Rape: Psychology, Prevention and Impact
Marcia Cohen and Sherrie H. McKenna
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AN INTRODUCTION
The word “rape” is derived from the Latin “rapere” meaning to “steal, seize or carry away”. Rape is the oldest means by which a man seized or stole a wife. A man simply took whichever woman he wanted, raped her, and then brought her to his tribe as his possession.
The
American
Heritage
Dictionary
defines rape as “The crime of forcing a female to submit to sexual intercourse.” And the legal definition is “carnal knowledge through the use of force or threat of force” according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. All three definitions describe a violent infringement on the personal dignity of an individual.
“During the first four months of 1981, 31 rapes were reported in New Haven. That’s one rape every 4 days.”
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