This is something which has been on my mind given the focus on allegations of sexual misconduct by politicians. Quite a few of the clients I represent are convicted sex offenders, ranging anywhere from stalking to serial rape. From my limited sample, they share a lot in common: all men, all non-white, and nearly all homeless. Virtually no one wants to hire them for work so they end up homeless, and even when they don't have a fixed residence they are required to register with the sheriff every 72 hours. They don't always do so, so jail becomes a revolving door for them. I previously
I'm finding multiple contradictory sources regarding what percent of men are rapists, from 0.1 to 5% or higher.
Let's take the lower number, in that case we expect to see 165,000 rapists in jail, which is what you describe (and makes me suspect that is in fact the source for the number).
For 5%, we'd expect to see over 8 million men in jail, and the 165k rate is ludicrously low, and clear proof of "rape culture" where the vast majority of rapists get away with it.
But we don't actually know what percent of men are rapists.
I'm not arguing that we need a number higher than 165k in jail, although that does sound like it must be the case. Instead, if we could come up with something more effective and less expensive to tax payers like castration that would be better (I know castration does not always stop people from raping with objects or other body parts, but I still can't help but think it should be somewhat effective, and then the repeat offenders still raping sans penis could be dealt with as a separate category— given the high likelihood at that point of being irredeemable sadistic sociopaths, maybe the death penalty.)
> For 5%, we'd expect to see over 8 million men in jail, and the 165k rate is ludicrously low, and clear proof of "rape culture" where the vast majority of rapists get away with it.
But lots of non-rapist criminals get away with it. Some crimes are just too minor to fully pursue completely (shoplifting for example) while others are just practically not possible to fully enforce (on any given night, lots of drunk drivers don't get caught). I think for the "rape culture" term to still have meaning, it shouldn't be describing a phenomenon that is not endemic of every other criminal offense.
Rape is a serious offense that prosecutors are very enthusiastic about pursuing on paper, but it's also has unique evidentiary challenges that make it harder to prosecute compared to other crimes. A rape by a stranger with DNA evidence and signs of injuries from a struggle is generally an easy prosecution to prove in court. Compare that to a rape charge between two sexual partners and no evidence of force.
Assuming the 5% figure is correct, the reasons for why the number of rapists in jail would be so low compared to the universe of offenders is not obvious.
"How much higher should that number be?"
Well, ideally, 100% of the number of rapists.
I'm finding multiple contradictory sources regarding what percent of men are rapists, from 0.1 to 5% or higher.
Let's take the lower number, in that case we expect to see 165,000 rapists in jail, which is what you describe (and makes me suspect that is in fact the source for the number).
For 5%, we'd expect to see over 8 million men in jail, and the 165k rate is ludicrously low, and clear proof of "rape culture" where the vast majority of rapists get away with it.
But we don't actually know what percent of men are rapists.
I'm not arguing that we need a number higher than 165k in jail, although that does sound like it must be the case. Instead, if we could come up with something more effective and less expensive to tax payers like castration that would be better (I know castration does not always stop people from raping with objects or other body parts, but I still can't help but think it should be somewhat effective, and then the repeat offenders still raping sans penis could be dealt with as a separate category— given the high likelihood at that point of being irredeemable sadistic sociopaths, maybe the death penalty.)
> For 5%, we'd expect to see over 8 million men in jail, and the 165k rate is ludicrously low, and clear proof of "rape culture" where the vast majority of rapists get away with it.
But lots of non-rapist criminals get away with it. Some crimes are just too minor to fully pursue completely (shoplifting for example) while others are just practically not possible to fully enforce (on any given night, lots of drunk drivers don't get caught). I think for the "rape culture" term to still have meaning, it shouldn't be describing a phenomenon that is not endemic of every other criminal offense.
Rape is a serious offense that prosecutors are very enthusiastic about pursuing on paper, but it's also has unique evidentiary challenges that make it harder to prosecute compared to other crimes. A rape by a stranger with DNA evidence and signs of injuries from a struggle is generally an easy prosecution to prove in court. Compare that to a rape charge between two sexual partners and no evidence of force.
Assuming the 5% figure is correct, the reasons for why the number of rapists in jail would be so low compared to the universe of offenders is not obvious.