It is not uncommon in this day and age to hear someone say, “Well if she wasn’t dressed like that,” or “she was drunk and asking for it,” when you hear the unfortunate story of another girl being the victim of sexual assault or rape. It is likewise as common for these crimes to go unreported, due to the victims feeling they will not be believed, or become subject to further shame and humiliation. This is because of the idea of “rape culture,” a term coined in the 1970’s during the second wave of feminism. It suggests that the reason that these actions and concepts are so commonplace is because they are things ingrained into our collective psyches from a very early age. As a victim and survivor myself, I believe that this needs to change. The only way it will, however, is if we as a country take a stand now and put a stop to what perpetuates it further. According to an article which can be found on upworthy.com (Rape Culture Is Alive And Well In America Because Of These 6 Things, by Rollie Williams) lists some of the reasons why this atrocious crime has been able to continue on, in spite of huge steps forward in women’s and human rights in the past 100 years. Williams suggests that the main source of the problem is that women, or men, who are raped often do not feel comfortable reporting the incident to the police. This could be for fear of public shame, accusations of making it up, or any other various reason, but the fact remains that, on average, only 3% of rapists are sentenced to jail every year. Another terrifying point that Williams brings up is that college campus rape rates have hardly changed at all in the past 20 years, which also comes back to people not reporting it when it happens. He suggests that this could be beca... ... middle of paper ... ...that it’s their fault when it happens, that they should expect it to happen if they want to work as equals to men, and that we are victims and we just need to get used to it. It’s obvious to see why this is a problem, but fixing it is far easier said than done. In order to fix this, we need to begin teaching our children differently than we were taught. We need to teach our sons that women are not toys or chattel, that they are not property of men. We need to teach our daughters that they are allowed to say “no” when unwanted advances are made, and that they are allowed to defend themselves. We need to show them both that it doesn’t make them weak or worthless when tragedies such as these occur. Change will only occur when we implement it at a young age, children will grow as they are taught. Teach them right, and America’s Rape Culture will finally cease to exist.
90 percent of the victims of sexual assault are women and 10 percent are men, and nearly 99 percent of offenders in single-victim assaults are men (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2010). According to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault, Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. () Sexual Assault can happen to anyone, not just women it can happen to men and kids as well. Sexual Assault these days are a big trouble and it is not being addressed in good order, and it is
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 ...
Rape can happen to anyone at any time. Rape prevention strategies help decrease the risk, but the risk never drops to zero percent. In our society of rape myths, gender ideology, and exposure of sex in the media, especially in advertising, and especially when it involves violence, rape will be in our culture for a long time. Our culture promotes this brand of sexuality and we turn our cheeks to rape and any negative form of sex.
Sexual assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and In the United States 80% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 30. Of that 80%, 44% are under the age of 18 (RAINN, 2016). That leaves 36% of victims between the ages of 18 and 30. These percentages become even more alarming when that 80% is of about 293,000 victims of secual assualt each year (RAINN, 2016). It is estimated that 1 in every 6 women in the US has been or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. The risks of sexual assault increase on college campuses. Women ages 18-24 who are enrolled in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to suffer from sexual violence (RAINN, 2016). One would think that with all these women being sexually assaulted, one would hear more about it, or perhaps the police stations would constantly be busy. This is not the case. Sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes, with 68% still being left unreported (RAINN, 2016). This could be because of every 100 rapists, only 2 will spend a day in jail. Of the 32 out of 100 that would be reported, only 7 are referred to an arrest (RAINN, 2016). Why would men or women want to report sexual assault when the system that is supposed to protect them fails so often, and why does this system continue to fail?
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
“Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused” Freda Adler. Every 107 seconds a female above the age of 12 is sexually assaulted. Yet consequently only 68% of these heinous crimes are reported. This is becoming a rising problem. Society has trivialized rape so often to the point that it’s actively accepted as a joke. Only 3% of these perpetrators will be incarcerated (RAINN). The excuse, “Boys Will Be Boys” that people are using needs to be obliterated from the courtroom to ensure that more transgressors are imprisoned. If we teach this generation to keep their hands to themselves, communities where our families reside will be safer, the rape culture will decrease significantly and the patriarchy that elusively
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
Rape and rape culture are very real and present problems with our post-secondary system. Not a day goes by without a new revelation, number or statistic coming to light. Not a day goes by without feminists screaming to “take back the night” and men’s rights advocates crying for sex. There probably isn’t a person in existence who doesn’t have an opinion on the issue. There is so much focus on it, millions of dollars going into solving it. So, now there is a question we must ask ourselves - why is none of it working? Why are rape numbers increasing, instead of the other way around? Rape numbers are not decreasing because no one wants to address the root causes of the issue. Universities and colleges don 't want to crack down on alcohol abuse
Several changes can be made in every dimension of oppression in order to try eliminate rape culture from our society. The easiest way to have a wider impact on extinguishing rape is at an institutional level. Some measures can be implemented at an institutional level. The first one, government has the power to make punishment for rape more drastic. For example, sentences with longer time in jail. Education institutions are also a strong place to start a rape-free culture. High schools and colleges should have required courses to educate both young men and women of how to be respectful in a sexual way. Also in the workplace, meetings about sexual respect should be held at least once a year. Eliminating rape in symbolic and individual dimensions is a little bit more complex. For the symbolic dimension, a change of society’s stereotypes would be required. We live in a society where a man, in order to be considered masculine, need to be seen as strong, powerful, leader and even aggressive. This is one of the main reasons why rape is still present nowadays. Man want to be powerful and strong, and when they can get that by being nice, they get into a frustration stage that makes them reach the worse ways in order to achieve those qualities. By telling men they need to be strong and powerful, we are creating a justification of every action in order to accomplish those attributes. Finally, in order to make some adjustments to try erase rape from our society in an individual dimension, it is extremely necessary to start since we are children. We need to raise our children with a completely understanding that respect in essential in human relationships and that rape is not an option. Also, as mentioned before, the individual dimension is focused on the way both institutional and symbolic dimensions affect our personal life, so I believe
17, 700, 000 women have reported sexual assault since 1998. That’s 17, 700, 000 reports too many. You see, we live in a society where women are taught to be careful not to get raped instead of men being taught not to rape. Where “rape culture” is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety. Where we trivialize sexual assault by saying “boys will be boys” and tell women that they should take it as a compliment. Where when you’re a female, especially in the tech industry, speaking out about sexual harassment is like dropping a nuclear bomb on your career. And when a female
At a local level, there are some schools that have taken a stand to fight for the victim. "Bystander intervention" is the idea that you can get involved to protect those around you–making sure women who are not coherent don’t leave parties with strangers, etc. This mindset and training has helped on the campuses where it has been introduced: MIT, Michigan State, University of Montana, and others. On a state level, legislature is being drafted and introduced that recognizes the issue and offers guidelines in defining rape. In California, Bill SB 967 is helping to define what consent is and what rape is. By leveling the definition across the state, colleges are forcibly being held accountable to recognize and prosecute those who are unquestionably involved in rapes. Hopefully, this legislature will take the debate off “What is rape?” and turn it toward “What are we doing about
Victims often find that they have to deal with a lot of harassment even after being shamed. For example, some men will come onto girls who have a reputation of being ‘sluts’ because they think the girls are going to be ‘easy’ and ‘into it”; thus, slut shaming can ruin how people, especially men, perceive and treat a woman. Slut shaming can also increase rape culture by discrediting a women’s allegation of rape due to her sexual history. In so many cases where rape is reported, officers and lawyers attack the victims by questioning how they were dressed prior to being rape, how they acted, were they being ‘promiscuous’, or were they flirting with their rapist; if any of the above questions were answered “yes” they would claim the victim was “asking for it”. In the Steubenville rape case, a 16 year old girl was recorded being raped by two football players at a party. The footage was later sent to other classmates and quickly spread throughout the whole school; as a result of the “stigma surrounding sexual assault, she [the victim] was labeled as a slut and viciously tormented by her classmates,” (Nelson, 3). In cases like these, girls are slut-shamed for being victims of sexual
Inertwined with rape myths, are subsequent rape scripts. As Ryan (2011) and Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard (2009) showed, depending what script is prevalent or dominant, reporting rates and overall acknowledgement can be greatly affected. Our understanding of what constitutes a rape or sexual assault needs to significantly change otherwise countless victims will remained silenced. If the understanding of these crimes was broadened, and the acquaintance scenarios taken more seriously, more victims would come forward, report, and get the help they may desperately need, in addition to aiding the legal system in punishing the offender and improve society’s population.
The United States is clearly suffering a rape epidemic. “One in six women will be raped in her lifetime” (“Who Are the Victims?”). If we continue to allow gender roles to be perpetuated by religion and dominate our lives and our youth, men and women will forever be unequal. These causes must be addressed and be fixed. It is not only a political duty but this must be morally solved also. The solution to end rape and gender roles is upon us, if only society realized that. We have the power to end rape. Women should not have to live in fear at all.
We live in a world where we care more about a rape victim 's clothes than the fact that they were assaulted and it’s time we address that. No one cares about rape victims today. It’s old news; nothing but some exaggerated tale crafted by the dreaded feminazi. These cases are all too easy to dismiss―we have lots of practice at it. For example we’ve coined many phrases such as: they could have fought back. They should have walked a different street. They’re lying. Men can’t be raped they can defend themselves. Even when we try to gain sympathy for these victims we dehumanize them. We should never think of women as our sisters and mothers before thinking of them as human beings. We should never think of anyone as just another rape case.