No one ever wants to hear that their child, sibling, or their friend has been raped, but rape is a major problem in America. Sadly, sexual intercourse is not always consensual between both parties involved. There are many myths surrounding rape and the cause but there have been strides in rape prevention. There are three broad types of rape acquaintance rape, stranger rape, and marital rape (Fay 223). Acquaintance rape is defined as rape perpetrated by someone the victim knows. Hanh, Lucas, and Payne says “Rape involves both completed and attempted forced sexual intercourse, using both psychological coercion and physical force. This includes ‘Vaginal, anal or oral penetration by the offender(s)’ including penetration by a foreign object.”(393). Based on this definition, rape victims or perpetrators can be either male or female, married or single, child or adult, and be of any race. Fay estimates “3-15 percent of all adult women have experienced a completed rape”(223), and according to law enforcement “40 percent of reported rapes involve females under the age of 18, and 15 percent of reported rapes involve females under the age of 12” (Fay 223). Rape can happen anywhere, at home, while out partying, on campus, in prison, or anywhere a person might go. Unfortunately, “Acquaintance rape and sexual coercion, long a problem on college campuses, now frequently involve high school and middle school students… and occurring in recreational settings and even on
There is more than one type of rape believe it or not. According to (Article 7A NCGA) There is 1st Degree of Rape which is a person is guilty of rape if the person engages in vaginal intercourse with a victim who is under the age of 13
The alarming increase in sexual assault among male and female students is a source of concern. Despite improvements in the general statistics on rape cases, the college setting remains to be the hot bed of sexual assault, especially among the female counterparts (Allen, 2007). A victim, regardless being a male or a female, never feel safe in their life as something precious was taken from them once. Statistics show that 17.6% of women are likely to be victims of rape in their entire lifetime while only 0.3% of males are estimated to be the victims of sexual assault. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), the most critical ages men and females are likely to be engaged in sexual abuse is when they are children or adolescents (Gonzales, Schofield & Schmitt, 2006).
Rape is a physical attack, not sex. Rape crisis counselors and researchers define rape as an act of violence in which sex is used as a weapon (Benedict 2). A woman is raped in this country every two minutes. Between 1996 &1999 7,787,00 rapes were reported. The
Sexual Assault described in technical terms is defined as any sort of sexual activity between two or more people in which one of the people involved is involved against his or her will. (3) The description of "against his or her will" extends to varying degrees of aggression, ranging from indirect pressure to a direct physical attack. While sexual assaults are associated with the crime of rape, it may cover assaults which would not be considered rape. What constitutes a sexual assault is determined by the laws of the jurisdiction where the assault takes place, which vary considerably, and are influenced by local social and cultural attitudes. Every year, an estimated 300,000 women are raped and 3.7 million are confronted with unwanted
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
A stressed college student, Margot, is walking back to her dorm late at night when suddenly she feels a tap on her shoulder. When she turns around, she sees a seemingly kind face of a peer. He offers to walk her to her dorm and asks to come inside. The next day she is still in shock from the night before, she never said no when he came onto her, but she never said yes either. She doesn’t want to cry rape in fear of what people might think. This is the harsh reality for college students all across the United States today. Nobody wants to believe that their child or friend could be guilty of such a harsh, but common crime. The truth is, these crimes happen on a daily basis. Sexual assault has been an issue on college campuses since the early
Sexual assault and rape are serious social and public health issues in the United States and throughout the rest of the world. In particular sexual assault on college campus are prevalent at an alarming rate and leaves serious effects on the victims. This essay will focus on statistics and the prevalence and effects amongst college students, through examining a number of reasons why women fail to report sexual assault and rape. This essay will also cover sexual assault prevention and things that can be done to mitigate the risk of becoming a victim to such matter.
As stated by an article from Bettercolleges.com, sexual assault can also involve forcing someone into non-consensual sexual acts by means of manipulation, any form of coercion, or psychological force. Sexual violence is more prevalent on college campuses compared to other crimes. In fact, according to Rainn.org college women are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted as they are to be robbed. The sad reality is that these victim’s voices are often never heard: only 5 percent of female student victims between the ages of 18 and 24 ever report to law enforcement because of factors such as distrust of authorities and fear of blame (“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics”). In regard to male victims, they oftentimes face different types of stigma branching from issues such as stereotypes about hyper masculinity, sexual desire, and what it means to “be a man” in society, preventing them from reporting unwanted sexual activity (“Realities of Sexual Assault on Campus”). In the cases of both men and women, these assaults are often enhanced by the increased presence of alcohol and drugs on campuses. For instance, one study found that 15 percent of young women experienced incapacitated rape during their first year of college, meaning that when were raped when they could not give consent because they did not know what was happening (“Sexual Assault on College Campuses”). Peer pressure to participate in these types of social activities puts victims in a more vulnerable position for sexual assault. This environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused by leaders within the school system is known as rape
It Happened Here chronicles the accounts of five college women and their experiences with sexual assault on each of their college campuses; however, probably the most concerning case was Angie Epifano, who was a freshman at Amherst College when she was raped by a male friend. It is not at all uncommon on college campuses in the United States for women to be assaulted by someone they know. According to a report by Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin (2007), in sexual assaults experienced by university women, the perpetrator and victim know each other in some way up to 93% of the time. On the night of the assault, Angie was invited to watch a movie in her friend’s dorm room.
Sexual assault is a term that is used interchangeably with the word rape. The decision on whether or not to use the term rape or sexual assault is made by a state’s jurisdiction. Sexual assault is more readily used in an attempt to be more gender neutral (National Victim Center). Sexual assault can be most easily described as forced or unconsentual sexual intercourse. The individual that is performing these acts on the victim may either be a stranger or an acquaintance. In 1994, 64.2 percent of all rapes were committed by someone the offender had previously known (Ringel, 1997). Regardless, this type of crime can have extreme effects on the victim.
Sexual assault and rape has always been a social and public issue in the United States. A majority of the time, women become the victims, while men become the perpetrators. National surveys in the United States show that one in six women has experienced an attempted or completed rape. Consent appears to be a critical factor in determining whether assault or rape has taken place. Women have a higher chance of being raped by who they are acquainted with rather than strangers.
Kidshealth.org: Rape: An informative article describing the violent sexual crime known as rape. It offers pertinent advice for victims and those uneducated regarding this horrific crime.
Sexual assault and rape are on-going issues plaguing college campuses all across the nation. In part, I believe this is due to a lack of education on what sexual assault actually is. All too often, victims are leaving these situations feeling confused about something that they will forever deem "a weird night". It often isn't until much later that they realize what happened to them was a violation of their body and of their rights.
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.