According to the Rape Crisis Center, 44 percent of rape victims are under the age of eighteen. 29 percent between the ages of twelve nd seventeen. Nowadays, rapists are saying that the victim is to blame. Victim blaming occurs when a victim of a crime is held responsible, partly if not entirely, for the wrongful act committed against them. Are rape victims really partly to blame? There is no true excuse to raping somebody so why do rapists still blame the victim? The victims are blamed because the rapists want to convince other people and authority that the incident was not their fault. Rape is not caused by arousal from the victim’s appearance only; rapists need to realize that most of the time the victim is wearing appropriate clothing. …show more content…
If fashion was the reason for rape then how could it be that rape still exists in countries where woman are not dressing that way. Nowadays, woman are wearing clothes that are extenuating their figure. Not only are they wearing tight clothing but they are also revealing more and more skin, though this does not give men the right to blame the woman. Woman and men have the choice to wear whatever they wish and whatever makes them comfortable. If a victim does not fight back it is because they are still in a state of shock. They are afraid that they will be harmed further or even killed if they try to resist or try to fight back. There is never any excuse for anyone to perform a violent assault on someone else. Rape is not done because of ‘lack of control’, if that were the case, how are females not lacking …show more content…
The victim tries to avoid as much pity and sympathy from people as possible. They also do not want to be ashamed of the incident. Some victims will inform others, for example family members, though most families decide to shut the story down in order to avoid attention. Rape is seen to be extremely shameful in most countries. Why is it ok to tell what to wear, whereas men are free to wear whatever they want? You do not see woman making comments about men’s clothing the way men do about the female’s choice of clothing. Since woman are having more freedom with their choice of clothing, mean are making more and more comments on their choices and how ‘inappropriate’ they are. The world is a cruel place, if only it was less cruel. Even if we do try to spread the word about rape, there will still be those who do it secretly. Maybe we can apply rules that make the rapist suffer the consequences, instead of allowing them to pay for bail. If the law was enforced strictly we wold not have the problems of returning criminals and bail. We should teach children at a young age to always keep mobile phones charged, keep personal information private, stick with friends or adults in public areas and be assertive when
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.
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 ...
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.
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...
Rape is an issue that usually occurs to females and is more likely executed by males than females. Nonetheless, a female’s position in rape can and does go further than being the victim. Considering that women can be the perpetrator in this sexual assault, who are their victims? Rape can occur to anyone by anyone. In the same way a female can be a victim of rape, so can a male. According to RAINN, an anti-sexual assault organization, “About 3% of American men have experienced attempted or completed rape as of 1998, an estimated 4.5 million as of 2010” (Who Are the Victims?). However, men are not necessarily the victims of solely female-on-male rape. In fact, the majority of males who are raped are the victims of male-on-male rape and
From the time that they’re children, American citizens are taught to associate the words “...Liberty and Justice for all,” with their country. However, there’s at least one group of people being greatly deprived of justice: survivors of rape. It comes as no surprise that approximately sixty-eight percent of rapes are not reported in a country where approximately ninety-eight percent of rapists are never jailed (Rape - Definition, Examples, Cases, Processes). Victims of this horrible crime are going through possibly the worst trauma of their lives, so it’s very difficult for them to want to come forward to law enforcement and somewhat have to relive their trauma, especially given the previous statistics. Perhaps one of the greatest contributors to these horrifying statistics, therefore, a reason rape survivors are unlikely to come forward, is the backlog of things called rape kits that many jurisdictions in the United States currently have.
Firstly, Rape culture can be defined as the normalization and excusing of sexual violent behavior towards women in everyday media and culture (marshall.edu). Rape culture can also be the over sexualization of women’s bodies and misogynistic attitudes. These images and attitudes may not seem like they are obvious or even present but they are subtly weaved into many of the symbols and daily interactions in society. This is what causes rape and rape culture to be normalized. For example, if a young woman is sexually assaulted in a club, instead of asking details about the person who committed the act, the questions are reversed onto the victim. There are questions that arise such as, “what was she wearing?”, “was she drunk?”, “was she flirting with him/her at first?”. These questions are problematic because they suggest that the victim is the one is at fault for being sexaually assaulted. This idea is pushed by the symbolic interaction that if someone is trying to get lucky the other individual has to follow through, especially in party settings. I often see this especially in music and movies where stalking and harassing a person to the point of being uncomfortable is chalked up as a heated “romantic” pursuit.. For another example, women’s bodies (and often men’s too) are oversexualized. The is especially in the advertising industry and again in the media.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
The question is unthinkable given the conditions: “Did you ever have a sexually transmitted disease?” This is one of the first questions to which a rape victim must respond. In what way does her sexual history play any role in her case against a defendant? We have “double jeopardy” to protect people from unfair prosecution, but rape victims are repeatedly put on trial over and over for crimes perpetrated against them. Prosecutors are allowed to judge rape victims in a critical light, aggressively emphasizing many factors related to her personal life, her appearance, or her action just prior to the rape that she endured. These factors are brought out to influence a jury’s perception of the victim creating doubt about whether the crime may not in fact have been the victim’s fault. Did she deserve it? Was she asking for it? There are cases in which rape victims are treated differently due to the lack of understanding and prejudice which can be brought to bear against victims. Prejudice is the act of forming an unreasonable judgment against another. These prejudgments can affect a victim’s emotional status, actually leading some victims to end up asking themselves if the transgression was their fault. Three cases will reveal the complexity of what is at stake.
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.")
Did you know that ninety-seven percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail? (RAINN) This fact is depressing considering the large percentage of rape victims. Things like rape and violence have a severe impact on the mentality level of people. Their lives will change forever after going through an intense situation such as being molested, beaten, or anything along those lines. It has caused people to commit the same crime, become severely depressed and suicidal, as well as many other unfortunate events. People look down on those who have gone through such events, some may say things such as, "you probably deserved it”, “you were dressed provocatively" or "how did you not enjoy that?” As such, rape is an underexplored
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...
Masser, B., Lee, K., & McKimmie, B. (2010). Bad Woman, Bad Victim? Disentangling the Effects of Victim Stereotypicality, Gender Stereotypicality and Benevolent Sexism on Acquaintance Rape Victim Blame.Sex Roles, 62(7/8), 494-504.
Victim blaming takes place at school, at work, and in many more places that we visit in our daily lives. Victim blaming takes place in dress code rules whether it be at work or at school. Mikki Kendall from the Washing Post stated, “ The idea that clothing has anything to do with assault is a global persistent.” The Supreme Court of Appeals in Rome ruled that women should just wear jeans so that they couldn’t be raped because they said that a rapist couldn’t forcibly remove a pair of pants. “Police question victims of sexual assault about what they were wearing, as though the length of their skirt is an indication of consent” (“The Washington Post”
Assigning blame has become an increasingly difficult and complex concept to understand, especially in our legal court system. I associate blame with being held responsible for the consequences of one’s intentional actions. In regards to sexual assault cases, I think the blame should not be placed on the victims, but rather on the perpetrators. Victim blaming justifies the perpetrator’s actions, discourages sexual assault reportings, and can have psychological effects on the victim.