Maybe a more appropriate comparison would be assault. If you punch someone in the arm, it can be construed as assault. It’s also assault if you beat them nearly to death with a sledgehammer.

“One can kill and pillage and not rape, as has been documented for certain armies in the past. I would not assume that the pattern seen in the jungles of Vietnam, the trenches of France in WW I, at Anzio or in Iraq are at all the same, and there is probably as much variation among western armies and occupation forces as there is among African, Asian or any other region, and there is certainly a great deal of variation across historical time as well.”

Thank you for these two very important points. Armies need not rape, even in an occupied country, and it’s something seen in the West as well as elsewhere.

One can even find during the same conflict, in the same army, both kinds of behavior. Take the case of the French colonial (mostly North African) troops in WWII, which took an important part in the liberation of Europe but didn’t get recognition until very late. In 1943, these troops first were sent to Italy and, outside combat, engaged in rape, loot and brutality toward civilians. But next year, when it was necessary to send them to France, these same troops were a model of good behavior! There were probably more French women raped by American G.I.’s, in 1944-45, than by these African soldiers. (And yes, some G.I.s in Normandy raped. There are well documented cases.)

The reason for the difference is obvious… In Italy, the officers, apparently, let the troops know that they didn’t care, they washed their hands in advance about possible abuse, and abuse happened. Not something the Allies brag about, of course. Italy was enemy territory, Mussolini’s troops had taken part in the occupation of France in 1940-42 and the French (even in high command) felt that Italians didn’t deserve favors.

But in next year’s campaign in France, the same officers and high command made it plainly known that the troops would be on a tight leash and that French women would have to be considered as sacrosanct…

maybe there is a ‘kill’ switch that gets triggered? i am a bit jaded to see how donated money is dispersed.

I have no idea if date rape is more common than, say incest type rape or violent strange

Enormously so.

If the majority of rapes are date rape for instance, it seems plausible that only a few men are perpetrators with many victims.

My impression is that this is actually truer of violent-stranger-type rape than date rape, but I don’t have statistics on it.

I guess what I am thinking is like in the case of a burglar. How many burglars only rob one apartment? If someone is disposed to rape, he may continue until incarcerated. It makes me wonder if this is just basic law enforcement. Unlike a burglar, who if he got a better job, might quit, a rapist may not quit if he has a wife or girlfriend. The abuse could just change shape.