Rape Definition

Definitions

It is usually a very painful journey to recovery for persons who have suffered rape. There are so many persons in our Jamaican society who continue to suffer in silence, then struggle to recover without seeking professional help. Many persons cannot effectively deal with the aftermath of rape, but they continue to struggle in silence, some reencountering further abuse.

(Koss, 1993, p. 1062) as cited in Hyde and Delamater (2008), defined rape as, “non-consensual oral, anal, or vaginal penetration, obtained by force, by threat of bodily harm or when the victim is incapable of giving consent.” (p. 389). Initially many persons believed that rape was just vaginal intercourse, currently it also include oral and anal intercourse. According to Hyde and Delamater (2008), “The crucial point is that the activity is non-consensual.” (p. 389). Non- consensual would then mean that persons who are under aged, who are drunk, who are influenced by drugs, who are mentally challenged would not be able to give consent to engage in sexual activities. According to King (2005), “The word rape comes from the Latin rapere, meaning “to steal” or “carry off” (p. 425).

Rape may also be defined as, “the use of physical force, fear or fraud in obtaining sexual relations with a woman against her will and without consent. For rape to be proven penetration must take place.” (The Daily Observer, 2005). It was stated that, “rape and sexual assaults were massively under- reported and under- prosecuted in Jamaica, because victims are scared, apprehensive or confused.

Incidence and prevalence data

In 2005 the FBI reported that 94, 00 rapes- completed or attempted were reported in the United States of America. There were 63 reported rapes for every 1...

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... victim, now grown, seems fated to relive her traumatic experiences not only in memory but also in daily life” (p. 111). A similar issues was faced by a woman named Aneka. The title of the article was, “Rape victim haunted by memories,” where Aneka reflected on her personal experience after hearing about the raped and murdered in St. James recently. According to Thaffe (2012), “Aneka was sexually molested at age eight and then suffering the same fate 10 years later, 32-year-old Aneka has tried hard to bury her tragic past.” She basically went back to normalcy, had a good job, concealed her past traumatic event. “But with recent stories emerging of women and children being raped and murdered, the ghost from her past has came back to haunt her” (Thaffe, 2012). Especially the incident which took place in St, James brought her back to her own childhood experience.