Lolita Walker
Intro to Women’s Studies
Dr. David Magill
March 11th 2013
The Misconceptions and Realities of Rape Why do people rape and what do rapists earn from committing this crime? Is it the pleasure of seeing someone in fear, or pain, or is it the pleasure of their screams? I will never know the answer to these questions. All I know is that rape is beyond immoral and depraved, and is a serious crime. Rape is a very strong word and often makes people feel really uncomfortable talking about it, especially when it comes to one’s own experiences. For victims and sometimes even non-victims it makes this world a cold and cruel place in which to live. There are many myths and misconceptions that surround the aspects of rape. Some of these
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Perpetrators not only come from different sexual backgrounds and genders, but often times they are well known to the victim. It may be easy to believe that people who are raped are victimized during the night in some dark alley by a total stranger. In reality, the majority of sexual assaults and/or rape are committed by someone the victim knows, and
In fact, considering the fact that much of the information young people know about sexual assault comes from word of mouth, there is a large amount of misinformation when it comes to sex-based violence. When being given tips on how to avoid being sexually assaulted, one may cite that individuals should not walk alone at night or they should only accept drinks at a party from people they trust. Although these are pieces of advice that should be kept in mind, they do not sufficiently address the threat of sexual assault. Based on the commonly discussed ways to keep away from sex-based crimes, one would likely expect the most common perpetrator of sexual assaults to be a stranger. However, that is a misconception. In actuality, a survey run by the University of Michigan reported, “Only five-and-a-half percent of students reported no prior relationship or did not know the perpetrator” (“Sexual Assault Misconceptions”). Information such as the victim knows the assailant in eighty percent of rape cases and approximately half of all sexual assaults are carried out in or near the victim’s house is important for the public to know (“Facts About Sexual Violence;” “Scope of the Problem: Statistics”). Removing misconceptions about sex-based crimes by educating those who are approaching the target age of sexual assault (those that are eighteen to
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
The perspective offered by such longitudinal data sheds remarkable light on the "problem" of statutory rape, identifying for us key markers, as well as key actors, in the history of the law's enforcement and helping us to understand their roles in constructing the meaning of this crime over successive generations. ... The statutory rape codes have been used at various times to reinforce fathers' interests in their daughters' marriageability, to protect young women's chastity from seductive men, to control promiscuous or disease-laden adolescent females, to enhance child support collection efforts, to reduce teenage pregnancy, and to identify and punish sexual exploitation of teenagers. ... Given the constant state of jockeying, compromise and
Victims of sexual violence is the first population we will discuss. “On average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States” (Rain.org, “Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics,” 2016, para. 1). Criminal justice professionals will encounter rape victims and sexual assault victims. Police officers have the duty of charging and arresting the perpetrator and getting the persons assaulted to safety. Victims of rape and sexual assault have to
Prison Rape is no secret in today’s society. The American media has portrayed prison rape as a joke (Don’t drop the soap) in countless films, television shows, and in music, but have not realized the extent of how dangerous this crime is. Some cops even use this method as a means to get a confession from a suspect. A major obstacle in solving Prison rape is the notorious under-reporting of the crime. Only 16 percent of prison rape victims report their victimization. Reasons for under reporting are fear of consequences, shame, guilt, embarrassment, and refuse to relive painful details. This paper explores prison rape and its psychological and physical harm to not only inmates, but to society as well. It also discusses recent efforts to
Rape is a crime in which one person forces another person with threats, physical force or deception to have sex or sexual contact. In many cases rape is often through penetration, but victims are submitted to rape under different circumstances, such as oral sex, therefore rape has many muddled definitions. The various definitions of rape is a consequence of different cultural backgrounds and stereotypes. Sexual assaults have an effect on everyone either directly or indirectly, especially when victim blaming. Rape is not biased, for it can occur to any person despite their age, gender, religion, education level, sexual orientation or ethnicity. “According to the Department of Justice the average number of rape cases reported annually is approximately 89,000, but many victims are fearful to report their case to the police, for they do not want to be blamed for their assault.” (The Offender 's) Victim blaming in rape cases is a direct correlation to stereotypes. Some stereotypes that affect victim blaming is sexual orientation, promiscuity, gender roles, and race. “These contributing factors are stemmed from the much larger problem of society 's idea of gender and race stereotypes.” (Gill)
The New York Times article “What Experts Know About Men Who Rape,” author Heather Murphy focuses on the commonalities in the men who commit sexual assaults. Murphy states that the similarities don’t fall into traditional demographic categories. Studies find that men begin assaulting early in life, may associate with others who commit sexual violence, and typically deny that they have raped women even though they admit to having nonconsensual sex. Identifying these traits could help stop future assaults.
In 2015, RAINN, The nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, found out that 59% perpetrators of sexual violence were acquaintances of the victims. Survivors don’t usually come forward, because it’s hard, society makes it hard.
Social Media and local news coverage of high profile famous cases of sexual assault can give a misleading perceptions of the actual cause of the problem. Some of these articles talk about the stereotype with ‘stranger danger’ sexual assault and how it is actually not true.Most people who experience sexual assault are assaulted by someone who they actually
Rape is an atrocious crime where rapists are rightfully despised. There are several severe laws against rape and sexual assault. The media, leftist politicians, and feminists say that 1 in 5 women will get raped in their four-year college career. While rape has been a serious problem for decades, there is certainly no evidence that there is a national rape epidemic, or that rape or sexual assault is the social norm in this age. Rape rates, in fact, have been on a decline for the past century. The 1 in 5 number is not true.
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.
What is rape, and to whom does it happen? Generally speaking, rape is a violent sexual act imposed on a nonconsenting partner that makes you question many things about yourself. Unfortunately the mythology usually surrounding rape is that it only happens to women. The fact is, rape does not only happen to women, but men as well. It is one of the most misunderstood of all crimes, and when the victim is male, understanding why it has happened, is one of the hardest things to comprehend.
Rape is an extremely heinous crime that is traditionally defined as “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will” (Beirne, 271). Because of the degree of this crime, it is almost understandable that people would like to think that it is most often committed by strangers. No one wants to consider that people closest to them could harm them in such a malicious way. However, the NIBRS Victims Data on Victims of Violence shows that more often than not, rape is committed by those who know the victim. They report four counts of rape: general rape, sodomy, sexual assault, and fondling. In each of those counts, the offenders were most reported as
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).
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.