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90% of Provo rapes not reported to police

Well, that's messed up

as growing up ...many were told something i could never understand ..that was confusing to me as a man ...better to die than to give it up..until i ended up saving three potential rape victums and saw the truma caused to the victum. It is a violent crime. The guy needs to pay everyday!

she should have died before that happened to her? wow that really is so sad that she believes that like i felt terrible when i first read that. it is terrible to think that a man could do that to a woman.... it might sound cliche, but what is this world coming to?

It is incredibly sad that someone could think they are unpure when they are raped. Purity has everything to do with your intent and desires, not what happens to you. If you had no impure desires or motives and someone raped you, how could you consider yourself impure? YOU are just as pure as before.

I think this article is a representation of where we are as a society. It would be convenient to categorize rapists as just "monsters" because then we can separate ourselves from them easily, but if we really looked into it we would understand that they are just one step, albeit a VERY LARGE STEP, from a normal functioning person. The events that lead them to taking that large step is tragic.

I will post an incredible quote after this that, I believe, shows a little into how a person can get to that point.

Educating young Women and Men regarding sexual matters (herpes,aids etc,) as well as offensive and defensive behaviours is a must in these times, to still have Young Women bearing the responsibility from Her Community/Family and feeling rage and frustration and fear because She's been taught not to respond to the authorities or let anyone know only sends a message to those so inclined to sexual violence, that this is a safe environment to persue thier actions...

Chastity and virginity are not the same. A rape victim does not lose chastity, which is the greatest virtue she/he can bring to her/his marriage. LDS men and women should understand this and not devalue themselves because of rape. They are still priceless children of God and are chaste.

pLEASE BECOME MORE EDUCATED AS THIS OFFICER HAS BECOME ONE OF YOUR GREATEST TOOLS..NO LONGER CAN WE SIT BY AND LET THIS HAPPEN TO GOOD SISTERS. PROTECT AND BE VIGILANT! PROSECUTE EVERYONE OF THEM AS YOU WILL BE SAVING OTHERS!THIS IS A SICK , VICIOUS CRIME!

I don't understand why Mormon women feel that way. Girls, please know that you are the victim and I as a man would show an increased level of love and support if you were the victim of rape. I don't know anyone who would condemn you for being raped.

Five or 6 years ago, someone showed me some Anti-Mormon literature that said rape was highest in Utah country than anywhere else in the nation.

A friend explained it to me that it was most likely that reported rape was highest in Utah county because girls would go to their bishops if they were raped and he would encourage them to report it to the police, where as other communities a lot of rapes go unreported in other communities.

This article dispels that theory. Can anyone comment on this? Is Utah county still one of the highest in the nation?

This is terribly sad. But I wish they would explain how it is they estimate that 90% go unreported if they're, well, unreported.

What's wrong with telling women to train to carry a Taser, knife, gun or other weapon to protect them from the Hell the girls described in this article are going through?

Rapes (especially date rape) are not reported in Utah because everybody is so judgmental and blames the victim! I was raped. But victims of rape in Utah are accused of wearing immodest clothing, or not following the spirit and going places they should not be, or not listening to the still small voice tell them when a guy is a bad guy, etc. I was horrified by how I was treated after the attack.

I can understand why these girls say they wish they had not lived. Even though everyone knows they did nothing wrong, how could you feel anything BUT unclean after someone does such an awful thing to you? There is nothing wrong with these girls feeling this way.
Frankly, if they felt fine afterwards, I would be MORE worried about them.
There is nothing wrong with our society if these girls feel like this, they just need love and support by those who truly care about them. That is where we run into trouble, with the loved ones not acting appropriately after the fact. The burden is on the family and friends of these girls to help them know they still are pure.

The article said that only about 40 of an estimated 400 rapes in Provo were reported. I don't mean to sound like a skeptic, but how do they get to that number of 400? Is it based on the national average?

who cares about the numbers...this is hell to any amount of women. One raises and nurtures the ladies then something evil comes this way. Take precaution as these evil doers are becomming more sophisticated and lack any compassion. Don't be so Naive!

It's better to DIE than lose your virginity?

Yes Provo, and the Earth is flat (and only 6000 years old), evolution doesn't exist, women shouldn't be allowed to vote, blacks don't deserve the priesthood,
and the Easter Bunny is real.

Tumbleweed Tom,

Because they might activate one of those things in church!!!

My favorite farewell ended with the entire congregation being maced by one girl fiddling with the can inside her purse. The building was evacuated, and bishops argued with the Stake President how they would now report attendance because of budgetary issues.

Having been one of the hundreds maced in this incident, I kind of wonder how effective those sorts of deterrents are. They could always be turned against the victim and make things worse for her/him. She could wind up dead even, if the deterrent was a gun or a knife.

Our laws on rape need to include the death penalty for those who are serial rapists or rape young children. I just hope the Supreme Court upholds the one capital punishment rape case that is before them right now, and that other states put similar laws on the books.

400 is a bit hard for me to swallow. I too wonder where that number comes from. There is quite a few that aren't reported, but I pray that number is no where near 400.

Weird. If only 10 percent of the rapes are reported, how do they know the other 360 or so occured? How do they know only 10 percent are reported? How do you track things that are not reported? How do you quantify statistics without somekind of numerical evidence? It seems to me if you can track the number of rapes that aren't reported, you have a way of helping and/or encouraging those women report those rapes to the cops. Where did this Lemmon get her info? Sounds almost like she just made it up.

Anyway, its horrible and sad that some women feel they can't report this ugly, violent crime. All rapes should be reported, and offenders prosecuted to the limits of the law!

This is not a well written article. A topic like this should be given much more thought. Please back up your statistics. A half attempt at trying to write an article on a subject like this is a slap in the face of victims.

A lot of the "beliefs" that a rape robs you of your purity is because we, as a group, don't teach our young women with straight talk. If parents and leaders don't teach girls with frank discussions, these misconceptions happen. The discussion doesn't have to be disgusting, but it should be straight forward. As a Young Women leader in the church, I have very honest discussions with the girls and they appreciate it. This is an adult world and we're sending them out into it - they need to be prepared.