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Representations on violence in the media
Drinking and sexual assault
Representations on violence in the media
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On the other hand young men are not alone in distinguishing between consensual sex and rape. “In a survey of college students by the National Institute of Justice, fourteen percent of women said someone had sexual contact with them when they were passed out or too drunk to be able to stop or provide consent” (Banks). Only about thirty-seven percent of women in this study believed what happened to them was rape and the rest of the women did not consider it sexual assault or rape. “Instead of warning women not to get blackout drunk, Kenny said, we need to educate men that it's not okay to have sex with someone who isn’t sober enough to consent” (Banks). The State of Minnesota passed a law that requires each post-secondary institution to train …show more content…
Victim blaming is a leading problem correlated to the fifty-four percent of unreported rapes (“Victims… Statistics.” ). Most people in society do not realize victim blaming is a problem or realize they blame the victims. A reason people tend to label or accuse the victim so quickly is they get the opportunity to view the victim differently than themselves. “By thinking, ‘Because I am not like her, because I do not do that, this would never happen to me.’ reassures non-victims and we need to help the non-victims understand that this is not a helpful reaction,” (“Southern Connecticut State University.”). Victim-blaming makes it easier for victims to turn away from reporting their assault. People who blame the victim reinforce what rapists have been saying all along; that is, it the victim’s fault this happened. This real life story explains how victims blaming convinced a fifteen-year-old girl, who goes by the name E, started to believe her attack was her …show more content…
The long dark haired boy, Rob, approached E and told her he wanted to be with her. “What about your girlfriend?”, said E. “We’re done,” Rob said, with his breath all warm and gooey from the alcohol. He kissed E on the neck and said, “Come on. I’ll drive you home.” Sitting in the back of his car in an empty parking lot, E and Rob started sucking on each others lips once again. She could feel Rob being impatient, cold, and aggressive, but she was trying to find the feelings from the walk in the woods. Rob ripped off her clothes, demanding her to turn over so he could enter from the behind. Unwilling to have sex, E turned over trying to push Rob away, but it did not work. “I think we should stop. Rob, I don’t think I want to,” said E, realizing this was not the Rob she fell in love with. Constantly kissing E to keep her quiet was Rob’s intention. Whimpering and telling Rob nicely to stop over twenty times in vain. Finally, E screamed, “I want to stop. Please Stop!” So he climbed off of E and put his clothes
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
When the victim does not fit the ideal victim attributes which society has familiarised themselves with, it can cause complications and confusion. Experts have noticed there is already a significant presence of victim blaming, especially for cases involving both genders. The fear of being blamed and rejected by the public is prominent in all victims. Victim blaming proclaims the victim also played a role in the crime by allowing the crime to occur through their actions (Kilmartin and Allison, 2017, p.21). Agarin (2014, p.173) underlines the problem of victim blaming is due to the mass of social problems and misconceptions within society. The offender can have “an edge in court of public opinion” if victim blaming exists, resulting in the prevention of the case accomplishing an effective deduction in court (Humphries, 2009, p.27). Thus, victims will become more reluctant to report offences because of their decrease in trust in the police and criminal justice system, leading to the dark figure of
There are always those moments when we make decisions that affect the rest of our lives, turning left when we should have turned right. The difference is that most times we live to regret those decisions unlike Carla and her ill-fated jog to her death. There have been throughout time theories as to why offenders commit crime and what drives them to go against all social norms, but now the discussion in the last 50 years, or so, has been what and how much responsibility the victim has in what makes them an attractive target and how their daily routines can even make then more susceptible to crime. The three theories of victimization I found are the Victim Precipitation theory, the Deviant Place theory, and the Lifestyle theory. Each theory has
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
Within the criminal justice system, the victim faces re-victimization with the techniques that are done within the court room. For example, the defense attorney may try to use rape myths such as the victim asked for it based on the way she may have dressed, the victim led the offender on by flirting with them, and that she could have avoided being raped if she wasn’t drinking (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 377). The purpose of using rape myths is to demonize the victim’s character by subjecting the victim to humiliating and inquisitive questions (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 377). Third, the victim may not report rape to law enforcement because they may fear retaliation by the offender, especially if that offender is a lifelong partner or a boyfriend. Fourth, due to the culture of rape and the influences of the media, a victim may feel guilty and blame themselves for the assault (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 377). As stated earlier, rape myths are used to demonize the victim’s character and ultimately take the blame away from the offender and put it onto the victim. In fact, rape myths serve to lessen the prevalence and seriousness of
In a study done by Grubb and Harrower (2009), they surveyed to find people’s reactions to three different types of rape. Rape by a stranger, date rape and seduction rape were in question. Their results indicated that male participants thought victims were to blame far more often than women believed. In the case of a “seduction rape,” both males and females attributed the blame to the victim, as well as in a stranger rape. But when it came down to it, 33 percent of men said they would rape someone if they could get away with it (The White House Council on Women and Girls,
It was once acceptable for men to have full control over women, declaring when they will marry and when they will have children. However, over the past centuries, women have established a place in society, proving themselves much more than someone's property. This is why the word “rape” today is not taken lightly. According to findlaw.com, “Rape generally refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse that is committed by physical force, threat of injury, or other duress.” When one does not give consent to sex, it is considered a felony, possibly putting the rapist in jail. Contrary to sexual assault, “Sex is reified as penile-vaginal intercourse while an extremely diverse group of pleasurable and sexually stimulating activities are dismissively relegated to the category of foreplay...” (Reinholtz, Muehlenhard, Phelps, & Satterfield, 1995.) Although consented sexual intercourse is much more out in the open and accepted in society, the problem of rape is still very relevant behind the scenes.
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.")
Believe it or not, one in three women have experienced being raped at a party while being intoxicated or unconscious. Because of the recent events involving sexual assault all over the world, many conversations and controversies have come to light, showing a disturbing lack of clarity about the topic of consent. Sexual assault is when someone is coerced into a sexual act or forced. Consent is when someone basically gives you permission or they agree to do something with you, in this case they agree to have sexual intercourse with you. But, if someone were to give you consent while they are intoxicated then that is actually not consent. With so many people not knowing what consent is or how to clarify it, a group of young people, ages 18 and
The study emphasizes on rape victims' characteristics. Accordingly, significant blame is given to the victims if they happen to be of African American ethnicity since such observations were noted in the United States of America. The authors note that victim gender is an essential element which facilitates victim blaming. Therefore, many people have the feeling that only females get raped which is
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.
Understanding the theories of victimology is important to understand the victims, we need to understand the four main theories of victimization. These theories are the principals of victim assessment. It will give the officer the tools to understand the motive behind the victimization giving him different types of views to analyze the victim. The four main theories of victimization are: Victim Precipitation, Lifestyle, Deviant Place, and Routine Activity. These four theories according to victimology give us the idea of how the victim become to be a victim. The word Victimization meanings “an act that exploits or victimizes someone” and “adversity resulting from being made a victim” (Vocabulary.com. Dictionary Victimization (2017)). By understanding the victim and the influences of their social life is important so we can give the victim the treatment and
Although Nathaniel is portrayed as a clumsy man, he matures especially towards the end. He lands in New York because his love stated, ‘ A man like that, strong and brave, i’d do anything for.’ He believes he is this man. She lures him by letting him imagine possibilities. ‘If there is ever going to be a happily ever after for us.’ Once Nathaniel realises the Queen was only using him, he stood up to her. ‘She sent the girl there, she poisoned her.’ He learns there is more to life than being a puppet. Robert grows whilst spending time with Giselle but he proves it towards the end. As Giselle sings at the park Robert falls into a ‘spell’ and starts to nod and hum. She makes him relax and enjoy life. At the ball Robert struggles to say what Nancy is to him, she ends his sentence for him. ‘This is Nancy, she…,she..’. He proves his love for Giselle when she was unconscious. Robert quotes her as he attempts to find a solution to the spell put on her. He whispered ‘True love’s kiss.’ In a heroic tone Robert says, ‘Over my dead body.’ , showing he was trying to be like Edward. Lima uses Edward as a way to entertain the audience, Edward arrives at the apartment block. The camera shows him being full of energy knocking at the first apartment and merges the screen into different apartments with his energy slowly fading away. In Edwards case, he became strong mentally by standing up for what was right. At the ball, he calls
Assigning blame has become an increasingly difficult and complex concept to understand, especially in our legal court system. I associate blame with being held responsible for the consequences of one’s intentional actions. In regards to sexual assault cases, I think the blame should not be placed on the victims, but rather on the perpetrators. Victim blaming justifies the perpetrator’s actions, discourages sexual assault reportings, and can have psychological effects on the victim.
A writer from Southernct stated a fact that “ men, women, and children of all ages, races, religions, and economic classes have been victims of sexual assault. Sexual assault occurs in rural areas, small towns, and larger cities” ( “Southernct” 1). We have all seen on the news a case where a female has been raped and somehow the world makes us believe that it was her own fault that it happened. This is due to victim blaming. Victim blaming occurs when the victim of some sort of crime or wrongdoing is held partially or fully responsible for what happened to them. It is not always easy to identify though. Some people would be considered to be victim blaming over every day situations in life. For example, someone making the