Informative Studies On Rape Culture

Many individuals might wonder, what is rape culture? “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 perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.” Most women limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. (Marshall University)

In 2016, The United States Department of Justice released this chilling fact: one out of every four female undergraduates will be victim to some form of sexual assault before graduation. Even more terrifying, the American Civil Liberties Union estimates that at least 95 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses in the United States go unreported. These striking statistics resonate a dire call for increased prevention of sexual assault on campuses across the nation. With the passing of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in 1994, many universities and colleges began to enact sexual assault protection programs (Breitenbecher Hanson). However, as proven by the recent statistics presented earlier, these programs are

A fair share of qualitative and quantitative research was conducted in an attempt to adequately address the specific questions that were being asked. All of the research we reviewed used primary data and chose not to utilize secondary data to conduct their experiments, however, several of the studies references secondary data sources when speaking of historical backgrounds of rape and in their discussions. The methods our group has chosen to pay particular interest to are those that were used to gather data from participants at college campuses, as this is the population we wish to further explore. Due to women of college age being at an increased risk for sexual violence, several of the studies we found pursued out this population as well. A study conducted at James Madison University gathered their findings from a participant pool at their university using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, the Modern and Old-Fashion Sexism Scale, and rape scenarios and questions in which they evaluating participants identification with either the victim or the assailant (12p.242) This study was not alone in using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale as measure. In fact, of the research reviewed seven other studies utilized the scale in addition to the research done at

Sexual assault is a big issue on college campuses all over the country and it affects everyone that is involved. Sexual assault has increased throughout college campuses in the United States. Because of this the U.S developed a Campus Security Act in 1990 and Crime Awareness. George H. W Bush signed this bill into existence in 1990 (Lee 8). The government is putting a lot of pressure on college administrations to help prevent the chance that one of their students may be drugged and/or sexually assaulted. People are afraid that colleges and administrators are not doing their best to prevent sexual assault on students and they aren’t fully providing the support to the victims. One in five women who attend a college

Many college women claim their experiences after being sexually assaulted — often in date rape situations — illustrate a culture of indifference and denial that results in one in five young women being assaulted during their college years. Additionally, victims describe that unclear and conflicted internal disciplinary systems at their respective universities can compound their suffering. In short, sexual assault on college campuses reflects and reinforces gender inequality.

Now as a College student, speaking of rape culture is definitely an obligation. Reading the “The myth of the college ‘rape culture’” article in the NY post by Naomi Schaefer, she talks about the survey Harvard did as part of an effort by the American Association of Universities to quantify sexual assault on campus. The survey where bit vague but it looked like it was more of an alcohol problem more than a rape problem. The statistics show that most of the victims and the offenders drank alcohol or did drugs voluntarily. Yes there are some cases where the rapist was just a mad man that like raping but on campuses this is rarely seen. Quoting two things from Scaefer “On campuses where students are encouraged to see every bad sexual decision as an assault, incapacitated is a way students can explain away their behavior” and “Once you dig through all of the data collected here, there is no evidence that women are

Every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the United States. Moving closer to home, on our college campuses, one-third of women will be victims of sexual violence before they graduate from a college or university in the United States. Within our seven person student group at Boston University, three of our members are at a high risk of being victims of sexual violence before earning our degrees. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention defines sexual violence as, “Any sexual activity that is not obtained or given freely.” The National Sexual Violence Association explains the different types of sexual violence as rape and sexual assault, child sexual assault and incest, intimate partner sexual assault,

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” (Understanding Rape Culture). The intentional and unintentional glamorization and trend in rape has increased dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century. Rape culture is now a concept that is institutionalized all throughout the world that makes the acts of sexual violence inevitable and indistinguishable from normal human ethics. The US is a country of Rape Culture because mainstream media excuses and creates an environment and society where this culture is normalized. Television, music, books, and even schools are filled with obstinate objectification of women’s bodies.

Rape is one of the crimes committed in the US. Rape is also one of the most underreported crimes in America and has low prosecution and conviction rates compared to any other violent crimes in America. "Rape Culture" has become a popular term when it comes to rape prevention education and advocacy; it refers to a society that contains within it practices and beliefs that minimize the negative impacts of victimization while accepting and continuing the perpetration of acts of sexual violence.

September 2012 Saratoga High School sophomore Audrie Pott committed suicide after being raped by three of her classmates, and photos of the assault circulated through her school (Sulek). This isn’t just one rare occurrence in our day and age many incidents like Audrie’s frequently occur. Not only have we become accustomed to the word rape our western culture has made it one of its prime time events by the way we see traces of it every single day. From the news we watch every morning to the songs we listen to on our daily commutes the influences of rape on our culture and media are common.

In this essay I will examine the conflict of rape culture, the social normalization of rape and abuse. I see a connection between rape culture and patriarchy, although rape culture is a relatively new social topic it has been prevalent throughout history.

Worldwide, one in three women will be sexually assaulted or raped in her lifetime while only one in thirty three men will. In America one in four women will be sexually assaulted or raped before they even finish four years of college. Rape culture, the idea that it is the victim’s fault for the assault, is alive in all countries. In America, a girl may be asked what she was wearing at the time of the attack, if she was drunk, if she had been flirting, or about past sexual endeavors. Instead of focusing on the attacker, rape is often blamed on the victim. This mantra places more power into the hands of the attacker with less and less women coming forward to state attacks. Shaming and discrediting the victims, leaves society to feel the attack was normal therefore downplaying the severity. Rape culture teaches women that they are only objects of desire, that the attacker couldn’t help himself and that was okay, or that she led it on. These ideals place women under men and leave them feeling

As defined by southernct.edu, rape culture is “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence is normalized and excused in the media and pop culture.” Some examples of common rape culture ideals are: blaming the victim, refusing to take rape accusations seriously, and defending sayings such as “boys will be boys” and “she was asking for it.” Today, the media is a large platform for this kind of behavior, many people have begun to accept these ideals.

The rise of rape culture stems from not only a growing percentage of sexual assault, but a greater amount of people bringing these vicious acts to light. With the surge of more women being open about assault, something major must be done to combat rape culture, current policy makers must take responsibility with previous lax judgements on rape, it is essential that the definition of rape and consent is expanded and clearly defined, men are trained to not be offenders, and young women taught that sexual assault is not normal.

If someone was asked, would you approve of rape? Usually, the answer would be no without any hesitation, but what people do not seem to realize is that people say yes to rape all the time due its promotion through rape culture that is everywhere in our society. The concept of rape culture is not new, but the term itself is and over the most recent years the definition of rape culture has gradually evolved, that there is not one specific definition for the term anymore. Women and men alike have started to research and discuss concepts revolving around rape culture using a variety of definitions that fit the concept of rape culture. Several of the information gathered from a variety of research has been very interesting and eye opening to the