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Rape culture in society
Essays on rape blame culture
Sexual assault and gender inequality
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Women all over the world are victims of sexual assault and completed rape. One out of every six women in the United States are estimated to be violated sexually according to recent statistics, (RAINN, 2018). With the number of assaults occurring on women increasing, the societal attitude that surrounds sexual assaults and completed rapes also becomes more prevalent. Society appears to minimalize the experience of female victims, while provides a strong ‘benefit of the doubt’ mentality toward the male being accused. Clear examples of this have recently presented themselves regarding celebrities. Most of these celebrities have denied the claims against them and have not been prosecuted; despite numerous testimonies of first hand experienced
When university or police find out about the sexual assault, they immediately blame the victim or question what the victim was wearing, drinking, or doing. “Brownmiller identified four basic rape myths: (1) All women want to be raped; (2) a woman cannot be raped against her will; (3) a woman who is raped is asking for it; and (4) if a woman is going to be raped, she might as well enjoy it” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 432). In The Hunting Ground, the rape myth, which a woman who is raped is asking for it, is seen throughout the testimonies of the survivors. Clark, herself, was told by her dean that “rape is like a football game” and asked if “looking back, what would you have done differently?” (Ziering & Dick, 2015). These rape myths affect how many victims actually report and how seriously sexual assaults are taken within universities and the justice system. For example, some women, themselves, subscribe to rape myths because they see how current cases are handled. “Women who did not physically fight off the person who raped them and who subscribed to the rape myth that “it can’t be rape if a woman doesn’t fight back” were less likely to acknowledge that they had been raped” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 434). Universities need to teach first-year students about consent and how to
Gender is predominating in the criminal justice system and sexual assault exemplifies the contrast found between the traditional and non-traditional justice systems employed over time. Sexual assault poses a social threat to all aspects of community, spreading insecurity in 43400 victims across Australia and 13300 victims in NSW alone as indicated in the recent Australian Bureau of Statistics Crime Victimisation Report. (ABS 2011, p. 40) There has also been an increase of sexual assault by 51% since 1995 with an average of 4% every year. (ABS 2010) Another major issue within the boundaries of sexual assault is that it holds one...
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
Sometimes the victim does not look like a stereotypical victim. Smoked a lot, drank a lot, dressed provocatively, wasn’t she asking for it? Doesn’t that make her less credible? With our justice system, the standard for whether rape occurred is placed upon the victim entirely. Their thoughts, sexual history, and actions are opened up for scrutiny, criticism, sometimes outright disbelief. It is no wonder that around 66% of sexual assault cases go unreported and less than 2% of rapists are ever actually incarcerated [2]. (These are generous estimates; the reality is probably much worse.) When they are reported, people think they’re lying. Disregarding the fact that reporting rape is a very traumatizing process, statistically only 2-8% of rape reports are false reports [3]. We must dispel the idea that rape victims are lying, because the overwhelming majority of the time, they are not. This kind of mentality creates a toxic environment that prevents the victims from speaking
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 until 2012 was defined as “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” It was severely lacking was only updated by the Federal Bureau of Instigation in 2012. It left out an entire section of rape that can be committed which is man being the rape victim. This lead to misclassification of rape of males for years. So even the statistics used till 2014 were underwhelming and inaccurate when it was related to male rape or sexual assault. Rape in the United States is now defined by the Department of Justice as “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” Male Rape or men being the sexual assault victims are rarely ever the subject of a dialogue when Sexual Assault is the topic being discussed because rape is generally seen as a heterosexual highly sexed male attack on vulnerable, attractively dressed female victim. Most rapists have alternative outlets for sexual gratification, many take little notice of their victim 's physical attributes, and some may experience sexual dysfunction during the assault.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
Sexual assault is defined as a type of behaviour that occurs without explicit consent from the recipient and under sexual assault come various categories such as sexual activities as forces sexual intercourse, incest, fondling, attempted rape and more (Justice.gov. 2017). People often become victims of sexual assault by someone they know and trust (Mason & Lodrick, 2013) which is conflicting to the public’s perception and beliefs that offenders are strangers. Women are the main victims for sexual assault and are 5 times more likely to have been a victim of sexual assault from a male (Wright, 2017, p. 93). Men are victims of sexual assault however only 0.7% of men, compared to 3.2% of women, experience some form of sexual assault which highlights how vulnerable women are compared to men. Sexual assault is publicised and exposed in the media, however is often
The US Military has been one of the most powerful and respected fighting forces in the world; it is also a hotbed for sexual assault. Each year, thousands of men and women take an oath to serve and protect their country and each thousands of military service members are sexually assaulted. “Earlier this week, Pentagon officials released a new report which estimated more than 70 sexual assaults occur in the military each day.”(Shane III) Fear of retaliation, both personal and professional, and humiliation stop many service members from reporting their sexual assaults. Those few that make the bold choice to report incidents of sexual assault often finds themselves disappointed by the outcome; assaults that do get reported have an incredibly low rate of conviction of the offender. The US Military has proven over time that they are incapable of effectively dealing with the sexual assault problem that it faces.
A survey from the Association of American Universities of 150,000 students found that more than one in four women experience sexual assault during their four years in college. Over the four year college period, 27.2% of female students are victims of unwanted sexual contact that ranges from touching to rape (6). Sexual assault is far too common and it is an epidemic that faces many students in college. Many students suffer from the consequences of sexual assault, which is a result of many social and cultural deficiencies, but it can be fixed through a multifaceted approach. The problem of sexual assault can be fixed through the education of the community, a positive and helpful school environment, and classes focused on prevention.
Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")
It includes information on athletes and fraternities, and why these groups are so frequently involved in rape cases. The authors address rape myths such as stranger rape being the only “real rape” and victims creating false accusations just for their own personal agendas. They go into detail about how members of our society are socialized to believe these myths, and they become so prevalent that many men who rape acquaintances truly believe they are acting the way men are supposed to act. Although this text was written a number of years ago, its content is still true today and still applies to the topics I will be covering in my
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
Sexual violence is a national issue that permeates every aspect society. Sexual assault and rape is an ongoing problem, evident by the troubling statistic that roughly 20 million out of 112 million women (18.0%) in the United States have been raped during their lifetime (Kilpatrick, Resnick, Ruggiero, Conoscenti, McCauley, 2007). Despite the continuous push for gender equality, the current culture of society perpetuates victim-blaming tendencies towards innate cognitive processes and media influences.
The fear of being presumed responsible or at fault for another’s actions prevents many women from reporting offences, and the fact that it is women being blamed, rather than the men who offend, shows the unequal power that men have over women in defining experiences. Thus rape culture silences women by endorsing attitudes that paint offender’s actions as natural, and victims as