The 91% female vs 9% male rape victims you quoted from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics actually refers to the percentiles of whose accusations resulted in conviction. According to the Human Rights Watch if you include priso rape more men than women are raped annually in the US. (This is the only country where that is true, though. In all others more women are raped than men)
Actually, that statistic you’re referencing,
"In 2008, it was estimated 216,000 inmates were sexually assaulted while serving time, according to the Department of Justice figures. That is compared to 90,479 rape cases outside of prison.” [source]
makes two massive mistakes:
One, it compares sexual assault in prison to rape outside of prison, and compares the two as if they are the same. Sexual assault is a MUCH broader and more inclusive crime, so if you are comparing prisoner and civilian sexual assault rates, the numbers are more like 216,000 prisoners and 293,066 non-prisoners experience criminal sexual assault every year. [source]
And two, it doesn’t actually say all those prisoners are men. Those who interpret that statistic as meaning more men experience rape in prison than women do outside of prison are wrongfully assuming ALL prisoners who experience sexual assault are men. Read the statistic again, it is completely gender-neutral. The idea that incarcerated men experience sexual assault more often than women is patently false according to the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Statistics, which states that women in prison make up approximately 80% of sexual assault victims:
"The total number of sexual assault victims in the non-institutionalized population was 203,850. The share of female victims was 164,240 and the share of male victims 39,590." [source]
None of this means that men don’t get sexually assaulted, or men don’t deserve justice when they experience sexual assault. ALL sexual violence is wrong and our culture and justice system have a TERRIBLE track record on taking sex crimes seriously, especially sexual violence against trans people, sex workers, and people of color. Things are improving slowly, for example, the FBI’s definition of rape was recently broadened to include victims and perpetrators of all genders, with the pressure and assistance of many feminist organizations. But it is not perfect and there is still room for improvement, which is why we must continue to push for things like more consent education and sex education, access to abortion and contraception, rape kits getting processed faster, more accountable police departments, colleges improving their policies when sexual assault occurs on campus or is committed by a current student, and harsher penalties against rapists. I think everyone could agree with that.
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