Skip to Content (press Enter/Return)
Essays
Topics
preview

Rape In The U.S

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Forty-two percent of rape victims in the U.S are under the age of eighteen. Society puts out helpful tips in commercials, advertisements and websites with twenty-four seven hotlines, but still that is not powerful enough to actually stop the tragedies from happening constantly. Dates back to B.C times, rape was looked at as property damage for underage girls ,and women were labeled as adulteresses and thrown in the river as punishment. Even today in present time people do not receive prison time for sexual assault alone unless something else occurred such as murder. Rape needs to be taken more seriously and this issue needs to have more attention and time put into it.

During the 1500s while slavery was going on in the United States, white men were allowed to buy slaves to satisfy their sexual urges. If a black woman would charge her owner with rape she had a slight chance of winning that case if the man’s record was impeccable of chastity. A black man would be immediately found guilty if a white woman accused him of rape whether is was true or not. They had no chance of defending themselves because no one would believe them. It is believed that during the Agricultural depression, poorer whites were more likely to attack blacks instead of rich whites who had better things to do rather than physically and emotionally harm innocent people. Even after rape was abolished, people would ignore rape against a black woman, maybe no one would believe her or no one would even care.

The 18th and 19th century brought difficulty to law-makers to agree on how much evidence is actually needed for a woman to prove that she was raped. Some said she would need proof of semen, others said the hymen had to be broken for proof. Basically in order to ...

... middle of paper ...

... the damage physically, emotionally, and spiritually that happens to these victims can it really help put a stop to the constant crime. Punishments for this unthinkable act need to be more consequential and that is the first step towards getting this crime to be taken more seriously.

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.
Buchanan, Jason. “Sexual Assault and Rape Statistics, Laws, and Reports.” SARSSM. United Way, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
Eichelberger, Erika. “Men Defining Rape: A History.” Mother Jones. Mother Jones and Foundation for National Progress, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.
Zambuto, Maile M. “Sexual Assault and Rape: About the Issue. “Joyful Heart Foundation. Joyful Heart Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014
Get Access
Related
Get Access