Men Who Commit Statutory Rape: How are They Different from other Rapists?

• Published in: Medicine, science, and the law Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 147 - 154
• Main Authors: Lim, Leslie EC, Gwee, Kok-Peng, Woo, Matthew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.04.2001
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Child; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Odds Ratio; Rape - psychology; Risk Factors; Sexual Behavior; Singapore; Singapore
• ISSN: 0025-8024; 2042-1818
• DOI: 10.1177/002580240104100211

From an original cohort of 63 rapists serving prison sentences for rape in Singapore, two subgroups were identified, one subgroup who raped females 14 years and younger (an offence that is termed ‘statutory rape’ or ‘SR’) and another who raped females 14 years and above (which we term ‘non-statutory rape’ or ‘NSR’). The two subgroups were compared across a broad range of variables. Those who committed SR tended to be older, married, Malay men who were more likely to commit rape in their home or in the home of their victims, and who rated the quality of their sexual relationships more unfavourably than the NSRs. The NSRs were more likely to be single men but with concurrent relationships with different females. NSRs were more likely to report dysfunctional family backgrounds, early conduct problems and were more likely to rape their victims outdoors and late into the night. Although in both subgroups the majority of the victims were known to the rapists, relatives (i.e. step-daughters or daughters) were by far the most common victims of the SR rapists.