News

Actions

'Crime clock' finds 7 rapes in AZ every 24 hours

Posted at 5:08 PM, Feb 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-29 19:08:19-05

The topic of rape took center stage at Sunday night's Academy Awards with Lady Gaga and a choir of sexual abuse survivors performing her Oscar-nominated song “Til It Happens To You”. The song is from the documentary film “The Hunting Ground,” which exposes campus rape.

Lady Gaga was introduced by Vice-President Joe Biden, who called for an "end of rape culture." He asked for people to get involved and intervene in situations that may lead to sexual assault.

So how does Arizona fare when it comes to protecting people from rape?

In 2014, someone was raped in Arizona an average of every 3 hours, 18 minutes

  • Rapes went up 47% from 2013 to 2014, when they started including sexual attacks on males.

  • After Phoenix (1,006) and Tucson (399), Mesa had the highest number of rapes with 252.

  • The most rapes occurred in October with 229. February had the fewest with 137.

  • The value of property stolen during rapes totaled $19,300 or $7.29 per offense

  • 290 men were arrested for rape, with 45 of those being juveniles

  • 11 women were arrested for rape

 

FYI: For the purpose of this report

In 2014, rape was defined as:

Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.

Statutory rape: No force used but victim is under the age of consent, 18. Statutory rape is NOT included in these statistics.

Prior to 2014, rape was defined as:

The carnal knowledge of a female through the use of force or threat of force. Assaults or attempts to commit forcible rape are also included; however, statutory rape (without  force) and other sex offenses are not counted in this category. 

By definition, sex attacks on males were excluded prior to 2014 and were classified as assaults or "other sex offenses" depending on the nature of the crime and the extent of injury.That could explain the jump between 2013 and 2014 rape reports.

The Arizona crime clock represents an annual ratio of crime during a 24-hour day.

It is compiled by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and based on 2014 crime statistics.

In a 24-hour period during 2014, there was:

1 Murder
7 Rapes
17 Robberies
41 Aggravated Assaults
110 Burglaries
399 Thefts
43 Vehicle Thefts
3 Arsons