ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 22, 1991                   TAG: 9103220297
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RAPE NEW `EPIDEMIC,' BIDEN SAYS OF REPORT

Reports of rape accelerated to a record last year, according to a congressional study released Thursday that the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said shows the crime "has reached epidemic proportions."

The chairman, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., released the results of the study compiled by the Democratic staff of the committee to urge passage of his bill that would classify rape as a hate crime.

The number of rapes reported to police exceeded 100,000 for the first time and set records in 29 states as well as nationwide, the report said.

The 6.3 percent increase last year, from an estimated 94,504 to an estimated 100,433, was the largest one-year jump in more than a decade, Biden said. - Associated Press 


 by CNB