The official counts of rape and rape attempts are believed to underestimate the true incidence because many cases are not reported.

• A. False
• B. Unclear
• C. True
• D. Not relevant

Answer: (C)

The main idea is that official statistics reflect only what gets reported to authorities. In rape cases, many victims do not come forward due to fear of retaliation, stigma, not being believed, concerns about how they’ll be treated, or distrust in the system. Because these incidents never enter police or official medical records, they aren’t counted, so the official counts are almost always lower than the true number of occurrences. Research that uses victim surveys often finds higher rates of rape than police figures, illustrating this underreporting gap. Therefore, the statement is true.