ictims, they do not come forward for many reasons including shame, embarrassment, and fear. Losing control and being violated causes feelings of degradation in many women victimized by rape. It has been proven that there are many reasons why young teenage girls are vulnerable to rape in this country. According to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics this situation is just getting overlooked and not surprisingly, worse. "A national survey of rape victims from the years 1972 to 1992, released by the Burearu showed that the cases of rape victims had gone up in girls ages twelve to fifteen," (More Often 5) while the cases of rape victims among sixteen to nineteen year olds had gone down. Although these are results from a national survey, many counselors and others who work with adolescents believe that these figures are understated. We tend to think of children as abused victims when in fact many are victims of rape. It is an astonishing fact, but there are more victims of rape now than there ever were in the past. While many may think that older women suffer the abuse of sexual assault it has been determined that the highest rate is among teenagers, ages twelve to fifteen. There are emerging truths why young teens are more often victimized and there are several factors that put them at risk. It is true today that girls mature earlier than in the past causing them to grow up faster and experience things that were not even considered a generation ago. They also dress to look older and wear alluring clothing that creates attention from the opposite sex and may imply something that is not so. Additionally some of the more popular music which young teens listen to today, promotes and condones violence towards women. This type of aggressive anti-social behavior is often acted out by its listeners. It is also true that girls in their teenage years are risk-takers leaving them vulnerable. Now that there are more singl...
