> First of all, I'm trying to figure out what other kinds of rape there *are* besides 'forcible' rape.

That's the terminology that the FBI used. From what I gather, that's the legal term for all types of non-consentual sex with someone of legal age.

To me, and I'm certain to the victim (or survivor, as some people prefer) of a rape, a rape is a rape is a rape.

>Second, those 'Take Back The Night' marches are specifically geared towards nightime attacks by random criminals on unsuspecting people.

I have to disagree with that. The people involved who march are trying to bring an awareness of the victimization of rape to the community -- date rape or attack by a stranger.

The night isn't the thing to focus on. It's an awareness issue that these women (and men) are trying to achieve. You don't see people walking around with placards reading "I'd rather be sexually assaulted during daylight hours".

When it's light out, you can see things clearly and you have a sense of safety. At night, your vision is limited, you can't see as far, you don't feel that safe. This feeling of being in danger is what is being used in the slogan "Take Back the Night". It's imagery. It's not the acutal night.

These marches are specifically geared towards rape and sexual assault.

>So I say go back and find out how many of those rapes you sited were the 'nighttime attack by random criminal' type, and how many were the much more common 'someone you know' type, and *then* figure out the distribution by population for those areas.

For the rest of the statistics, I was supporting Tom Schmidt's statement that arguing that violent crime takes place only in large cities is absurd.

If you want to look at 'nighttime attack by a random criminal', you might want to look at the 'aggevated assault' statistic. There, you'll find that New York city isn't as bad as New Haven, CT, but is slightly worse than West Valley, UT, and all three are much, much worse than Salem, OR.

Even then, you are three times more likely to be raped in Salem, Oregon, than you would be in New York City.

-Faux Pas