Rape And Sexual Assault In The United States

On college campuses in the United States, sexual assault and rape are significant public and social health issues so colleges need to punish the abusers and support the victims. Women are primarily the victims of rape whereas men are usually the ones to attempt any type of sexual assault.. The vast majority of women are sexually assaulted by men with whom they are acquainted. Women are far less likely to report a rape or assault when they know their assailant, thus instance of sexual assaults are greatly under-reported. This essay examines a number of reasons why women fail to report an assault to formal support agencies and examines some of the ways in which social services agencies can reach women

Almost two-thirds of sexual assault is committed by someone known to the victim. Yet rape and sexual assault are one of the least reported crime in the united states with only 39% of attacks being reported to the police each year. Rape culture has been present throughout history in the entire world and sadly it continues to exist. Rape culture needs to be talked about more openly, so victims are not afraid to accuse their rapist or attacker. Communities should come together to create a culture of care and stop shaming men, women, and children into victim blaming. Educating society about what is right and wrong while offering victims support can potentially prevent rapes from occurring and putting the sick people who committed the crime into prison.

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)

Following natural disasters sexual assault increases in affected areas. Some victims of these storms are sent to shelters with little security and are put with untrustworthy people. At some of these shelters women and men are not separated from each other. Even young girls are forced to set up their beds next to strange men. Many people, male and female, are raped or molested in these unsupervised areas. Most incidents go unreported due to the busy law enforcement (Blanch). Women are even more vulnerable to rape if they are the caretaker of the family. If these women in particular go out to get supplies alone, they might just become a victim of sexual assault. The recent influx of natural disasters across the world has brought unimaginable devastation. Many have lost their homes, cars, and valuables due to these monster events. With little help from the

America has a proud history of being a country that has many different ethnicities and cultures living within its borders. But one of the most prevalent cultures is one that transcends race or country of origin, rape culture. The term used by modern day feminist and gender activist defines a culture which normalizes rape and sexual assaults because of the deeply rooted societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality. In a rape culture the instances of rape are accepted as everyday occurrences and even as the prerogative of men, resulting in the stigmatization and blame placing of rape victims. Although the phrase “rape culture” is relatively modern, the

Many people have different definitions of rape as well as sexual assault over the years there

In the United States individuals of both genders are being sexually violated, yet way too often their offenders often get off scot free or with very little punishment. Rape culture exists because we don't believe it does. The first step to ending such culture is to name the real problem, which is victim-blaming. We treat victims like they’re responsible, which would be obscenely different for any other criminal charge. When a sexual assault is reported on the news the first questions the media asks are about the victim’s sobriety, clothes, or sexuality. The right question is, “What made the attacker think this was acceptable?” Changing a mind set that has been engraved in us for centuries is going to be strenous, yet not impossible. It starts

One out of every six women in America will be a victim of rape or sexual assault. From a young age, females are taught many ways to minimize the chance of being raped, whereas males are rarely ever taught not to rape. Women are told not to walk the streets alone at night, to cover any drinks they may have, and to always have someone know where they are. They have to make sure their clothing isn’t too provocative because it could unleash unwanted male attention. Even though, women take many precautions to avoid rape, the statistics are still high. Rape is one of the most brutal attacks and unfortunately the act is becoming one of the most normalized acts of violence in the United States. This creates a culture that disregards not only women’s rights but their safety as well.

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 completes the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it fails to encompass central issues of rape culture: societal perceptions, the victim, 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; in order for its reforms to be

This goes to show how quick the society is to shame a crime victim, rather than find and lawfully punish the criminal. The Slutwalk movement is a women’s movement whose goal is to challenge and end society’s way of trying to explain and lessen the severity of rape by calling into question the victim’s mode of dressing, location and other factors that shouldn’t even matter. Created and organized by Heather Jarvis and Sonya Barnett, Slutwalk began on the streets of Toronto, Canada in the year 2011. (Mendes & Macmillan, 2015) The idea to organize this march came as a result of a law enforcement-agent’s advice to students from York University that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” This officer indirectly buttressed the longstanding myth that women who dress sexy are indirectly seeking attention from men and therefore, it is okay to blame them if they eventually get sexually assaulted. (“SlutWalk,” 2011). Ever since 2011, Heather Jarvis and Sonya Barnett have witnessed several slutwalks around the globe, and these walks have successfully led many to have a rethink about the usage of the word “slut” when describing women, and the implications it can have on a rape victim.

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.

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

extent of which an exposing article covers. Newspapers and magazines have a certain number of subscriptions but are often provided to public venues such as waiting rooms and restaurants. Similarly, digital articles can be shared, posted, tweeted, and blogged. Links are emailed to friends and family. Furthermore, these articles inspire others to comment on the subject and post their own opinions both positively and negatively. In the article “The Media Should Not Post the Names of Rape Victims,” the author Amanda Paulson does just that. Paulson brings up stellar examples of double standards between how the media reports women’s rapes. The opposing article, “The Media Should Publish the Names of Both Accuser and Accused in Rape Cases,” the author, Geneva Overholser, believes that the whole story should be told. In both articles, the authors are very much are in favor of protecting the victims, but the authors are divided between protecting the attacked and releasing the whole truth.

“In the United States, rape is the most frequently committed but least reported violent crime” (Newman 205). According to the FBI, rape is defined as “unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman forcibly and against her will” (Futter, Mebane V). Seeing as though the legal definition of rape is limited, it makes it difficult for victims to prove that there was in fact a crime committed. In turn, this causes an influx of victims, as well as attackers. Society has distorted the true image of rape and made it into a social construct, per say. The issues of rape that need to be addressed are victim blaming, the frequency of the crime, and the way that America has made rape humorous.

These past two weeks, we have focused on the prevalent rape culture in the United States and how that affects society. We found that sexual violence has become somewhat of a norm in the U.S., and that it is no longer broadcasted in the media like the atrocity it is. This, along with the inherent gender stereotypes within society, contributes to rape culture, which is defined by the Oxford Living Dictionary as “a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.” Our society bombards us with acts of sexual violence, through music and visual media. It is treated like a despicable act that must not be tolerated, one where the perpetrators must be held accountable. Yet, at the same time, it is tolerated, and the perpetrators are often allowed to roam free without punishment, while their victims are tortured with what happened to them for the rest of their lives. This is rape culture, and although the term is circulating more and more, the populous does not regard it as a serious issue, but as a problem made up “hysterical feminists” (Rape Culture is When, Maxwell).