 Sadly, the rate of rape reporting remains low; studies using random sample surveys of large numbers of women find reporting rates ranging from 16% to 36% (Anderson 2003, 78). Rates of conviction, too, remain substantially lower than for other violent crimes; some studies estimate a conviction rate of 5% (Caringella 2008) in the U.S. Feminists’ recognition of the severity and pervasiveness of rape’s harms, and of how infrequently victims receive justice, has inspired decades of activism for social and legal change. Feminists in many U.S. states have succeeded not only in changing legal definitions of rape (see below), but also in ending many damaging and sexist practices in rape trials. For instance, “rape shield” laws now restrict the admissibility of evidence about a victim’s sexual history, and most jurisdictions have eliminated the “prompt reporting” requirement, the corroboration requirement, and the reciting of the traditional “cautionary rule” (that rape is a charge easy to make and hard to disprove). All of these practices reflect sexist and false assumptions—for instance, that rape only happens (or only matters when it happens) to sexually “pure” or “virtuous” women, and that women are likely to lie about having been raped—while increasing the trauma of rape trials for victims and decreasing the likelihood of convictions. In addition to pressing for changes in law and in police and prosecutorial practices, feminists have founded and staffed rape crisis centers and hotlines to support victims, whether or not they choose to pursue charges against their attackers.