Rape Culture And Stereotypes

Although sexual education is taught in many high schools, the explicit nature of the crime prevents much discussion about both sexual assault and rape. For example, although anal assault is not the primary means of rape, it occurs during one in six reported assaults (Senn 135). The topic of anal sex taboo for most high school sexual education classes. Young women who experience this particular type of assault often do not know if this fits the definition of rape. They often believe that only vaginal penetration constitutes rape. However, rape is defined as any unwanted oral, vaginal or anal penetration. Sexual assault refers to any unwanted sexual contact, including fondling (Field 516). When training programs for sexual assault prevention are put in place in the first semester of college, the curriculum generically identifies the genders of the victim and predator. The examples include stories with gender neutral names such as Taylor. Although this is a step forward in recognizing that victims of same sex sexual assaults should not be embarrassed to seek help, this format ignores the history of sexual violence on college campuses and the fact that the overwhelming majority of victims are women. However, many administrators believe using feminine names in the curriculum is viewed as offensive because it labels women as vulnerable and different from men.

In the article “Athletic club weekend turns into a nightmare for college freshman” by Carol smith and Lee Van Der Voo, Emily Lorenzen shares her story of being a rape victim. Emily shares her account because she wants to help to prevent rape from happening to anyone else. After interviewing Emily the authors shared a statement expressing that “Emily lorenzen believes that if people hear her story, they will be more comfortable confronting the issue of sexual assault on campus. She wants more conversation, so that men get a clearer definition of rape, face stiffer penalties if they ignore it and administrators learn to reach out to women like her and show compassion. She especially wants bystanders to step up and protect people who are vulnerable.” Rape victims need support to not feel guilty or ashamed, and that is exactly what Emily and her father desire. On this topic, Shipman an influential contributor of the Spokane sexual assault

A typical teen, fresh into adulthood has just graduated high school. At this point in their life, they must choose how they want to proceed forward, their life is no longer necessarily decided upon by their parents. A majority of recent high school graduates typically decide to further their education, whether this may be to achieve the career goal they most desire, or if maybe they just want to be able to say that recieved a degree. These next four or more years they will experience all sorts of new things, they may make new friends, go out to parties, and most likely have lots of fun. However in today’s society, going off to a college campus could end up being their worst nightmare. According to the article “Campus Sexual Violence Statistics”, “Women ages 18-24 are at an elevated risk of sexual violence” (RAINN 1). By this statistic, college aged women are at a higher risk for some form of sexual violence. Campus sexual assault is so universal because the justice system does not treat sexual assault as seriously as they should, a large amount of sexual assaults are left unreported, and sexual assault cases are very difficult to prove.

Sexual assault is defined as any vaginal, oral, or anal penetration that is forced upon another, regardless of sex and sexual orientation, using any object or body part. The issue of sexual assault in America is primarily encouraged by rape culture. Women Against Violence Against Women is an organization that defines rape culture as a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. The acceptance of rape culture, rape myths, and the disregard for sexual consent also allow for the perpetuation of sexual assault against women on college campuses. Recent examples of sexual assault on college campuses show how prominent this issue has become and how hostile campuses have become for female students. Some examples include the University of Southern California’s “Gullet Report,” Miami University of Ohio’s “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape,” and a sexual assault on the campus of Kansas University. Sexual assault is perpetuated by the acceptance of rape myths and rape culture, lack of effective sexual education, and the disregard for consent. The solution to this issue lies with defeating rape culture, increasing awareness and funding for campus sexual assault crisis centers, and enacting more prevention programs on campus.

Rape culture, which was coined as a culture during the second wave of feminism during the early 1970’s and was, according to the encyclopedia of rape, “often used by feminists to describe contemporary American culture as a whole.” Rape culture, by definition though, is “a culture in which rape and other sexual violence (usually against women and gender diverse peoples ) are common

Sexual abuse and assault on college campuses has been a rising issue dating back to the late 1950s. According to The United States Department of Justice, sexual assault is defined as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.” Sexual assault has long lasting effects that go way beyond the immediate trauma that victims experience in the beginning, including pregnancy, transmitted diseases, anxiety, PTSD, depression, etc. Multiple studies and statistics have shown that not only will “approximately 20% female students

Sexual assault on college campuses is a subject that comes up commonly in media today, usually due to the fact that these assaults happen on a regular basis. About one in four women and one in seven men are victims of some form of sexual violence during their college experience (Abooali). In most occurances when speaking about sexual assault on campus, people are talking about what the main cause of these cases of sexual assault could be, and if there is any way to prevent it from happening. There are many factors that play into these sexual assaults such as alcohol consumption, peer pressure, society's normalization of these assaults, and party culture.

Structural humiliation is a theory that suggests that an underlying cause of crime, particularly white collar crime, is the inherently unequal nature of modern society (Schlegel & Weisburd, 1992). Structural humiliation builds upon historical patterns of oppression and translates these habits into modern day behavior; though we, as a society, may reject these principles through our laws or morals, groups that traditionally have less social standing and political power may always be targeted (LeClair, 2016). Structural humiliation helps to explain and describe why respected people in powerful positions may be empowered to prey upon people in societally marginalized positions (Schlegel & Weisburd, 1992). The collection of film clips provided

Our group of researchers decided to conduct a study in order to gather information on the rise of sexual assault allegations. We were interested in concluding whether or not the rise of sexual assault allegations in the media tested the validity regarding those accusations. Since Penn State has been exposed to a number of sexual assault scandals in the past few years, Penn State students were an ideal focus group because most students are familiar with our subject. With our phenomenon being a sensitive topic for a handful of our subjects, we decided to conduct a study in which all of our subjects could remain anonymous. Thus, we created a survey composed of nine questions, keeping in mind that this topic can be triggering for

Recently, I have had an opportunity to watch your TED talk show and analyze one of your political cartoons for school. As a teenage girl of a new generation, I was outraged and disappointed with our society by the gender prejudice demonstrated in your cartoon. Meanwhile, I was able to look into your effort to raise awareness of gender issues and to deliver your message of how women are often wrongly stereotyped as being the main causes of rape by the public. And, I concur with your point. I was stimulated by your challenge to confront the institutionalized behavior of people that stereotypes women, and this encouraged me to write a letter to you to show my support and share my opinion.

“An internal survey at the University of Michigan of students’ experience with sexual misconduct found that more than 20% of undergraduate women had been touched, kissed or penetrated without their consent” (Gray). People find this ok becuase of excuses like “did you see what she was wearing” or “she was asking for it.” Sexual assault on college campuses is a grievous offense that many people are too scared to report. The media has a role in helping people spread their stories, so that the victims can help others not have to go through the same trauma. If students who have been victimized are able to tell their stories, then it can show others what toxic situations look like and how to avoid them. Another aspect of college sexual assault the

During the Rwandan genocide, some rapes occurred recurrently throughout a timespan. “Sexual enslavements occurred when a woman was detained, typically in the house of an Interhamwe, and subjected to repeated sexual assaults over a period of days,” (Mullins 727). These kinds of rapes belong in their own category because of the added element of confinement and intent to continually rape and therefore, harm. An Interhamwe soldier named Rafiki, personally sought out one Tutsi woman whom he had

This essay explores the ongoing issue of sexual assault and sexual violence on college campuses across the United States. Education on the topic of sexuality and sexual assault throughout secondary and post secondary education is vital to the awareness of, and battle against sexual assault. Issues in sex-education, included lack of depth into healthy sexuality, and abstinence only sex education. Women are not reporting their cases to the authorities or universities because of issues with privacy, shame and guilt. Universities are not providing reliable support to victims, which creates wide spread apprehension to report cases of sexual assault. Pop culture and media promote a skewed image of sexualized women, creating a cultural expectation for women to please and be subservient, promoting sexual violence against women across the country.

On college campuses, students have different events and parties to celebrate accomplishments that have been made, and some colleges may even have sororities that throw annual parties for specific occasions. Students are given freedoms that were uncommon to when they were in high school; consequently, scholars are not aware of the dangers that may arise in the world. A show starred on Music Television (MTV), Sweet/Vicious, explains the emotional distress and changes that females may go through after being assaulted. Although some people may believe that females ask for what happens to them, this is not accurate in all cases. Additionally, women are not the only people to be affected by sexual assault, but the majority of the cases are females. Colleges need to value reports of sexual assault and be aware of the actions that happen on campuses to discontinue the amount of ladies who are drugged, hazed, and mentally or emotionally devastated on school grounds.

An article run by the school's newspaper, The East Carolinian, exposed the university for inappropriately handling student's cases. One victim revealed that during a group support session, the students were asked what they had been wearing when they were assaulted. It is this kind of approach that makes victims feel as though it is their fault and makes it less likely that students will feel like they can go to the university for