For those inclined to depressing themselves, there is no shortage of Atlanta statistics available, but this takes the cake: rapes are up in Atlanta 79% since last year. The author of the story and the Atlanta Police Department take great pains to put this number in context; among the slightly reassuring posits offered are that such an increase could simply reflect an upswing in the number of rapes reported. Also, it appears the vast majority of rapes in Atlanta are committed by someone the victim knows...as one police official puts it, "[w]hat we're not seeing is an increase in young wom[e]n being snatched into the bushes and raped." Whatever the context, there is (obviously) an extremely disquieting quality to this piece of news. Let us hope it is an anomaly. [Creative Loafing]
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