Encyclopedia of Rape and Sexual Violence [2 volumes]

Front Cover
Merril D. Smith
ABC-CLIO, May 3, 2018 - True Crime - 637 pages

This two-volume set provides an authoritative overview of rape and other forms of sexual violence, containing the latest information about victims and perpetrators; events, laws, and trends related to sexual violence; and attitudes toward it.

This encyclopedia will help readers to develop a deeper understanding of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the United States and around the world. Content illuminates all aspects of this serious issue, including the forms of trauma experienced by survivors/victims; different types of rape, from incest to acquaintance rape to prison rape; specific cases, events, and controversies; laws, policies, movements, and organizations pertaining to the issue; and legal, political, and cultural contributors to rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Encyclopedia of Rape and Sexual Violence follows an A–Z format, but instead of comprising brief overview entries, it features twenty chapters, each of which is a long-form entry that covers key perspectives, laws, court cases, and statistics on survivors/victims and perpetrators. Leading scholars' and activists' perspectives on the subject add depth to the information provided; the set also includes a selection of essential primary documents.

  • Explains the many types of rape and sexual violence
  • Discusses what organizations and nations are doing to help victims and survivors and to convict perpetrators, and provides insights into what has worked and what has failed—and why
  • Covers sexual violence committed globally against people of all genders and ages and in a variety of conditions, including prisons, nursing homes, over the internet, and in wartime, so that readers may understand the universality of the issue
  • Covers both U.S. and international topics in primary documents including testimonies from rape victims given before the US Senate in relation to violence in the military, scandals in gymnastics, and human trafficking; documents concerning corrective hate in South Africa and those forced into sexual slavery by ISIS; and legislation such as the Clery Act and Title IX

Other editions - View all

About the author (2018)

Merril D. Smith, PhD, is an independent scholar and author. Her works include Encyclopedia of Rape, Sex without Consent: Rape and Sexual Coercion in America, and Cultural Encyclopedia of the Breast.

Bibliographic information