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A. Date rape is more accurately called acquaintance rape. The image of the rapist as a masked stranger hiding in the bushes is usually not true. In approximately 80% of reported rapes, the rapist is someone the victim knows. Often, it is the victim's date who takes the victim by surprise by refusing to take "no" for an answer.

Date rape is much more confusing than stranger rape, because date-rape survivors often take three months before they finally admit to themselves that they were raped. Click here to go to an article about the date rape time lag that explores this in more detail.