STATISTICS on rape incidents may still not be a good reflection of the extent of the crime.
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Stigmatisation of rape victims keeps the numbers low, a further armoury to the criminals.
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In the United States, where about 80,000 cases of rape reported to the police from 2004 to 2010, according to United Nations data, US Justice and Department estimates 300,000 American women are raped annually, and the Centre for Disease Control says 1.3 million.
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The 678 cases the Lagos State Police Command said it recorded between March 2012 and March 2013, should be seen as numbers: Unreported rape cases are on the increase. More alarming is that the epidemic affects underage persons. The media are replete with reports of young girls intercourseually violated, as young as three months.
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According to a 2009 study in Clinical Psychology Review, in 65 studies from 22 countries, the highest prevalence rate of child intercourseual abuse was in Africa (34.4 per cent).