More than half of women who are sexually assaulted do not label the experience as rape, and thus, do not report the crime to the police, according to a James Madison University psychology professor's recent speech.

Dr. Arnold S. Kahn's speech, "Was it Rape or Just a Bad Night? Responses from Victims and Observers," explained his research on the reasons that many women do not acknowledge their sexual assault experience as rape, instead calling it a bad night or blaming themselves.

"The problem is that we live in a culture that tends to blame the woman for rape - her clothing, drinking, etc," said Kahn. "We need to change the culture, so that the rapist is not seen as a stud and the victim is not made to feel ashamed."

Radford University's Center for Gender Studies and Department of Psychology presented Kahn as the featured keynote speaker for the 2008 Gender Studies Spring Conference, "Gender Scholarship at RU: Providing Tools for Understanding & Change." Kahn spoke on Monday at 4 p.m. in Cook Hall, concluding the conference.

Sexual assault is Kahn's main area of study. He has been researching women's acknowledgement of rape for many years.

When asked what sparked his interest in the subject during a short interview, he said, "It's a long story. Over 15 years ago I had a master's student who was interested in the topic. Her thesis got me thinking about the research, and I've continued until this day."

"Dr. Kahn is a well-known researcher in the field who has, in past years, brought students to the conference," said Dr. Hilary Lips, the Center for Gender Studies director.

He did just that. An overflowing lecture hall greeted Kahn for the presentation, some people standing along the walls without a chair. The audience consisted mostly of Radford University students, who seemed to be very interested in what Kahn had to say, listening carefully and asking questions at the end.

Kahn, a psychology of gender and social psychology professor, described a study that he and his colleagues recently concluded examining the factors that lead a woman to recognize her experience as rape.

"The question we've been researching for a number of years - why would a woman who was forced to have sexual intercourse against her will not label what happened to her as rape?" Kahn asked, beginning his presentation.

He explained the results of his study, saying that although there are many influencing factors, at least one of three main factors is usually involved when women acknowledge their sexual assault experience as rape - the woman's lack of control, being forced by someone other than a boyfriend, and suffering a great deal of trauma. However, women are not likely to identify the experience as rape if it involves being forced by a boyfriend, severe impairment of the woman by alcohol or drugs, or an emotionally needy woman.

Kahn concluded his presentation by reflecting on our society's perception of the crime. He believes that our society's dating standards lead many men to believe that it is acceptable to intermingle violence and sex. He said this is something that we must change.

The crowd responded to his speech with a long round of applause and a few questions about Kahn's research and opinions on the subject.