Rape : A More Heinous Crime Than Murder

The socio-cultural model views the social or environmental context of rape as an explanation of aggressive behavior. The socio-cultural view of rape is a result of a patriarchal system that is characterized by an ideology of male authority and different

Rebecca Solnit’s article focuses on the ways male violence negatively affects women. Harassment from men directed at women keep women from speaking up, and many women are living in constant fear of male violence. They live in a constant state of fear because they are aware male violence is taking place around them. Women are also afraid of potential male violence because men openly express authoritative behavior. She explains men feel they have the validity to control and abuse women. Specifically, a man will approach a woman with the expectation that the woman will return the man with a sexual favor. For example, “a woman was stabbed after she rebuffed a man’s sexual advances while she walked in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood late Monday night…”

     There are two sides to a rape, the rapist and the victim. The victim is most of the time a woman but men are raped as well. It is a common myth that there is a type of woman that is more likely to be raped. This is indeed a myth, most of the time rape is a crime of opportunity, the victim is not chosen because of her looks or behavior, but because she is there (Benedict 2). The average rape victim is 18-39 years old and female, the average rapist is 25 years old and male. The effect of rape on a woman is an enormous one. The woman will come away from a rape with both physical and psychological damage. Eventually the physical wounds will heal, the psychological wounds will take quite some time before or if they ever heal (Grady 4). A sexual assault robs the woman of a sense of control; a feeling of loss of freedom is common among rape victims. To put her life in order she must regain this sense of control. Almost all rape victims suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (Benedict 2). The first symptom is the reliving or re-experiencing of the

The stereotype of who a typical sexual assault victim is, is also detrimental to abide by as male victims of sexual assault will often fear being blamed and feel emasculated as a result of their victimisation. The continuation of stereotypic types of victims when considering a certain crime can often distort the seriousness of sexual

Rape defined is forcing sexual intercourse upon someone without his or her consent. This isn’t just a girls’ problem, boys have to deal with this too. According to the American Psychological Association, nearly one in ten girls and one in twenty boys say they have been raped or experienced some form of sexual assault (Atlanta Journal, 1). Almost more than half of rape victims know their attacker; they don’t report it or tell anybody. In most date rape cases, the attacker and victim have known each other for at least a year or even longer. Only about 10 percent of rapes are reported, less than that go to court. According to data taken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one forcible rape is reported to the police every six minutes, on

Women tend to be the overwhelming victims of sexual assault and rape while men tend to be the perpetrators. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), one in five women and one in seventy-one men will be raped at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of victims are women who have been victimized by men. There are two major forms of sexual assault, which includes non-consensual forced physical sexual behavior such as rape or sexual assault. The second type of assault is the Psychological form of abuse, such as sexual harassment, stalking, human trafficking, and indecent exposure and the targets of exhibitionism, especially children.

Also known as the “gentleman” rapist, the power reassurance rapist’s sexual fantasy was to engage in sexual intercourse where the victim is sexually satisfied and hoped that the victim will invite the offender back (Berger). A power reassurance rapist is generally male. They wanted to be reassured of how good they are and

Another common form of abuse exhibited against women is sexual abuse. Despite sexual abuse having the overarching inclusion of a sexual activity, Women Against Abuse candidly states, “Sexual abuse is not about sex. It is about power, and includes any sexual behavior performed without a partner’s consent” (“Types of Abuse”). Sexual assault is about exerting power over one’s partner, and in similar way,

 1 to 5 women (19.3%) and, 1in 59 men (1.7%) are been victims of rape in their life.

For males, it is explained that they are always “in the mood” and therefore, cannot be sexually assaulted (Ben-David, Schneider, 2005). Another popular topic is victim perception. This is the understanding that only certain types of people are sexually assaulted, additionally the victims must have been asking for it in regards to what they were wearing or their profession such as prostitution. Lastly, another example of victim blame is through fabrication, which is the thought that the victim must have lied and over reacted “as women do” (Burt, 1980; Davies, 2012). Through recent advancements in the feminist movement and recent topics of gender equality, it would be assumed that the public believes less in rape victims today than they were in recent studies. Research from 2010 however, has found that women are more likely to be evaluated as genuine rape victims under certain conditions: they attempted to fight back (and have the battle wounds to prove it), they did not have a past history with the accused, and they are a respectable, meaning they are well liked, are an outstanding student and so on (Schuller 2010). People tend to evaluate female victims as more blameworthy if their attitudes violate the specific traditional gender

Rape has been an ongoing issue within society for centuries. In early times, men raped women for reproductive purposes. Today, it is still believed

A crime in America that is committed all too often is the act of forcible rape. Forcible rape is not a crime only against women. The definition was recently changed to aid in gender neutrality and to account for forcible rapes among same gender (FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 2013). Forcible rape in now defined as, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) (2013), “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” Although the act of forcible rape is a serious crime, many incidents go unreported for one reason or another. Some reasoning of why a rape may go unreported include, being embarrassed to tell somebody that you were forcibly raped, the victim knew the criminal and is afraid that further injury may occur if they report the incident to the police, or the victim was possibly drugged and was not aware of the situation. I will describe some of the statistics and trends involved with the act of forcible rape, explain some of the reasoning behind why one feels the need to commit forcible rape on another person, how the social learning theory shaped those individuals into the criminals that they are.

When I first learned about rape, I thought that it was something that only happened to women that was brought on by a male. Growing up, one doesn't hear about male rape. It was unheard of. Granted it happened, but no one wanted to

Rape is an extremely controversial issue and this notion is supported based on the fact that basic definitions and explanations of rape usually directly correlate with a state's lawful definition of rape. This proves problematic as many people's explanations and definitions of rape are quite different to that of the law. Social science theorists argue that rape is a learned action with which society plays a crucial role, Ellis (1989). Based on this theory it seems only logical to propose that there

p. 69).” rape is violence against women. It is a violation of her body and her trust. According to Burns, a sociologist at Michigan State University, “rape is forced and unwanted intercourse, where sexual assault is used as a power and sex is a method (Mousseau, 2006. p. 1).” Most rapes are committed not by strangers, but by men known to women, perhaps someone they have gone out with or are supposedly their friends. It can be someone she just met or even her fiancé, but often it is an attempt to assert power or anger. A study by the National Center for the Preventive and Control rape claims ninety percent of rapes are never reported. In those that are reported, sixty percent knew their assailants. Of these, women fifteen to twenty-five are majority of the victims. Alcohol and drugs sometimes play a significant factor, especially in date rape or acquaintance rape cases (Mousseau, 2006).