Rape myths affect many aspects of the investigative and criminal justice systems. One such myth, the‘real rape’ myth, states that most rapes involve a stranger using a weapon attacking a woman violently atnight in an isolated, outdoor area, and that women sustain serious injuries from these attacks. The presentstudy examined how often actual offences reported to a central UK police force over a two year periodmatched the ‘real rape’ myth. Out of 400 cases of rape reported, not a single incident was found withall the characteristics of the ‘real rape’ myth. The few stranger rapes that occurred had a strong link tonight-time economy activities, such as the victim and offender both having visited pubs, bars, and clubs.By contrast, the majority of reported rape offences (280 cases, 70.7%) were committed by people knownto the victim (e.g., domestic and acquaintance rapes), occurred inside a residence, with most victimssustaining no physical injuries from the attack. The benefits of these naturalistic findings from the fieldfor educating people about the inaccuracy of rape myths are discussed.

中文翻译：

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神话传说：向英国警方报告强奸罪的现实

强奸神话影响调查和刑事司法系统的许多方面。一个这样的神话，即“真正的强奸”神话，指出大多数强奸案涉及一名陌生人使用武器在夜间在一个偏僻的室外区域暴力袭击一名妇女，而妇女因这些袭击而受到严重伤害。本研究调查了在两年的时间内向英国中央警察部队报告的实际犯罪与“真实强奸”神话相符的频率。在报告的400起强奸案中，未发现任何事件具有“真正的强奸”神话的所有特征。发生的少数陌生人强奸案与夜间经济活动有很强的联系，例如受害者和罪犯都曾去过酒吧，酒吧和夜总会，相比之下，所报告的大多数强奸罪（280起，占70.7％）由受害者所知的人（例如，住所内发生强奸），大多数受害者在袭击中没有受到身体伤害。讨论了从自然界中发现的这些自然发现对于教育人们关于强奸神话的不准确性的好处。