Rape
Webster's New World Dictionary defines rape as "the crime of having sexual intercourse with a person forcibly and without consent". Rape is a problem in modern society because it remains a commonly practiced crime. Despite the severe consequences and the fact that it is morally and ethically wrong, the number of cases are growing.
It is assumed that rape has been around since the beginning of time. The
only thing that has changed is how society views the crime. For instance, in
ancient times the laws of society were written and enforced only by men. This led
to unfair laws that did little discourage men from raping women.
Being raped is a traumatic experience for the victim. Psychological damage on the victim varies depending on the age, sex, religion, and culture of the victim. The only guarantee is that the effects of rape on a victim are never positive. Rape is known to lead to psychological and emotional problems that often keep the victim living in fear and unable to maintain trustful relationships with others. Victims often begin to withdraw themselves from others and often develop low self-esteem and decreased self worth.
One aspect of rape that remains a mystery is why people feel the need rape others. Rapists are the scariest of criminals in the sense that they can appear to be normal, mentally stable individuals. Rapists come from every race, social class, and level of education. Researcher's studying rape group rapists in to profiles to try to understand why people rape. I her essay "The Psychology of Rape", Mackenzie Jackson theorizes that "Some do it to confirm their manliness, some do it to feel powerful, and others do it because they hate women as a whole". This statement summarizes ...
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...e who is passed-out, extremely inebriated, asleep, a child, or mentally-incapacitated."
There is no excuse for rape. Whatever the reason or circumstance, forcing oneself sexually on another person is wrong. Hopefully, the problem of rape will begin to decline as people begin to understand what leads to rape and how it can be avoided.
Bibliography:
Jackson, Mackenzie. "The Psychology Of Rape." Rape Poem. No Date Posted.
No Organization Listed. 28 May 2001 .
M, Jack. "Confession of a Date Rapist." Sexual Assault. 9 Sep. 1998. TCLEOSE.
28 May 2001 .
"Rape". Webster's New World Dictionary. 1990 ed.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher In The Rye. New York: Little, Brown, & Co., 1991
Weinberg, Joseph. "History: From Rape To Sexual Assault." Teaching Sexual
Ethics. 1994. Joseph Weinberg And Associates. 28 May 2001 .
One of the most horrible things that has erupted from the subjugation of women is rape culture. Rape culture is the downplaying of the crime of rape to appease the violator, the accusation that the victim made a choice that led to their rape, or even jokes that suggest rape. According to Jessica Valenti’s, “In Rape Tragedies, the Shame Is Ours,” in today's world many people give in to rape culture by participating in these acts that somehow change our mindsets into believing that, “it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist”. Once ...
Traditional or common knowledge views of rape portray the act as something a crazy stranger commits on another stranger. However, this is simply not the case. The vast majority of rapes, sometimes up to 70%, involve a victim who was previously known to the offender (Woods and Porter 2008). The data does not totally support this view, however. This is because only an estimated 18% of acquaintance rape is reported to the police (Woods and Porter 2008). For comparative purposes, an estimated 79% of stranger rape is reported. Research suggests that each type of forcible rape has a more frequent setting (Woods and Porter 2008). When a rape happens indoors, the victim is more likely to have had a close personal relationship with the offender (Woods and Porter 2008). In fact, the rape usually occurs in either the offender’s or victim’s home (Woods and Porter 2008). The National Institute of Justice reports that women are raped dramatically more than men are; 18% of women report being raped at least once in their life, in contrast to just the 3% of men who report being raped in their lifetime (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). Of minority groups, 34% of American-Indian women report being raped in their lifetime, the highest percentage of any group; the lowest percentage is Pacific Islander women, of whom only 7% report being raped in their lifetime (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). The data suggests that rape occurs at an early age. Nearly a quarter of female rape victims and nearly one half of male rape victims were younger than 12 years old when first raped (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). The percent of victims first raped when younger than 18 years of age is nearly three quarters for men and over half for women (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). “Women who w...
Rape is one of the most intimate crimes in the world. According to nolo.com legal encyclopedia rape in nonconsensual sexual intercourse that is forced upon someone that is not wanted. Statutory rape is when a person disregards the under 18 consent law and forcefully has sex with them. According to ular.edu there are many different types of rape such as anger, power, sadistic, stranger, acquaintance, and martial rapes. These different groups show that rape can happen to anyone at any time.
Sexual violence can happen to anyone. In fact, one out of every six women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Although, it is women who are targeted most often, it is important to understand that rape can occur to any person, regardless of various factors such as age, race, sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What many people do not ponder is that most of the time when a woman is raped, she is actually blamed for the assault. As Aosved mentions in her article titled, ‘Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance’, she states
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.
To most Americans Rape has a tendency to be one of the cruelest forms of criminal violence. The victim can suffer from incredible injuries, and substantial amounts of embarrassment. Rendered powerless by physical force, threats, or fear, after which being forced to submit to sexual acts, including vaginal penetration, oral copulation, sodomy, and penetration opening with a foreign object, the victim is left virtually alone. Rape is an intrusion into the most private and intimate parts of the body, as well as an assault on the core of the self. Whether or not the victim acquires any physical injuries, the psychological impact of a sexual assault is severe. Additionally, the painful, post-trauma symptoms that usually always accompany rape are long-lasting. Even the victims who seem to have been able to move on with their life often find that an extreme feeling of powerlessness and vulnerability remains close and can easily, and unexpectedly, be re-experienced. A most important aspect in the long-term impact of rape is that the assault negatively changes the victim...
The Merriam Webster dictionary Defines rape as “unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception”. Rape seems like an act that an individual would never think of committing. However, rape happens every day in many different instances, and what's worse, the excuse for certain rape cases. In my paper I'll be breaking down the social issue of rape through the structural functionalism theory, the conflict theory, and the symbolic interactionism theory. With the conflict theory I'll be examining
It was once acceptable for men to have full control over women, declaring when they will marry and when they will have children. However, over the past centuries, women have established a place in society, proving themselves much more than someone's property. This is why the word “rape” today is not taken lightly. According to findlaw.com, “Rape generally refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse that is committed by physical force, threat of injury, or other duress.” When one does not give consent to sex, it is considered a felony, possibly putting the rapist in jail. Contrary to sexual assault, “Sex is reified as penile-vaginal intercourse while an extremely diverse group of pleasurable and sexually stimulating activities are dismissively relegated to the category of foreplay...” (Reinholtz, Muehlenhard, Phelps, & Satterfield, 1995.) Although consented sexual intercourse is much more out in the open and accepted in society, the problem of rape is still very relevant behind the scenes.
According to Marshall University, Rape Culture is defined as “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in media and popular culture.” In American society, it is not hard to find examples of rape culture. In popular movies, music, and current events there is an undeniable notion of victim blaming, and sympathizing with male perpetrators. People have begun to use the term rape as a casual adjective. For example “I just raped him in that game,” could be used to describe two people playing a game and one winning easily against the other. American society uses pop culture and current events to promote and justify the prominent rape culture.
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...
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.")
There are many reasons why men or women rape. Socioeconomic, sexual abuse as a young child, power, and anger to name a few are reasons to why peopl...
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.
To be raped is to be sexually assaulted forcefully and unwillingly. According to the Uniform Crime reports, of all serious offenses, rape is probably “the most under reported crime.” Victims of rape are not only violated physically, they are violated mentally as well. It is a very traumatic experience that woman have to deal with for the remainder of their life. They usually incur symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, stress disorders, fear, constant memories of the attack, a loss of confidence, and shame. (Mary E. Williams) These effects alter the victim’s life severely and can interfere with their day to day life and relationships. Being raped is a horrific crime that no woman should ever have to endure. In many cases victims of rape may become impregnated by the perpetrator leaving the victim to another form of violation. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, at least 9,100 abortions each year are attributed to pregnancies that occur because of forced sexual intercourse. (Irin Carmon)
Society’s view of rape is that it only occurs at night to women in dark alleys by men they have never seen or met before. In reality there are two types of rape in which the victim knows the attacker. One of these is known as Acquaintance rape and the other being marital rape. All forms of rape have long term impacts on the victims, for a victim of acquaintance rape they can feel especially shameful if the attacker was a relative or superior at school or work. For victims of marital rape the assaults can be violent including verbal and physical abuse. In marital rape do to the fact the victim is married to their attacker it can lead to displacement, divorce, and codependency.