Rape : A Common Form Of Violence Against Women

“Before the rape I felt good. My life was in order. I was getting ready to get married. Afterward everything changed. I kind of lost who I was as a person…

According to Crittenden and Wright (1999) one strategy to keep patriarchy in place is by using violence against women, this is not to say that all men use violence to maintain the male domination of society (Macionis and Plummer, 1998). Nevertheless there is evidence that suggests that the top levels of society, especially at the level where laws are made that the patriarchy are in control. An example of this is in 1991 rape was still considered legal within a marriage in England and Wales, this can be seen as an acceptance and observance of patriarchal ideas (Painter, 1995). This lack of law change may be because of the majority of the top jobs in government are held by men, from this it can be argued that the fact that rape was legal in marriage up to 1991 shows the male domination of the legal and political systems that women have to live under. This is in contrast with Australian law which removed the marital exemption from cases of marital rape at the earlier time of 1981 (Larcombe and Heath 2012). It is said by feminists that male power and dominance is throughout society and that domestic violence is a direct result of the patriarchal view of women’s place in society (Aitken, 2007). There is an opposing view to what causes men to become domestically violent, that it is because of an individual’s problems rather

What was "new" about women in the early twentieth century? The most prominent change was women’s increased presence in the public arena. Modern women ventured into jobs, politics, and culture outside the domestic realm. Whereas the lives of most nineteenth century women—especially middle-class women tended to revolve around home life. They remained economically and politically subordinate to men in the early twentieth century.

Two of the most serious public health and social issues faced in the world today are sexual assault

The term ‘rape culture’ was coined by feminists in the United States in 1970. The term itself was designed to illustrate the ways in which society blamed victims of sexual assault, and how the normalization of male sexual violence was acceptable. Rape culture can stem from the acceptance of rape as a daily occurrence, manifested as a male prerogative. There is a hesitation by the authorities to go against the patriarchal cultural norms, hence linking nonconsensual sex to the cultural disposition of society. The patriarchal perspective of rape culture, embedded with gender inequality and misogyny are passed through generations which ultimately leads to the extensive institutional and social acceptance of rape. Actions which advocate sexist ideals are utilized to justify and validate normative misogynistic perceptions. Rape culture sexualizes violence inflicted upon women, as it serves as a continuum of a society which views a women’s body to be sexually available by default, deriving from the overall domination and objectification of a female. The underlying cause of rape culture is localized as it based upon the social aspects of culture. For example, countries with a prolific ‘war culture’ tend to emphasize violence and masculinity, and therefore rape is viewed as a normal facet of society. I intend to parallel the element of rape culture to the enforcement of social rules and the conditioning of gender roles. I plan on analyzing the notion that within the encompassment of

Women have always struggled in the fight to gain equality with men, despite the many advances, society still has a long way to go in addressing the issue of gender inequality. One major factor that keeps women from achieving gender equality is the many rape myths that are associated with sexual assaults. The rape myths that are deeply embedded within the Canadian legal system and society continues to have a detrimental effect on women. Using the R. v. Ewanchuck case I argue that the rape myths embedded within society prevent women from gaining justice within the legal system.

Throughout history, rape has been recorded from all cultures, countries and religions (Jiloha, 2013). Historically, a woman’s body was considered the property of the husband or father. In the ancient Roman culture, states Jiloha (2013), sexual assault or rape was considered a violent theft of a woman from the individual with whom had legal capacity over her. Therefore, the crime was incurred against the husband or father of the woman. Jiloha (2013) reminds us that when the ancient Roman, Greek and Persian armies overtook another country, group rape of women occurred and was a commonplace disciplinary act. Even within the U.S, spousal rape was not considered a crime in all 50 states until 1993 (Bennice & Resick, 2003). In addition, a marital

Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse against a person without that person’s consent. Today, rapists are not being charged for a sufficient time. Sexual assault occurs in the everyday life and must be prevented. At least 1 out of every 6 American women has been a victim. Sexual assault is often viewed as a women’s issue rather than an issue for men or society as a whole.

Women, girls, men, and boys are vulnerable victims of sexual assaults every day in our country. While females experience much higher rates of sexual assaults than males. The problem that this country faces is the lack of being able to track rapist, in addition to the victims that chose not to report their assault of being raped to the police. Issues of under reporting comes from the victims with multiple reasons that hinders them from reporting these heinous criminal acts. Thus, the sad realization is that the perpetrator is usually some one that you know, that you would of never of thought that they could and would, and do sexually assault you.

Feminist scholarship has argued that rape ideology encourages and justifies sexual coercion, trivializes sexual violence and demeans and devalues women who have experienced sexual assault. The foundation of this argument is based on women's experiences in patriarchal societies. Due to the fact that

Even though the first amendment states freedom of expression, statistics show rape and sexual assault numbers have risen due to the presence of rape culture in modern society. Rape culture promotes more assaults and violent acts, not only towards women but also towards men. Some evidence rape culture is present in today’s society are rising statistics showing that only three out of a hundred rapists see jail time and that over 17 million American women are victims of sexual assault every year. Rape culture is seen in every aspect of daily American life, even if people do not realize it.

Most people would agree that as you grow up you learn by seeing, feeling ,touching , smelling, and hearing . Albert Bandura supports this by a theory he created called the Social Learning Theory (McLeod, 2011). Social Learning Theory is a theory that explains that behavior is learned by your social environment, interactions and observations of others. With this theory I would say it supports opinion in which I would say that rape is not something somebody just decides one day to do. I believe that rape is learned throughout time. There are many social and even media factors that sometimes may come off with the intention that rape is acceptable. In some media factors they may even perceive that being forcibly raped is pleasurable. Movies tend to do it often and sometimes movies don 't realize that what people see on television can sometimes influence people to see these acts as a norm. For instance the fact that a college kid is in a frat and he 's in a party there is a good percentage that he would reenact what television had stereotype frats boys to do. Television would label the frat boys as potential rapist and the human mind would consider that when you take on that role as a frat boy. One of the biggest media factors all the way from television to the internet that for so many years that perceive rape as acceptable is pornography.

“People dominate animals, men dominate women.” Each is a relation of hierarchy, an inequality, with particularities and variations within and between them. (Cite Orange book pg. 92.) For centuries, women have been viewed and used as a man’s “property”, whether it is being used for sexual satisfaction or for the sake of bearing children and taking care of the home. Men are typically perceived as head of the household and whatever they say goes; anything to satisfy their hunger for power and control. Have women ever had a say about what they want to use their bodies for? Laws against rape may have changed over time, but men’s consistent aggressive behavior unfortunately, has not.

Most people think that rape is about sex but it is not. If rape was about getting sex the person would just go and have sex with someone who wants to give it to them. Paying for sex is better than going out and raping someone. Rape is also called sexual assault. Rape is about having power and control over someone. Rape is defined as one person forcing another person, without his or her consent and using violence or threatening violence, to have intercourse or other forms of sexual activity. Usually when people hear about rape they think of a man raping a woman, but rape can happen to anyone. It is one of the worst things that can happen to someone. Some people think that rape is

     Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.