears children from rural areas (which many people would consider safer for the to walk to and from school and to go out and play) have higher rate of child sexual abuse than urban areas.
Again from the report
@JonDouglas provided the link to:
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center produced the report Unspoken Crimes: Sexual Assault in Rural America, which shows the unique challenges of dealing with CSA in rural settings. For example, there are fewer services in general for all forms of sexual violence, including for children. The communities themselves are notable because the small populations, though spread across more land, tend to be closely knit. Potential interveners outside of the home — teachers, nurses, child care providers, etc. — may be less inclined to identify signs and symptoms as CSA because they likely have longstanding friendships with potential perpetrators. Another, similar report from the National Coalition against Domestic Violence underscores that although the number of CSA victims is higher in urban areas, the rate of CSA is higher in rural areas.
What is missing from these reports is whether or not the incidence of rape and sexual abuse is higher, lower or the same between the time when many of us were free to walk to school and play outside unsupervised. I still contend that it is safer for children now but I don't have any statistics to back that up when talking about sexual abuse and rape.
