Rape " a Social Problem"

     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

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)

Rape is one of the most widespread and ubiquitous violent crimes facing America, making laws regarding rape and the judicial processing of rape increasingly important. The judicial process itself deters both rape reports and rape convictions. Not only does the judicial processing or rape cases itself deter reports and convictions, but it also has a negative impact on the moral and mental well being of the victims who decide to pursue their cases.

Many argue that the victim encourages the behavior, that they are somewhat lesser of a victim. On the other hand, some excuse away the female’s actions by using their past as a reason to offend. Before addressing the double standard society needs to understand why females are viewed as less dangerous, the negative impacts that are placed on their victims, and why male victims are often viewed as responsible for the rape. Danger Level Number of Offenders The most common and most obvious reason why female offenders are considered less dangerous that male offenders are the number of women who actually commit these crimes are far less than their counterparts.

Sexual assault is something that can affect people emotionally, physically, psychosocially, psychologically, and even spiritually. As often as it occurs in society, the effects that sexual assault can have on an individual are all relatively similar. Sexual assault is any sort of sexually-based action in which one or more participants have not given consent. Often times, people refer to sexual assault as simply rape, however there are other dimensions to sexual assault which can include unwanted kissing, groping, or touching of any form. Emotionally, victims are conflicted about whether it is their own fault or if it the fault of the attacker. In many instances, the victim will blame themselves for what has happened to them. Physically, there is nearly always damage in the affected areas (vagina, anus, penis, breasts, etcetera) that can lead to painful tissue damage. There is also the risk of pregnancy or STD’s that the victim must be aware of. Psychosocially, the victim becomes distant with everyone they were once close to. Their level of trust declines dramatically, causing relationships with spouses, family, and close friends to crumble. Since the victims tend to push their loved ones away, often without giving any sort of reason, they can sometimes face isolation and a lack of support from those whom would usually offer council. The psychological effects are tremendous as well. Victims of sexual assault will often have severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress

In “Tell Me There’s No Rape Culture”, published in the Huffington Post in October of 2016, Ali Owens explains the inconsistent theories on how a woman can prevent getting raped to showcase the fact that the underlying problem is that women are being blamed for the rape. The author states that the problem with society is that women are being shamed and silenced by individuals who do not believe in rape culture. Victims are trapped in a lose-lose situation. Women who come forward are asked about how they got into the situation. Why was she walking alone at night? Why didn’t she fight harder? Was she giving off mixed signals? Instead of prosecuting the rapist, more time is spent

There are five typologies of rape: power-reassurance, power-assertive, anger retaliatory, and sadistic. Power-reassurance, “is characterized by feelings of inadequacy and poor social skills and does not inflict injury upon his victims” (National Center for Women and Policing, 2001). These rapists will often coax a person using soft tactics and they do not intend to harm their victim. They tend to commit these crimes to elevate their self esteem. Power-assertive crave to overpower their target. These rapists use aggressive methods of control and are impulsive. Anger retaliatory rapists, “often degrades or humiliates the victim” (Simons). These rapists are motivated mainly by the emotional satisfaction once they release their anger. Sadistic rapists fantasize of torture and pain. These rapist are known to extensively plan, will act charming, and intelligent. They get their sexual satisfaction from the victims’ suffering. Rape syndrome, “is the group of reactions – emotional, physical, and behavioral – reported by victims of attempted or completed rape” (“Rape Trauma Syndrome”). Victims develop feelings of humiliation, degradation, guilt, shame, embarrassment to self-blame, anger, revenge, and most often fear. This can be fear of physical

Paglia’s unsympathetic comparison of a car being stolen because the keys were left on the hood of the car to a girl being raped because she drank alcohol is preposterous. The loss of a vehicle is mild in comparison to the theft of a woman’s most intimate possession. Sure, you may have lost your means of transport but a stolen car can be recovered, or a new vehicle purchased upon receiving funds from the insurance provider. A rape victim goes through many psychological and emotional changes. They often blame themselves and feel unclean. Their relationships and trust of other males in their life may be terribly altered also. In many cases, victims are haunted by the memories of the actual act. Depression and an addiction to pain pills may also be acquired as a way to escape from and alleviate the painful memories. Plenty of date rape cases are unreported because the victim feels that she will be harshly judged.

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

Sexual violence is a significant social and cultural problem within America and all over the world. Within the United States nearly 1 in 5 women – or nearly 22 million – have been raped in their lifetimes. Arrest rates for sexual assault cases are low as they are hard to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimizations from year 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Findings from the same survey revealed that more than one-third of women reported experiencing a sexual assault at some point during their lifetime. Within American society, rape constitutes an experience

The term ‘rape culture’ was coined by feminists in the United States in 1970. The term itself was designed to illustrate the ways in which society blamed victims of sexual assault, and how the normalization of male sexual violence was acceptable. Rape culture can stem from the acceptance of rape as a daily occurrence, manifested as a male prerogative. There is a hesitation by the authorities to go against the patriarchal cultural norms, hence linking nonconsensual sex to the cultural disposition of society. The patriarchal perspective of rape culture, embedded with gender inequality and misogyny are passed through generations which ultimately leads to the extensive institutional and social acceptance of rape. Actions which advocate sexist ideals are utilized to justify and validate normative misogynistic perceptions. Rape culture sexualizes violence inflicted upon women, as it serves as a continuum of a society which views a women’s body to be sexually available by default, deriving from the overall domination and objectification of a female. The underlying cause of rape culture is localized as it based upon the social aspects of culture. For example, countries with a prolific ‘war culture’ tend to emphasize violence and masculinity, and therefore rape is viewed as a normal facet of society. I intend to parallel the element of rape culture to the enforcement of social rules and the conditioning of gender roles. I plan on analyzing the notion that within the encompassment of

This norm leads to male victims questioning their sexuality after an assault. When a woman rapes a man, society does not believe that it is “real rape”. They are pressured by society to always want sex, especially with women, they ask themselves why they didn't want it (Chapleau, Oswald, and Russell 6). Every other man would of wanted it so why didn’t I? In the event that another man assaults a man it can lead to similar thoughts. Why did I let it happen if I don’t like men? I should have stopped it. Victims begin to blame themselves for letting the rape

Rape is an experience which shakes the foundations of the lives of the victims. For many its effect is long term, impairing their capacity for personal relationships, altering their behaviour and values and generating fear, Temkin (1986:17).

Most people would agree that as you grow up you learn by seeing, feeling ,touching , smelling, and hearing . Albert Bandura supports this by a theory he created called the Social Learning Theory (McLeod, 2011). Social Learning Theory is a theory that explains that behavior is learned by your social environment, interactions and observations of others. With this theory I would say it supports opinion in which I would say that rape is not something somebody just decides one day to do. I believe that rape is learned throughout time. There are many social and even media factors that sometimes may come off with the intention that rape is acceptable. In some media factors they may even perceive that being forcibly raped is pleasurable. Movies tend to do it often and sometimes movies don 't realize that what people see on television can sometimes influence people to see these acts as a norm. For instance the fact that a college kid is in a frat and he 's in a party there is a good percentage that he would reenact what television had stereotype frats boys to do. Television would label the frat boys as potential rapist and the human mind would consider that when you take on that role as a frat boy. One of the biggest media factors all the way from television to the internet that for so many years that perceive rape as acceptable is pornography.

     “Rape is a crime that combines sex and violence, that makes sex the weapon in an act of violence.”(Kimmel 257) Because of this, rape is often traumatic for the victim of a rape.