Persuasive Essay On Rape

Welcome to the world of the Bill Cosby rape scandal. Here are some facts about rape, and rape victims. About one-third of all rape victims have been romantically involved with their offenders. Nine states require sexual assault or rape victims to come forward within three years after the crime that has been committed upon them. More than half of rapes that happen in the world go unreported. I will tell you about some of the women accusing Bill Cosby of rape, and how many colleges and universities have revoked him of his honorary degrees.

“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn't move” (Hummer, 1989). These were the words said by a freshman away at college after she had been sexual assaulted. From the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National network, statistics show that “over 90 percent of all gang rapes on college campuses involve fraternity men” (Hummer, 1989). Most often these woman may be labeled as trash, shameful, or ready for action, aside from a victim, prey, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these deprecating terms for women and cover the reality of a rape culture.

“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.”

In America, 1 out of 6 women fall victim to rape at some point in their lives—completed or not (“Victims of Sexual Violence” 1). However, this is only one form of sexual assault that women are forced to face. Groping and other non-consensual, sexual acts are also examples of sexual assault (“Sexual Assault” 1).. Many perpetrators of sexual assault roam free, practically unaffected and likely to commit another similar act, while the woman could feel the effects of this event for her entire life. This problem affects women from around the globe—and it’s time that we put an end to it, because if we don’t, who will? If boys were to be taught how and how not to treat women in their early years, sexual assault would not be as prevalent, thus, women, including us, would not have to worry as much about enduring this kind of torment.

Many cases throughout time have not resulted in a conviction being made, for the sole reason that the charges exceeded the statute of limitations. The statue of limitations is defined as “the maximum amount of time allowed for a party to initiate legal proceedings”(Legal dictionary, 2016). Present day, every state is entitled to their own statute of limitations on rape and sexual assault. 34 States currently have a statutes of limitations on rape/sexual assault. Some of these states have a statute of limitations but there is a DNA exemption rule, ruling that if a DNA match is made later than the statute then that case will be exempt from the statute of limitations. Only 16 states have no statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault (Filipovic, 2016, p .A23).

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, “there is an average of 237,868 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year.” It is estimated that “out of every 100 rapes, 40 get reported to the police, 10 lead to an arrest, 8 get prosecuted, 4 lead to a felony conviction” and “3 rapists will spend even a single day in prison.” Furthermore, “about 95% of” the four percent of felony “convictions are obtained by way of a plea agreement” rather than through trial. In some states, like “California, there is a higher acquittal rate for rape than for any other felony" (926).

So even if the court or a jury look at an attacker’s past and see’s he was a star athlete with many friends leading them to lessen the punishment. If they committed sexual assault and get away with it they most likely will attempt and probably succeed at doing it again. The problem Krakauer had with the court system isn’t just that they are not punishing an offender properly of a heinous crime. They are enabling them them to do it again, giving them the chance to ruin another person's life. If looked at, the effects of a sexual assault show why the rapist should serve a life sentence. The victims in this story revealed they were condemned to a life sentence the second they were taken advantage of in that way. While so many will say that rape should be punished the most severely as possible, Krakauer's book revealed the minute it came down to giving a sentence, jurors and judges, and even prosecutors had been and are lenient and soft in their convictions. While many government officials and police in Missoula have tried to change for the better after this scandal came to light, an even bigger one came to the surface from Krakauer's research. Missoula isn’t even near being the pronounced rape capital of the US. It’s even reported that it has a lower rate of reported sexual assaults than many towns it’s size and demographic. In the book Krakauer reported that between January 2008-May 20012 in a

Many times when a person is raped they are too traumatized to actually remember the full details or only remember certain characteristics, or facial features of the person who hurt them. So law enforcement makes an arrest based on the victims memory. Then after convicted it is found out that the wrong person was

Arrest rates of sexual assault cases have dropped according to the "National Crime Victimization" survey roughly around 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimization between 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Many elements come into play causing little arrests rates, and theses cases can be demanding to investigate. Still, research shows that some police officers still believe certain rape myths " many women falsely claim rape to get attention " which may account for the low rates. Sexual assault cases can also be difficult to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. Victims of rape and sexual assault often have difficulty remembering the

One problem is thirty-four out of fifty states have statutes of limitations on sexual assault, ranging anywhere from three to thirty years (Holter). Statutes of limitations give a victim a certain time to report the attack or press charges against their defender. Some states have the clock starting from the date of the assault, while for other states the clock starts when the crime is initially reported. An attack from many years ago can be solved with the DNA found from the suspect, but the suspect cannot be charged because the crime happened outside of the statute of limitations. A recent topic in the media is Bill Cosby being accused of rape by fifty-two women, one of the victims, Jenny Wendt, had only two weeks to press charges against Cosby because of the statutes of limitations in Indiana (Smith).

A lot of sexual assault cases are not taken seriously, even though they should be. “At least 94 percent of perpetrators will not go to jail” (rainn.org). That means that the majority of the bad guys get away and can probably commit the same crime over again. Therefore making more victims of this crime. A large percentage of the victims have

There are many reasons that male victims do not come forward and report being raped. After talking to a speaker from the Gay/Lesbian Alliance here on campus, I found out some interesting information. One of the biggest reason's males do not come forward and report being raped is the fear of being perceived as homosexual. However, male sexual assault has nothing to do with the sexual orientation of

When you think of socks, what comes to mind? Like me, I’m sure you picture the everyday items you wear on your feet to keep them comfortable. In recent times however it appears that socks have become a national topic of debate, with a divided public opinion. How could such a trivial thing become so important to society? A respected teacher at Nelson College for Girls highlighted just how controversial such a small item of attire could be, prompting the wake of what we teenagers believe should be a national, global topic of conversation - rape culture. The issue arose when the teacher made an innocent comment communicating the pornographic and creepy ‘look’ of the thigh-high sock students had been wearing as opposed to regular tights. The specific choice of language implied the socks were an invitation for sexual prejudice; the socks were asking for more than what their wearer was aware. The statement was only a surface layer to a deeper societal issue.

Rape also known as sexual assault is having sexual intercourse or any form of sexual penetration against a person’s will or consent. It could be carried out by coercion, the use of physical power or abuse of authority. It is an act many societies, if not all discourage, and attracts different form of punishment in different geographical locations. There are many consequences of rape; some people suffer from depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicidal tendencies, and Anxiety Disorder. It was not a surprise when the Mr. Cosby’s alleged case of rapes were waved and flooded to the entire media channels in the USA and other countries. Majority of people can recall number of such cases where some prominent African – Americans were sued

College-age adults are known to be high risk for sexual violence and most studies show that one in three women have experiences some type of sexual assault whether it was through physical force or harassment. These statics are known by most women on college campuses to ensure that women know and understand that this could happen to them. The issue is more than ensuring that women are aware of how protect themselves and know how to avoid these situations because it shouldn’t even be happening. When women are taught that they should know how to defend themselves we are saying that this type of behavior is normal and inevitable. We should shift from this dynamic and start teaching both men and women that this behavior is completely unacceptable and that sexually assaulting or harassing someone is NOT normal. This paper will mostly focus on incidents of rape and sexual assault on college campuses and what the outcome and reactions of these incidents were.