Rape crimes will not get reported seventy five percent of the time, due to some victims being too afraid to speak up. There is a problem in society; big issues like these need to be stopped. Rape is not just being touched or molested without wanting it, it is actually really more than it may appear. Rape can happen to anybody, anywhere, and at any time. The number of victims is shocking. Most rape victims know their rapist. There’s organizations reaching out to support rape victims. They suffer highly traumatic experience.
In the 18th and 19th century, laws were being passed to help women bring their offenders to justice. Some say there had to be proof of semen, or that the hymen had to be broken for proof. It was difficult for law-makers to agree on how much evidence is needed to believe women. In much of American history, slave owners could buy black women specifically to serve their sexual urges (The Daily Beast Company). If a caucasian man was to rape a women, it was possible to bring more evidence to a victim case depending on the offender’s sexual background. If the offender was African American, they will most likely be hung or castrated the daily beast company reports.. All Africans were all found guilty no matter if there was a lack of evidence. People would always ignore rape against black women. No one would ever believe them, or even care. There was no way Africans had a chance of defending their case. They were always discriminated by their color, but if they were white it was a completely different story. During these centuries, if the women was either raped or pregnant, the father can sue based on lost of income. In 1913 there was a doctor who stated that rape is not an easy crime, basically referring to women’s ...
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...ucating others as well as yourself about sexual violence can be started by anybody. In 1993, it was said that the percentage of sexual assaults had been dropped by sixteen percent.
Stop asking what she was wearing. Stop blaming them. Stop being ignorant. Stop rape now. Start telling your kids to not rape. Speak up. Stop the silence, help the most needed.
Works Cited
Begley,Sarah. “Redefining Rape.”: A Brief History of Rape In America.“ The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company LLC, 22 Aug, 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
“Rape Crisis Center.” Rape Crisis Center,2014. Web. 03 Feb.2014
“The International Campaign To Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict.” NP. Web. 26 Jan. 2014
“Rape and Sexual Assault.” National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center,2000. Web 03 Feb.2014
“Rape Crisis Helderberg.” Rape Crisis Centre, 2009. Web. 03 Feb. 2014
The meaning and penalties of rape have progressed throughout the history of America to ensemble the mindset of the time. Records show that a man in the seventeenth century was convicted of attempted rape if "he used enticement and then force toward a woman, driven by the sinful lusts that raged within him...and he allowed her...to scare or fight him off" (Dayton 238). Unfortunately, this definition was not always taken at face value. The leading men of the seventeenth century, likely white men, reformed this definition in a variation of ways to work in their favor when suspected of rape. It can be determined from study of historical information that the reason there are fewer reported rapes against white males in the seventeenth century and more against non-white males was because women gave in to a society driven by the influence and governance of white males in the legal system. This concept is demonstrated through a look into the outcome of a number of rape cases against both white men and non-white men, through an understanding of the helpless station of women, and through a view at the basis of the white man's resentment toward the non-white male: their view of the non-white male as the "other."
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Sexual assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and In the United States 80% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 30. Of that 80%, 44% are under the age of 18 (RAINN, 2016). That leaves 36% of victims between the ages of 18 and 30. These percentages become even more alarming when that 80% is of about 293,000 victims of secual assualt each year (RAINN, 2016). It is estimated that 1 in every 6 women in the US has been or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. The risks of sexual assault increase on college campuses. Women ages 18-24 who are enrolled in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to suffer from sexual violence (RAINN, 2016). One would think that with all these women being sexually assaulted, one would hear more about it, or perhaps the police stations would constantly be busy. This is not the case. Sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes, with 68% still being left unreported (RAINN, 2016). This could be because of every 100 rapists, only 2 will spend a day in jail. Of the 32 out of 100 that would be reported, only 7 are referred to an arrest (RAINN, 2016). Why would men or women want to report sexual assault when the system that is supposed to protect them fails so often, and why does this system continue to fail?
...nd others. Be that voice that many don’t have and are afraid to come out. Help those who have suffered tremendous pain and suffering. There is so much to life that no one should feel violated and ashamed for what has happened to them. Everyone deserves a right to live in safety and enjoy life without being in fear all the time. Report those who have committed rape and seek help immediately. It is everyone’s responsibility to look out for each other. There are so many support groups and online support from people who have been raped and have suffered and overcome this tragic happening. Many will never forget what it was like to suffer and be raped, there is always hope for recovery and living a life of happiness. Report those rapists and put them in jail for their terrible actions. No one deserves to be violated by anyone. Everyone deserves to be respected and loved.
The statistics clearly show a group of people who’re affected by the heinous acts of sexual assault. Everyone knows that sexual assault isn’t a topic that’s on the top of the list to talk about; people usually even try to go as far as to hide it or to cover it up. Though, it’s clear for certain; covering something up doesn’t make it alright – It won’t make it go away and the problem is still there. For that exact fact, it is the very reason that sexual assault is something that needs to be brought to the
To help understand what happens to victims and how they feel; here are the results of a survey done in 1985 and 1993. It was found that 73% of rape victims say that they were not raped. There is a lot of self-blame involved in rape. Many victims blame themselves for what happened to them. One out of 4 women have been rape victims and 84% knew their attacker. While 42% did not tell anyone of the account of rape that happened to them, only 5% of the victims actually take the incidence to the police or some kind of administration. Informing the police is very important.
Bonnie, S. F., Francis, T. C., & Michael, G. T. (2000) The sexual victimization of college women. U.S. Department of Justice.
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
...apidly our world today. There are hundreds of places people may go and visit for help or more information about rape and sexual violence. It is very important that when and if it happens, the victim needs to report the crime to authorities immediately. People must know the truth about rape and sexual violence and what to do about it.
Walking in the dark rapidly so no one sees you, being nervous when in a company of a man alone, and knowing that your safety can be in jeopardy at any moment. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you, then consider yourself lucky. Women across the globe have these fears or at least have had them once in their lives. Imagine going through a traumatic experience such as rape, and being blamed for it, unfortunately it’s not an imagination, but a reality in the rape culture we live in. Police asking rape survivors what were they wearing when they got raped isn’t new, our culture blames the victim instead of prosecuting the assaulter. According to Criminal Defense Lawyer, Rape is illegal in the United States, and can be punished from a year to lifetime
According to rain.org 44 percent of rape victims are under the age of 18 and 80 percent are under the age of 30 years old. Every 2 minutes an American is a victim of rape and about 240,000 of them are reported each year. Only 60 percent of assaults are not reported to the police renders that 97 percent of the perpetrators never spend a day in jail. The less the people report the crime the less they are likely to catch the perpetrator. Sadly 23 of the victims know the person whole is assaulting them. Almost 40 percent of the rapist know their victim. This is a very uns...
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “women secretly enjoy rape,” from a historical perspective, can lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Much stems back to the idea that women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men a...
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.