Rape culture is an atmosphere in which sexual violence is institutionalized, excused and trivialized. (Oxford Dictionary, 2018). College campuses are not exempt from rape culture, in fact, it is prevalent. Women and men have adopted the notion that in rape culture, sexual violence is a fact of life (Buck, Fletcher, & Roth, 2005). Meanwhile, 91 percent of women are sexually assaulted, and 8 in 10 women know their attacker. Acquaintance rape is more prevalent then stranger rape. Women are more than likely to be raped by friends, dates, lovers, former lovers or spouses, coworkers, and neighbors. (Lonsway, 1996). In the United States, young women amongst ages 16-24 are at greater risk for sexual assault (Lombardi & Jones, 2009). Studies conducted on campuses have found 1 in 5 entering college has experienced an attempted or completed sexual assault. (Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2007). The language in rape culture is also expressed throughout the culture. For example, in 2010, a …show more content…
(Oxford, 2018). Often victims (survivors) have a hard time coming forth when acts of violence has been committed. Reasons are fear of retaliation, revenge, or that the perpetrator will go unpunished. (Davis, and Liddell, 2002). College campuses need to provide a sense of security for victims and offer a comfortable environment where they are in control. (Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999). Survivors often can be triggered when recounting the events of their sexual assault, administrators of college campuses should provide survivors with proper time they need. (Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999). College campuses need to provide survivors with proper resources, such as where to report the crime, 24-hour crisis hotline, and support groups. (Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999). College campuses should avoid participating in secondary victimization and create an environment that protects
When you are a senior is high school your main focuses are finishing your college applications and if your a girl of course prom, you don't realize you are a year away from entering college and the world of "rape culture". It is said that rape culture exists because we don't believe it does. Rape culture is defined as "an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture." We already have an idea that in colleges where sports is glorified that some professors will allow athletes to get away with numerous things from cheating to missing numerous classes but fraternity events can be high risk for rape. First I will summarize "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?" written by A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Space. Then I will use information from my criminology class to better define violent crime . Lastly, I will explain rape on campuses is not a cultural component. Colleges should hold clubs such as fraternities and sports to the same level than others and be harshly punished for crimes they commit so they don't feel more superior and think they can get away with rape.
Nicole Johnson*, a 22-year-old senior at an area university looks back at her college experience as graduation approaches, generally happy with how everything turned out, however, a dark cloud still looms over her freshman year when she was raped.
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.
As seniors in high school are committed to colleges and getting excited for some of the best years of their lives, they are preparing for early classes, late nights and good times. These teens have been looking forward to these years that have seemed to come so fast. Of course they’re getting excited about picking their dream job and looking forward to meeting life long friends that they should be able to trust. No one thinks about or mentions the number of rapes on college campuses. If the first thing colleges mentioned was the reported rapes on their campuses, would that change the minds of kids that have had a certain college in mind? Besides the reported date rapes, what about the estimated sexual assaults that go unreported? Knowing the facts and statistics about colleges and how they handle sexual assault cases would make anyone getting ready for college think twice about how safe they’re being and who they are trusting.
According to an interview by Beckett Brennan with Katie Couric “95 percent of victims that were sexual assault on college campuses do not report the sexual assault” (The Case). Majority of sexual assaults that happen on a college campus, will never be reported. Colleges should have more of a responsibility when it comes to the sexual assaults on campuses. Colleges need to own up to the sexual assaults, and take responsibility for the sexual assaults. Colleges need to stop pushing sexual assaults away, and need to stand up and do something about the sexual assaults on college campuses. Although sexual assaults are an individuals responsible, colleges should also be responsible in the sexual assaults that happen on college campuses.
Often times, a college board and society will lay blame on victims of sexual assault, inherently accepting male sexual violence as innate and natural. This is otherwise known as rape culture. Rape Culture is more broadly defined as a complex set of beliefs that reassure and naturalize male acts of sexual aggression, and consequently supporting violence against women. Sexual violence against women, even men, can be attributed to varying factors. However, the traditional response is to claim that men are biologically inclined to have oppressing sexual desires. To implicate men and their masculinity as dominant and sexually aggressive, is to withhold rape culture. The theory of sociobiology is applicable here, as it is the belief that “both reproductive and social behaviors are powerfully influenced by biological forces” (Kilmartin 57). As understood from the theory sex-linked social behaviors, such as male dominance and sexual assault, has a biological survival value for the individual as a method of a reproductive strategy. Rape, therefore, is a socially deviant behavior that is seen as an extreme strategy for reproduction. The sociobiology theory’s belief that all males are biologically programmed to exert sexual dominance, fails to recognize that less than “8% of men in college commit more than 90% of sexual assaults” (The Hunting Ground).
Every two minutes, an American is sexually assaulted. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, there are an average of 237,868 victims of rape and sexual assault every year. 9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003, and 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of rape in her lifetime. The question people have to ask themselves is why rape is so common. It is time to accept that the rape epidemic is not just about the crimes themselves, but the cultural and political willful ignorance known as rape culture. Rape culture is an environment where rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape culture has become so common that it is nearly invisible, but it present and strong in everyday life.
In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is faced with many daunting obstacles where he displays effective and ineffective leadership skills. To begin, in the epic, Odysseus was an ineffective leader in the Ismarus episode. After defeating Troy, Odysseus and his men land in Ismarus, the land of the Cicones, who are friends of Troy. They rob and kill the Cicones, but after they pillage the village, Odysseus can not get his men to leave the land, which allows the Ciconian army to regroup, and kill 72 of Odysseus’s men. His inability to control his army gets many of his army killed, making him an ineffective leader.
As the term “rape culture” grows in popularity, it is imperative to break it down to understand what it actually means. According to a report by the Marshall University Women’s Center, “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture”. Rape culture is supplemented by the objectification of women’s bodies, glamorization of sexual violence, as well as many other saddening realities in society. A sad outcome of rape culture in todays society is that women are often seen as the one at fault in rape. Commonly excuses are immediately made for them men, such as blaming the girl for being too intoxicated, blaming the girl for the way she was dressed, or even blaming the girl for speaking out about it at all. A perfect example of rape culture in the media took place in Steubenville, Ohio. A 16-year-old girl, incapacitated by alcohol, was gang raped by two high school football players who then shared photos of the assault on their social networking sites and with their friends. Immediately, mainstream news and media began to blame the victim saying she should not have chosen to get so intoxicated in the first place. The two boys were given the minimum allowed sentence of 1 and 2 years. This court case caused an uproar and a
One night, “Amy,” a student at State, was hanging out with some friends in her room. “A bunch of people were there, and one guy I didn’t know was obviously drunk and kept asking me out. I tried to brush him off, and didn’t take it seriously because he was drunk. I left to go to sleep. “He followed me to my room and kept banging on my bedroom door, trying to push it open and asking me to talk to him. I talked to him for a little while just to appease him.” Finally, the guy’s friends coaxed him away from Amy’s door. “I don’t know if that’s sexual harassment,” she said. “I wasn’t worried that he was going to assault me. The whole thing was just annoying.”
Rape culture is an issue that has gained moment through the feminist movement within the last couple of decades. Rape itself has been around since the beginning of time and its definition has changed over the years. In the United States before 1993, a woman could not charge her husband for rape. The definition of rape varies by state and each state has it’s own set of rape laws. According to Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), rape culture “is a term that was coined by feminists in the United States in the 1970’s. It was designed to show the ways in which society blamed victims of sexual assault and normalized male sexual violence.”1 Rape culture existed in the 1970’s and still exists today.
Rape culture on college campuses is a prominent issue that various universities cannot effectively tame. Unfortunately, many put quotations on the issue as if its presence on college campuses is not as dramatic or detrimental as statistics illustrate. Although there are programs that receive grants to educate youth and young adults on rape prevention, the percentages of reported incidents and unreported incidents are not reducing as planned. This is in direct relation to some colleges and programs believing that “rape prevention is still a woman’s job”. (Allen) As reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted during their college career suggesting that this is more than a woman’s
Eighteen million women and three million men. These are the numbers of women and men that have been raped at some point in their lives. (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006.) Many advocates would say this is proof that we are living in a “rape culture”. A label coined by second wave feminists in the 1970’s, in response to the on-going prevalence of rape in the United Sates. Over the years, there have been many definitions of rape culture, but for the sake of the research paper, rape culture will be defined as a society where sexual violence is normalized. If you’ve ever heard of the responses: “She asked for it.” “He didn’t mean to.” “She wanted it.” “It wasn’t really rape.” “She’s clearly lying.” This is what a rape culture conditions us as a society to think or even verbalize when a story of sexual assault or rape is presented. Conversely, other advocates and feminists recoil at the use of the label “rape culture” because of what the label institutes about our society or progressions we’ve made in trying to eradicate
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.