Feminists And Men's Rights Activists

Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted. Each year, there are about 293,000 victims of sexual assault. Approximately four out of five assaults are committed by someone the victim knows; 47 percent of rapists are an acquaintance or friend. While 68 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police concluding in 98 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.” If, as a society, we continue to blame victims and refuse to acknowledge the truth of sexual assault we cannot expect rates of sexual violence to improve. People who blame victims believe that if they do certain things - wear the 'right' clothes, don't go out at night, don't get drunk, teach their children about stranger danger - then they'll be safe from sexual assault. We need to give our survivors a fighting chance so they can step forward and speak honestly about their experiences. The more open our conversations about sexuality become, the more people will finally start to accept that rape is a crime and one that no one deserves, or should ever have to

Last week, the White House released a short, celebrity packed, 60-second public service announcement (PSA) on the topic of sexual assault. 1 is 2 Many addressed those who are in control of preventing sexual assault as its intended audience was those who can put a stop to sexual violence: the perpetrators or would-be offenders. Although this one minute announcement completed the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it failed to encompass the central issues concerning the culture of sexual assault: societal misperceptions, the victims, and the justice system. Sexual assault is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries; the culture of sexual assault is rooted in both legal practices and societal perceptions.

It is said that 88 percent of women sexually assaulted on campus do not report. (Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation 2015). Four to five percent of victims report but not to the police, nine to ten percent thought police would not to anything to help, ten to fourteen percent did not want to get the culprit in to trouble, twelve to nineteen percent thought that it wasn’t important enough to turn in, twenty percent were afraid of reprisal, and twenty three to twenty six percent thought it to be a personal matter (RAINN). The percentage of sexual assault claims that turn out to be false range from two to eight percent. When people are focused on those small numbers they forget to keep in mind how majority of the cases that go reported for sexual assault, turn out to be true.Then there are the cases that do get reported, and with these brings along the perpetrators who rarely get serious punishments. The majority of them will not go to jail or prison.

Sexual violence is a significant social and cultural problem within America and all over the world. Within the United States nearly 1 in 5 women – or nearly 22 million – have been raped in their lifetimes. Arrest rates for sexual assault cases are low as they are hard to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimizations from year 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Findings from the same survey revealed that more than one-third of women reported experiencing a sexual assault at some point during their lifetime. Within American society, rape constitutes an experience

Sexual assault is not just a crime against an individual, it affects families, the community, and society as a whole. In recent years, our society has shifted to one of rape culture and rape myth. Rape myths are erroneous, stereotypical, and prejudicial beliefs about rape victims and reasons of sexual assault. Rape myths can impact survivors of assault, as well as the behavior and effectiveness of family, friends, medical and social services, and law enforcement (Rape Victim Advocates, 2016). Rape impacts our society by attacking the cohesion and mutual protection that makes a society. When we allow such crimes to go without the most vigorous and vigilant investigation and punishment, we allow for whole segments of society to be diminished, we are sending the message that society is okay with rape (Abbey,

“They are all innocent until proven guilty. But not me. I am a liar until I am proven honest.” Louise O’Neill. Rape has become a widely recognized issue in recent decades, however, an estimated 63 percent of assaults are never reported to the police. Differences in 1930’s issues compared to present day include: false rape accusations centered around racial prejudice, but now skirt the main issue of rape itself; victims still face many obstacles but now feel more supported; development of rape kits helped solve many suits but make survivors wearisome; and today’s trials are not based on accusations, but are based on evidence.

“Rape is unique. No other violent crime is so fraught with controversy, so enmeshed in dispute and in the politics of gender and sexuality… And within the domain of rape, the most highly charged area of debate concerns the issue of false allegations. For centuries, it has been asserted and assumed that women “cry rape,” that a large proportion of rape allegations are maliciously concocted for purposes of revenge or other motives.”

Prosecutors and police officers may be less likely to believe victims if they have no signs of physical abuse like cuts, bruises, or scrapes, or if they have known their attackers for a long time (Hilgenkamp 163). Victims often feel ashamed and humiliated for bringing their experiences forward and become frustrated and furtherly emotionally damaged (Hilgenkamp 163). Dealing with sexual assault cases differently based on the victim’s state and story is unfair to the survivor and will only further hurt someone who has already suffered through a traumatic ordeal since it causes them feel as though they are not being listened to or heard. In addition to investigations that are often biased and poorly conducted, the number of convictions made in sexual assault cases is astonishingly small. A few years ago, “The Chicago Tribune published the results of a study involving 171 campus sex complaints at six Midwestern universities. Twelve of the accused perpetrators were arrested, and only four were convicted” (Hedelman and Brown). Due to the low conviction rates, many women feel as though their allegations of having been sexually assaulted are not being taken seriously or even acknowledged (Hedelman and Brown). Unfortunately, sexual assault is a popular crime on college campuses, but when victims bring their stories forward to law enforcers, they are not taken seriously and severe punishments are rarely given to assaulters, which further harms people who have already been wrongly treated. Police and investigators have to change the ways in which they deal with sexual assault cases because investigations are unfairly biased and are usually so inaccurately conducted that most offenders

Social Media and local news coverage of high profile famous cases of sexual assault can give a misleading perceptions of the actual cause of the problem. Some of these articles talk about the stereotype with ‘stranger danger’ sexual assault and how it is actually not true.Most people who experience sexual assault are assaulted by someone who they actually

False reporting does occur, but it is pretty rare “--estimated between 2% and 10%”(Drexler). Although that is not the statistics we want to see, there becomes a bigger concern when we see the number of females that have been victims of sexual assault. “One in five women are sexually assaulted while in college (some reports even out the figures at more than one in four)” (Drexler). On top of that, 63% of sexual assaults, including being on and off campus, are never reported to authority (Drexler). 63% is a large percentage of sexual assaults to not be reported so if a female were to file a report against a male for sexual violence or abuse, it is highly likely that the truth is being told. Situations like these happen and are to be taken seriously. A victim needs support, not ridicule. College campuses should not be a place where victims of sexual assault should be shamed or blamed for what has happened to them,

Frustratingly, these days, some people still treat sexual assault as an “okay” thing, making comments such as “she was asking for it” and that she was “equally responsible” for the situation. This is exactly the sort of mindset that is contributing to the startling statistics today.

Sexual assault is a major issue in the world we live in today. The punishment that people get is never what they actually deserve.There has been all kinds of crime rates for sexual offence all over the world. Surveys in the United States have proven that one of every six women has experienced an attempt of rape or even a completed rape experience. Many women who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by men that they know,or has came into contact with. Women are rarely going to report that they have been raped when they know the asaultiant. With this being said there are alot of cases that are under reported. In this essay i will argue the many reasons why women are afraid to report a sexual assault crime made against them.

This statement is true. In one of the videos it mentions how even though the sexual assault has decreased in the military, it is still high and how many cases are unreported or even if they are reported very few of them actually go to court because these military women feel that if they reported they have been sexually assaulted then there would be retaliation from other soldiers and commanding officers. These women feel they won't be believed, or even in this video it mentions how women are being discharged because of sexual assault. Perhaps, the reason why sexually assault in the military is being unreported is because these women are afraid that they won't be believed or justice won't be served.

I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in

In the United States rape completely toxic and it’s a dangerous myth. On college campuses where drinking is prevalent, most victims don’t report their assault to the police because of the fear of being blamed for the incident. “A recent National Crime Victimization report showed that only 55% of sexual assaults reported in their survey were reported to the police” (Hayes, Abbott, Cook 2016). Hayes goes on to explain that rape myths are defined as “attitudes and false belief held