It's not a powerful claim at all, and of course I don't have evidence for it. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
If you want to, go to some number of people and ask them if they are willing to help you understand something. If they agree, tell them you have been helping your friend deal with having been raped lastnight. Then ask "Can you imagine what my friend looked like lastnight when I got there?" Then let them know this is what they're helping you understand - you need to know what they imagined. Whatever that person describes is the primary definition of rape in that person's mind. I would argue that for the general public, it is almost always rape *and* further physical and verbal abuse. It is this definition that these statistics are initially (and in some cases completely) representing to these people. It is this definition that is harmful to society and which should be counteracted. Rape must be thought of separately from other forms of abuse that may accompany it.
I don't need evidence for myself. To me, it is as obvious as the fact that tuna-flavored ice cream is disgusting. That is - I'm fine with believing it stricly based on my intuition, and if evidence surfaced that suggested otherwise, I'd be very surprised and interested in investigating further. I'm also fine with some number of people believing the opposite (thus being obviously wrong in my view) without feeling a strong urge to convince them.
Re: Ted's actual argument.
If you want to, go to some number of people and ask them if they are willing to help you understand something. If they agree, tell them you have been helping your friend deal with having been raped lastnight. Then ask "Can you imagine what my friend looked like lastnight when I got there?" Then let them know this is what they're helping you understand - you need to know what they imagined. Whatever that person describes is the primary definition of rape in that person's mind. I would argue that for the general public, it is almost always rape *and* further physical and verbal abuse. It is this definition that these statistics are initially (and in some cases completely) representing to these people. It is this definition that is harmful to society and which should be counteracted. Rape must be thought of separately from other forms of abuse that may accompany it.
I don't need evidence for myself. To me, it is as obvious as the fact that tuna-flavored ice cream is disgusting. That is - I'm fine with believing it stricly based on my intuition, and if evidence surfaced that suggested otherwise, I'd be very surprised and interested in investigating further. I'm also fine with some number of people believing the opposite (thus being obviously wrong in my view) without feeling a strong urge to convince them.