Statistics on rape and other acts of sexual assault are commonly available in industrialized countries, and have become better documented throughout the world. Inconsistent definitions of rape, different rates of reporting, recording, prosecution and conviction for rape can create controversial statistical disparities, and has led to concerns that many rape statistics may not accurately represent the extent of its prevalence.
In some jurisdictions, male-on-female rape is the only form of rape counted in the statistics. Some jurisdictions also don't count being forced to penetrate another as rape, creating further controversy around rape statistics. Countries may not define marital rape (forced sex on a spouse) as rape. Rape is an under-reported crime. The reasons for not reporting rape vary across countries, and may include fear of retaliation, uncertainty about whether a crime was committed or if the offender intended harm, feelings of shame or humiliation, not wanting the offender to get in trouble, fear of prosecution (e.g. due to laws against premarital sex), and doubt in or distrust of local law enforcement.
In 2005, a United Nations statistical report compiled from government sources showed that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded by police annually. The reported data covered 65 countries.
Research
Most rape research and reporting to date has been limited to male–female forms of rape. Research on male–male and female–male is beginning to be done. However, almost no research has been done on female–female rape, though women can be charged with rape in a few jurisdictions. A few books, such as Violent Betrayal: Partner Abuse in Lesbian Relationships by Dr. Claire M. Renzetti,Renzetti, Claire M. Violent Betrayal: Partner Abuse in Lesbian Relationships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1992, . No More Secrets: Violence in Lesbian Relationships by Janice Ristock,Ristock, Janice. No More Secrets: Violence in Lesbian Relationships. New York: Routledge, 2002, . and Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence: Does She Call It Rape? by Lori B. GirshickGirshick, Lori B. Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence: Does She Call It Rape? (The Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and the Law). Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2000, . also cover the topic of rape of women by other women.
By country This table indicates the annual number of recorded rapes per capita by country for last available year. Each entry is based on that country's definition of rape, which varies widely throughout the world. It does not specify whether recorded means reported, brought to trial, or convicted. It does not include cases of rape which go unreported or unrecorded. Alternative estimates can show large differences, such as South Africa having around 500,000 rapes per year, or Egypt having more than 20,000 rapes a year.
Country Reported annual per 100,000 Year 1.8 2023 1.6 2023 0.0 2019 42.9 2023 14.0 2023 2.8 2023 18.7 2024 25.5 2023 0.2 2021 13.8 2022 3.2 2008 8.0 2006 14.5 2022 1.2 2019 37.6 2023 6.0 2022 5.2 2017 0.0 2014 6.9 2020 36.1 2023 1.1 2023 96.3 2020 22.9 2020 7.7 2006 1.1 2023 10.6 2014 20.7 2015 1.1 2021 1.4 2012 21.9 2023 38.5 2023 50.1 2023 10.8 2023 3.0 2023 16.2 2023 39.9 2023 13.5 2022 11.8 2023 33.1 2023 0.1 2011 43.6 2022 England and Wales 117.3 2022 14.0 2023 75.2 2021 42.5 2023 62.7 2023 3.1 2019 15.5 2023 1.3 2021 2.9 2023 101.6 2023 33.2 2023 1.0 2007 24.1 2023 2.2 2018 16.9 2023 0.9 2023 5.5 2023 45.4 2023 2.2 2022 0.5 2022 (Central) 2.5 2021 19.3 2023 15.5 2023 16.9 2023 2.2 2023 1.6 2021 7.1 2017 1.5 2022 5.7 2021 4.3 2009 7.3 2020 15.0 2023 0.0 2023 89.7 2009 12.6 2023 3.2 2023 22.0 2023 3.0 2022 1.3 2015 4.8 2023 1.3 2017 11.8 2023 2.8 2021 19.0 2023 9.4 2023 13.4 2016 16.4 2023 2.4 2023 2.7 2023 0.2 2009 1.3 2023 43.0 2021 4.2 2016 13.3 2023 58.6 2023 15.0 2019 0.4 2013 1.8 2023 63.0 2023 42.1 2023 0.0 2018 2.37 World Population Review (Pakistan 2023 Statistics)Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Annual Report 2023UN Women Pakistan Institutional Framework Report 2023 0.17 2023 76.3 2022 18.6 2023 31.1 2022 1.2 2023 1.3 2023 4.7 2023 7.1 2022 0.7 2021 13.9 2023 5.8 2020 2.4 2013 49.2 2022 10.6 2023 0.1 2019 43.6 2023 0.5 2016 1.3 2023 1.3 2008 7.5 2023 1.8 2023 12.2 2023 11.0 2008 69.5 2017 13.3 2004 10.2 2023 7.9 2019 30.4 2022 3.5 2008 49.9 2023 24.4 2024 9.5 2023 0.1 2018 1.6 2011 0.3 2020 11.2 2015 5.6 2023 6.2 2020 15.4 2014 0.5 2006 3.3 2017 0.84 2020 0.54 2022 41.4 2022 6.1 2023 0.6 2021 0.0 2023 2.5 2018 0.7 2009 33.2 2023
Policy and statistics by country
Afghanistan
Rape in Afghanistan is a crime which can be legally prosecuted, but in practice it is very rarely reported, because of the immense risks that women face if they report it. In 2011, Afghanistan made international news in regard to the story of a woman who was raped by a man, jailed for adultery, gave birth to a child in jail, and was then subsequently pardoned by president Hamid Karzai, and in the end married the man who raped her.
In 2012, Afghanistan recorded 240 cases of honour killings and 160 cases of rape, but did not distinguish between the two crimes. In 2013, in eastern Ghazni, a man attacked a woman and attempted to rape her, and as a result the relatives of the woman killed both the woman and the man in an honour killing. In Afghanistan, crimes such as adultery, rape and trafficking are often conflated with each other, and it is generally not acceptable for a woman and a man to be alone together (unless married or related). If this happens, the response can be very violent: an Afghan medical doctor and his female patient were attacked by an angry mob who threw stones at them after the two were discovered in his private examining room without a chaperon. In 2013, the security forces were also alleged to rape children in the country.
Algeria
Article 336 of the Penal Code stipulates that rape is a punishable offence, but does not give a definition of rape, as this is left to the courts. The lack of a clear definition of rape in Algerian law makes it difficult for people to report the act and seek legal remedies.Algerian authorities must investigate and prosecute attacks against women – Amnesty International Australia
The Hassi Messaoud was reported in 2001, 2005, and 2010 to sexually assault, traffic, and abuse women.
There have been continuous allegations that during the Algerian War French troops had engaged in acts of torture and rape against Algerians.
Australia Non-consensual sexual penetration is termed "rape" in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania; "Sexual Assault" in New South Wales; "Sexual intercourse without consent" in the ACT and the Northern Territory; "Sexual penetration without consent" in Western Australia. All these offences are gender neutral and applicable in marriage. The laws in Australia have evolved from the English common law offence of rape, but have gradually changed, especially in the late 20th century.
In Australia the reported rape rate per 100,000 people is relatively high, although it is in a decreasing trend, coming down from 91.6 in 2003S. Harrendorf, M. Heiskanen, S. Malby, INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS on CRIME AND JUSTICE United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (2010) to 28.6 in 2010. This stands in contrast to reported rape rate of 1.2 per 100,000 in Japan, 1.8 per 100,000 in India, 4.6 rapes per 100,000 in Bahrain, 12.3 per 100,000 in Mexico, 24.1 per 100,000 in United Kingdom, 28.6 per 100,000 in United States, 66.5 per 100,000 in Sweden.
During the 12 months prior to interview in 2011–12, an estimated 51,200 (0.3%) Australians aged 18 years and over were a victim of sexual assault. Almost a third (30%) of victims of sexual assault had the most recent incident they experienced reported to the police.
The Australian Women's Safety Survey conducted by the Bureau of Statistics in 1996 involved a random sample of 6,300 women aged 18 and over. It produced incidence finding of 1.9 per cent for sexual assault in the previous 12 months. Men who are known to the woman accounted for over two-thirds of assailants (68%). Only 15% of the assaulted women in the sample reported to the police.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh has received criticism for its employment of the "two-finger test" in rape investigations. This test consists of a physical examination of women who report rape during which a doctor inserts two fingers in the woman's vagina to determine whether the woman is "habituated to sex". This examination has its origin in the country's British colonial-era laws dating back to 1872. This deters many women from reporting rape. More than 100 experts, including doctors, lawyers, police, and women's rights activists, signed a joint statement in 2013 asking for the test, which they called "demeaning", to be abolished, as it "does not provide any evidence that is relevant to proving the offence." On 12 April 2018 Bangladesh High Court banned the "two-finger test" on the ground that the tests have no scientific merit or evidential value.
Between the years of 2010 and 2013, the United Nations Multi-country Study on Men and Violence asked men in rural and urban Bangladesh if they had forced a woman to have sex at any point in their lives. 14.1% of men in rural Bangladesh and 9.5% of men in urban Bangladesh said yes (10% averaged). 2.7% of men in rural Bangladesh and 0.5% (6/1252) in urban Bangladesh had raped in the past year. In rural Bangladesh 41.4% of rapists perpetrated more than once, 3.7% had four or more victims, and 40% first raped as a teenager. 82% of rural Bangladeshi and 79% of urban Bangladeshi men cited entitlement as their reason for rape. 61.2% of urban Bangladeshi men who had raped did not feel guilty or worried afterwards, and 95.1% experienced no legal consequences. 3.7% of men in rural Bangladesh had raped another man. 89.2% of urban Bangladeshi men agreed to the statement "if a woman doesn't physically fight back, it's not rape."
Belgium
In 2008, the incidence of rapes recorded by the police was 26.3 per 100,000 people, according to data by UNODC."Rape at the National Level, number of police recorded offenses". United Nations.
Rape in Belgium is defined by Article 375 of the Penal Code as "any act of sexual penetration, of whatever sort and by whatever means, committed on a non-consenting person".Loi – Wet Marital rape is also illegal under this law.
Apart from criminal proceedings, committing marital rape has also consequences in a divorce case. The new amendments of the Civil Code regulating marriage and divorce, that came into effect in September 2007, state that any of the spouses, following a divorce, may receive alimony if they need the money; but a spouse who has committed rape or other violent crimes against the other spouse cannot receive alimony. Article 301 reads: "The court may refuse to grant the application for a alimony if the defendant proves that the applicant has committed a serious offense that rendered it impossible to continue living together. Under no circumstances will alimony be given to a spouse who was found guilty of an act referred to in Articles 375, 398-400, 402, 403 or 405 of the Penal Code, committed against the person of the defendant, or an attempt to commit an act referred to in Articles 375, 393, 394 or 397 of the Code against the same person."Text in French: "Le tribunal peut refuser de faire droit à la demande de pension si le défendeur prouve que le demandeur a commis une faute grave ayant rendu impossible la poursuite de la vie commune. En aucun cas, la pension alimentaire n'est accordée au conjoint reconnu coupable d'un fait visé aux articles 375, 398 à 400, 402, 403 ou 405 du Code pénal, commis contre la personne du défendeur, ou d'une tentative de commettre un fait visé aux articles 375, 393, 394 ou 397 du même Code contre cette même personne."
Belize