The concept behind the word, action and idea of rape is a scary thought. Rape is defined as a type of sexual assault, usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person’s consent (Kelland, 2011). Rape is a demoralizing crime that can leave the victim with lasting negative psychological affects. This paper will discuss the different types of rape, the cause and effects with rape and the harm rape can cause to its victims.
When most people hear the word “rape”, they automatically think of the attacker being a stranger forcing themselves upon another and doing unwanted sexual things to the victim. However, the most common form of rape is called acquaintance rape or date rape. Acquaintance rape is defined as forced or manipulated sexual contact by someone you have met and had interactions with a couple of times (Sarmiento, 2010). According, to American Rape Statistics, approximately 28% of victims are raped by their significant others, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives (APR, 2011). Jean Hughes, who has done an abundance of research on acquaintance rape, has found that nearly 60% of all rapes reported have fallen under the label of acquaintance rape. (Hughes & Sandler, 1990). There are many cases of date and acquaintance rape within the college environment. Dr. Stephen Lawyer and his colleagues did research on 134 undergraduate women; they wanted to figure out what percentage of these women experienced rape by force or the use of drugs. They concluded that nearly 26.9%, 93 participants said they had been sexually assaulted at some point in their life since the age of 14. Of this 26.9%, 5.4%, 17 participants reported a total of 28 forcible assault ...
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Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
Schewe, P., Riger, S., Howard, A., Staggs, S., & Mason, G. (2006). Factors Associated with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victimization. Journal Of Family Violence, 21(7), 469-475. doi:10.1007/s10896-006-9042-2
“College life is an important social domain that provides lifelong experiences and memories for millions of students each year. As these results show, part of this experience involves college women experiencing forcible rape and/or alcohol-or-drug-induced rape” (Fisher, Daigle, & Cullen, 2010, p. 83).
Rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse that a male performs against a woman whom he is neither married to or cohabiting with. The definition of rape changes by geographic location. In some countries a woman must prove she is pure in order to find the perpetrator guilty. Rape used to be more of a violation to the man than to the women. It was a violation of the man’s rights if his wife or girlfriend was raped. When a woman is raped her devotion to her family is questioned. Rape is a violent act, an act of possession, not a sexual act. The myth that men who rape women are sexually pathological has begun to be dispelled and replaced with an understanding that rape is an act of anger, power and control rather than lust.
When it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...
With one in five college students experiencing sexual assault during their college career who wouldn’t be afraid? This remains especially true for young women between the ages of 18-24 (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While a woman’s freshman and sophomore year of college are when she is at a most risk for assault, it can happen at any time. According to Robin Gray in the article on sexual assault statistics, “between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career,” (Gray). At Northwest Missouri State University for the 2016-2017 academic year there are 5,618 undergraduate students enrolled. With the ratio of male to female students being 44% to 56%, there are about 3,147 female students. In terms of the statistics estimated by Gray, 630-787 of the female student population at Northwest Missouri State will experience rape during their college career (“Northwest Missouri State University”). This is a disturbingly large figure. Women are not the only ones susceptible to these acts, but men are too. It is said about “10%” of all sexual assault cases involve male victims (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While this number is slightly lower for men it is often believed that male victims of sexual assault do not often report their crime due to the social stigma surrounding their assault. Men may feel
According to the Rape Crisis Council of Pickens County, one out of every four females will be sexually assaulted in their college years. However, rape counts for only seven percent of the college...
One of the most common misconceptions about rape is that is it committed by strangers most of the time. However, this is not the case. Date rape is an epidemic affecting tens of thousands of people across the world at staggering rates. The rape stereotype in our culture today is a jumping out of the shadows type of rape. Most people think that when someone is raped either their house is broken into and they are attacked, they are kidnapped, or something along those lines. Actually, 84% of women know their attacker (Hammond). This can become problematic for our society because victims are looking out for an attack that most likely will not take place, while ignoring assaults that are far more likely.
Bonnie, S. F., Francis, T. C., & Michael, G. T. (2000) The sexual victimization of college women. U.S. Department of Justice.
Sexual assault is a problem that affects many students in colleges. Sexual assault is defined as “any unwanted contact” (6) performed on “an unwilling victim, without consent” (2). This means anything from touching to completed rape. Without consent means that “vigorous efforts were made to avoid sexual contact” (2). Physical symptoms of sexual assault can tamper with the victim’s quality of life. It can be pelvic pain, migraines, and even disability that can prevent a victim from working. There are over 32,000 pregnancies a year that are a result of completed rape, but problems with pregnancy can also be a result of sexual assault. In addition to these effects, women who experience this assault are more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases (2).
Exposure and Outcome Rape can ruin your life. The sexually violent act is associated with a long list of public health concerns, including disease, unwanted pregnancy, physical trauma, mental and emotional suffering, and death. While rape can be simply defined as sex without consent, the impact rape has on society is complex. Victims are often stigmatized. They feel ashamed, weak, and at fault.
Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")
As research shows (cite all above research), cognitive processes within our brains lead to the tendency of victim blaming. Starting with rape myths and rape scripts, it is easy to see how our society and culture breeds victim-blaming attitudes. Historically, the United States, like many other industrialized countries, developed from a patriarchal society characterized by men holding the power and women expected to be submissive. With such an atmosphere, crimes against women
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.
I am a 19-year-old girl, far too old to think I know everything. I don’t pretend to be an expert on rape. Having known the feel of a cold blade pressed to my side gave me no superior understanding of the crime, only a small scar to remember it by. Thus I offer you no solution. I cannot say with any conviction that my writing will help to save even one person from being subjected to a similar fate. Before you’ve read to the bottom of this page three more girls will be sexually assaulted, one girl will be raped. Neither the eloquence of my words, nor the fervor of my voice will have changed a thing.