PROF. MARK PERRY: Before declaring that there’s a ‘rape epidemic’ in the US, has anybody bothered to check the actual data? Apparently not.

“The chart above is based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports available here and here, and shows the annual frequency, or rate of rapes per 100,000 population, from 1974 to 2012 (most recent year available). From 1974 to 1992, the rate of rapes in the US was increasing from 26.2 per 100,000 population to a peak of 42.8 in 1992. Then for the next 20 years, the rate declined in almost every year, and fell to a 36-year low of 26.7 rapes per 100,000 in 2012, the lowest rate since 1976. Also note that the current rate of 26.7 rapes per 100,000 people means that there would be 26.7 rapes per 50,000 women, or 1 in about 1,900.”