The topic of marital rape, is an arduous topic due to the fact that it is a detestable act of ascendancy committed by a companion. Rape, in itself, is defined as the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse; it is deemed to be an act of possession and control versus an act of fulfilment from the individual consenting the action. So many times we hear of rape cases committed by complete strangers, or even by a trusted individual. Many people tend to think that rape happens to everyone, but according to studies women suffer more as victims that men do. In this paper, we will discuss how rape is not a crime of sex, but a crime of sexism, and how our patriarchal culture system leads to the acceptance of rape in marriage. Marital rape is a form of intimate partner violence, an abuse of power by which one spouse attempts to establish dominance and control over the other. Because of the attackers own insecurities, rape can control the other person's state of mind by instilling fear into the individual, leading to a number of psychological problems such as depression, fear, anxiety, and concerns with sexual orientation. As described by a few marital rape victims, other main issues caused by marital rape include: longer recovery from trauma, higher likelihood of repeated assaults, pressure to stay with perpetrator, negative effects on children in the household, and difficulty identifying what happened as a crime. According to statistics, 90% of rape victims are female, and over 98% of rapists are male. Because of our patriarchal society, the majority of all rapes happen to women. A patriarchal society is a predominantly male based society, meaning that men are deemed to be more superior t... ... middle of paper ... ...e his wife, women have a difficult time accepting it as rape. Instead, many make excuses to how it’s nothing more than a miscommunication from both partners. Many may even see it as an act for which the man is not fully responsible due to his nature and biological need for sex. It is the woman’s mindset that it is her responsibility to give him what he desires; sometimes, people even have religious issues to refuse intercourse and fully submit themselves to their husband, unwillingly but done to please God’s will. Basically, women as wives always find an excuse to marital rape because no one understands why it should ever happen. But when women do accept that the fact that marital rape is happening, they are so hurt that they can no longer trust him, turn to him for comfort, gain reassurance and protection from him, or feel safe at home. It destroys them completely.
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Show MoreWhether or not the events were rape are often distrusted, especially for the two women: the wife and the daughter. For the context of this paper, I will be copying the definition of rape set forth by Barnett “as any sexual violation of female will and sexual desire” (146). I acknowledge men can be raped, however for this paper we are focusing on Barnett’s definition to keep one cohesive theme.
Rape is recognized everywhere throughout the world and is extremely frowned upon. When is comes to marital rape, the idea of it i overlooked and tolerated by our society. The legal reasoning behind this is that when people agree to marry someone, they are becoming each others property. Obviously with inanimate objects, if it a persons property they could do whatever they wanted to it. Sadly the same idea continued through with having property over a person, condoning marital rape. There were actual laws that defended the idea that marital rape was okay to commit such as the Marital Rape Exemption. The law created a...
Lawmakers and the criminal justice system overlook marital rape, Das (2010) states those survivors’ experiences of being told that their victimization is “not a real rape” and encountering victim-blaming attitudes may lead to less filing of complaints and reporting to police. Women have reported experiencing harsh and insensitive treatment from the criminal justice system when trying to report abuse or marital rape. Social stigmatization, cultural traditions, and gender bias are structural hurdles that discourage women from reporting acts of sexual violence, especially experiences of marital rape (Prasad,
Marital rape is a term that is seldom used in legal system and even less often in our society in general. In fact, I would guess that most people did not even realize such an act was real or that this crime truly existed, let alone understand to severity of this act. Unfortunately, I have quickly learned that this violent crime is commonly committed, but infrequently reported and is a large issue that negatively affects and hurts women today.
In this paper I will argue that the key to the prevention of date rape is the proper education of men on the concept of consent. Educating men about consent is the solution to this problem because I want men to know how women would feel when or if they were to get raped, I want them to know that there are consequences for committing a crime like that, and I want them to understand that they need a woman to say “Yes” in order to engage in sexual activities.
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...
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...
Some men claim that rape is just sex, however, if a women does not consent to it therefore it is considered rape. Women feel as though all men are rapists or at least contribute in some way to rape. Through this essay Men in Groups: Collective Responsibility for Rape, by Larry May and Robert Strikwerda, argues 4 different reasons of being or contributing to rape: as a loner, or demon, as a victim of biology, a victim of society, and as a group member. Throughout this essay the authors, give reasons to why most men in fact do contribute to the rape, even though they may not physically do the action, their involvement is still relevant. I think that men should indeed be held responsible for rape, and should
It is important to understand that there are different types of rape that include different nonconsensual sexual acts. Any penile, finger or object penetration done orally, anally or through vagina that was not consensual is rape (Kelly 2014, 410). There are also different factors such as age that play a part in what is legally considered rape. Statutory rape is term used by the legal system to illustrate the circumstances in which an adult or teenager engages in sexual intercourse with an underage individual (Kelly 2014, 411). Although in the scenario where a person can obtain consent of the other individual it is not rape; if the person the other person is a minor they cannot legally give consent. There is also acquaintance rape, more commonly referred to as date rape, which consist of rape committed by a boyfriend or someone who knows the victim (Kelly 2014, 413). It is a common misconception that rapist is unknown strangers but that is not the actuality. The statistics show that at least 28% of rapes are done by friends, neighbors and coworkers (Kelly 2014, 413). This is a startling statistic in addition to that there is also rape between spouses. Although the concept of marital rape is not widely believed in the past, this had begun to change; the NHSLS
In today’s society marital rape, acquaintance rape, and stranger rape, is a huge crime all around the world. There is a difference between marital rape, acquaintance rape, and stranger rape. Martial rape is when a spouse forces you to have sexual intercourse without ones consent, and it is expected that the wife does her “duty” as a wife to have sex with her husband. An acquaintance rape is with someone that you just met, or dated in the past, or even a fiancé. Stranger rape occurs when someone that you’ve never met forces sexual intercourse upon someone without consent. Because of our patriarchal society, marital rape has become an accepted and overlooked part of society. Whether rape is a crime of sex, sexism or dominance, it is a serious crime and must not be taken lightly. The effects that it has on the individual getting assaulted are not only physical, but mentally damaging.
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)
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.
Historically rape has been defined forced sexual intercourse (vaginally, orally or anally) with violence, the threat of violence or without the consent of the partner. This has traditionally excepted married individuals and included only victims who are relatively unknown to each other. Rape in general is found to be more common in patriarchal societies and the sexism that arises from it. Patriarchy is defined as: “a family, group or government controlled by a man or a group of men” (Merriam-Webster). Marital rape is easily overlooked because it is more easily invalidated. This gives it the appearance of being less harsh than acquaintance or stranger rape. Add to this that it is more than likely to be repeated by the same perpetrator, who realizes he can get away with it, as compared to the stranger rapist will more often than not hide or move on. Further, recovery and escape from the situation is made more difficult because the perpetrator is not on the street but in the victim’s home. Even more egregious the family and cultural sphere may socially view such behavior as acceptable.
Males in rape cases are the perpetrators not the females. In today's society it seems like the females are the perpetrators. Society is so quick to blame the female for the offense. Some rape cases, women are quick to be blamed because the rapist is either a family friend or an ex (boyfriend or girlfriend); as Hayley(2011) states. Females are the ones who have to change their lifestyles in order to live a secure life, but yet the perpetrator continues to live their life peacefully. The trouble with that is that the victim is changing their lifestyle instead of the
Per Martin, Taft, and Resick (2006), most women do not leave their abusive relationship immediately after the offense (Para. 8). Most women choose to seek help after noticing a change in the frequency and severity of sexual abuse, at the point where they felt the husband was going to hurt someone else or she was going to hurt him. Many women fear reporting marital rape and seeking help for a countless number of reasons. Martin, Taft, and Resick (2006) list some of those reasons as “fear of retaliation, helplessness, embarrassment, self-blame, and the belief that marital rape is not a serious problem (para. 8). Counseling is recommended for all rape victims. Per Mahoney & Williams (1998) “raped wives need different types of support than the battered only wife (Bowker, 1983) or the raped woman” (p27). The victims of wife rape need to address the incident itself as well as seek counseling for body issues, sexuality and physical abuse. Two methods of treatment have been suggested for marital rape victims; stress inoculation therapy and cognitive processing therapy. “Stress inoculation therapy (SIT) facilitates physiological, cognitive, and behavioral coping for fear. There are two phases in SIT. Phase one focuses on education and the identification of fears, and phase two teaches patients adaptive strategies for dealing with anxiety” (Martin, Taft, and Resick, 2006). The second method of treatment,