The word "rapist" may make you think of a creepy-looking adult man stalking a young, pretty girl, waiting to pounce on her. However, a new study dispels that notion.
According to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, 1 in 10 youths surveyed shockingly admitted to perpetrating some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, with 4 percent reporting attempted to or raping another person.
In other words, 9 percent of youths aged 14 to 21 admitted to some kind of forced sexual contact, using tactics from guilt to threats and actual physical force. Half blamed their victims. Over 1,000 teenagers and young adults participated in the online survey.
"I don't get creeped out very often," says Michele Ybarra, lead researcher of the study, which was published online in JAMA Pediatrics. "But this was wow."
When asked who was to blame, half of the perpetrators said the victim was completely responsible; one-third said it was their own fault. "If half of the perpetrators felt the victim was responsible for this, we need to do something," Ybarra, who is president and research director of the Center for Innovative Public Health in San Clemente, Calif.
"We know a bit about youth who are victims of sexual violence, but we don't know much at all about youth as perpetrators," Ybarra said. "It's important we know more if we're going to reduce the sexual-violence rate."
The most common context in which an act of sexual violence occurred was between couples. In fact, 73 percent of the reported cases in the study occurred with a "romantic partner." Sexual predators were quick to say that in 50 percent of the cases, it was the victims "fault" and not theirs for committing the sexual crime.
The online survey conducted between 2010 and 2011 also looked at media use and found that perpetrators of sexual violence were more likely to watch violent X-rated materials than were the others.
