Excellent article! I’m also a huge fan of true crime — and in that exact demographic you noted. I love it for several reasons, including one of the reasons you stated: it’s like practice for surviving the worst-case scenario. Not that I go around afraid of being assaulted or killed, but I’ve at least got an idea of what I’d do if it happened.

But mainly, I think, I love it for the satisfaction of justice being served, because in real life, that doesn’t always happen. I especially love the forensics shows for this — how nerdy scientists squinting into microscopes or pouring over moldy bones find the tell-tale clues that expose the killer.

I’m also with you on the fact that rape doesn’t get as much “play” in true crime stories, and wrongfully so. I did notice, however, that “Homicide Hunter’s” latest season (that I can see) is moving towards his cases in the sex crimes unit. And Charisma Carpenter’s “Surviving Evil” is a powerful — if at times hard to watch — example of (mostly) women (mostly) surviving rapes and domestic violence. So I think we’re moving in the right direction. It’s something I’m very focused on in my own true-crime writing (which I’m going to start publishing here on Medium very soon).