Rose Values

African American women are reluctant to disclose their sexual abuse publicly or privately (Ullman & Filipas, 2001). The authors hypothesize that stigmas and stereotypes serves as barriers to disclosing sexual abuse among African Americans. Specifically, the internalizations of these symptoms and stereotypes may lead women to the misconception, that their experiences as sexual assault and the knowledge that others, uphold these stereotypes and stigmas which can cause doubt and mistrust that systems will not recognize them as legitimate victims

Many believed that there was no reason to report an abuse because the police or authorities would not believe them. However, they did not believe many until proven truthful, anyone can say someone sexually assaulted them, but they did not. This was to take precautions amongst both the victim and the accused perpetrator. In the article, there were many aspects that explained that the woman felt more victimized because of the courts decision to believe the abuser until proved he/she is guilt. Also, many children blamed themselves for the rape, so they would not tell their parents. To add, as we read throughout the article, we can distinguish that many abused individuals are scared and embarrassed about the sexual harassment. Many factors were brought to attention: youth and woman fell under the micro-level individual factors, and the community and police did not want to really intervene. These factors result in many victims maybe later on abusing others because they were abused, which should not happen. So, therefore, there was a lot of valuable information presented throughout this

Clients who have experiences rape in the past can deal with traumatic reposes after the event. Many of them have to deal with the effect of the rape, such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Clients may feel that they are held back because of the trauma that happened to them. Clients could feel helpless and be reminded every day of the trauma that they had to endure. The topic of this paper is the use of trauma informed practice using social work practice in women who have PTSD and other trauma symptoms from enduring a past rape.

Over 92% of sexual assault survivors disclose the assault to at least one person, and the types of responses they receive vary. The negative social reactions can cause maladaptive coping strategies for the survivor, and result in PSTD symptoms. A common negative response to an assault disclosure include blaming the victim, treating the victim as if they are broken or they have changed, as well as attempting to control the victim’s situation or even completely disregarding the victim’s emotions and focusing on their own feelings. Often times, when a person is assaulted it is by someone they know (unlike the common stereotype where a person jumps out of the bushes and attacks the weak victim), and the victim feels as if they cannot trust people again, making negative responses to disclosure almost like a stab in the back because the survivor has ran out of people to trust. When a person gives negative feedback to an assault disclosure, it prolongs the victims recovery time. A victim can feel as if they are not in control of their recovery and makes them question their actions and feelings. Also, in addition to the “loss of control”, they could disengage from seeking support and aid from others, falling into maladaptive coping strategies to avoid the feelings of anger, sadness, and anxiety. Often times, survivors can seek out alcohol or drugs to aid them in their recovery process, although they do not know they are causing more harm to themselves. However, negative reactions may not necessarily impair individual forms of adaptive coping, especially for survivors who do not rely on others for support during recovery. Some survivors can use the negative responses to encourage themselves to not rely on others for support and focus on individual strategies for coping (i.e. meditation, cognitive

Sexual assault is not just a crime against an individual, it affects families, the community, and society as a whole. In recent years, our society has shifted to one of rape culture and rape myth. Rape myths are erroneous, stereotypical, and prejudicial beliefs about rape victims and reasons of sexual assault. Rape myths can impact survivors of assault, as well as the behavior and effectiveness of family, friends, medical and social services, and law enforcement (Rape Victim Advocates, 2016). Rape impacts our society by attacking the cohesion and mutual protection that makes a society. When we allow such crimes to go without the most vigorous and vigilant investigation and punishment, we allow for whole segments of society to be diminished, we are sending the message that society is okay with rape (Abbey,

Sexual assault is a major issue in the world we live in today. The punishment that people get is never what they actually deserve.There has been all kinds of crime rates for sexual offence all over the world. Surveys in the United States have proven that one of every six women has experienced an attempt of rape or even a completed rape experience. Many women who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by men that they know,or has came into contact with. Women are rarely going to report that they have been raped when they know the asaultiant. With this being said there are alot of cases that are under reported. In this essay i will argue the many reasons why women are afraid to report a sexual assault crime made against them.

Prosecutors and police officers may be less likely to believe victims if they have no signs of physical abuse like cuts, bruises, or scrapes, or if they have known their attackers for a long time (Hilgenkamp 163). Victims often feel ashamed and humiliated for bringing their experiences forward and become frustrated and furtherly emotionally damaged (Hilgenkamp 163). Dealing with sexual assault cases differently based on the victim’s state and story is unfair to the survivor and will only further hurt someone who has already suffered through a traumatic ordeal since it causes them feel as though they are not being listened to or heard. In addition to investigations that are often biased and poorly conducted, the number of convictions made in sexual assault cases is astonishingly small. A few years ago, “The Chicago Tribune published the results of a study involving 171 campus sex complaints at six Midwestern universities. Twelve of the accused perpetrators were arrested, and only four were convicted” (Hedelman and Brown). Due to the low conviction rates, many women feel as though their allegations of having been sexually assaulted are not being taken seriously or even acknowledged (Hedelman and Brown). Unfortunately, sexual assault is a popular crime on college campuses, but when victims bring their stories forward to law enforcers, they are not taken seriously and severe punishments are rarely given to assaulters, which further harms people who have already been wrongly treated. Police and investigators have to change the ways in which they deal with sexual assault cases because investigations are unfairly biased and are usually so inaccurately conducted that most offenders

Rape culture creates myths that victim blame the survivors of sexual violence. For example, a victim of a crime may be asked a question by police that suggests the victim was too drunk or wearing revealing clothing that provoked the perpetrator and resulted in the sexual violence against the victim. Rape culture silences victims who feel that law enforcement and the judicial system do not protect them or hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. The stigma of sexual violence continues to silence students who choose to not report incidences because they are in fear of stepping forward or believe the judicial system will fail them when they

The researcher’s topic is, why would rape be the victim’s fault. This researcher believes rape is never the victim’s fault, no matter what the situation may be. They believe individuals are blind to the existing issues that are involved with rape. Rape may only be considered physical, but there are existing mental issues that come from the tragedy of being raped. Many women are attacked “verbally and through social media” with information stating that the circumstance was “her fault” (Nathman, 2013). After seeing and hearing these thoughts from the public the victim soon believes if they had not been in the situation they were in they would have not been raped. Though this is not the case and rape will happen no matter the place or the circumstance. The posts and verbal shouts put a toll on a womans mental well-being and how they recover from the incident. It is well known that many victims of rape soon become depressed and antisocial after they are rapped because they do not get the help they deserve (Nathman, 2013).

The media have misrepresented the nature of this crime to make the community believe that these crimes are committed by strangers when in reality they are mostly committed by a family member or a known other. For example, males are likely to be victimised by a family member (45%) or someone else known to them (36%) (Hayes H, Prenzler, 2009, p.108). In contrast, it is shown that almost three quarters of female victims are in fact assaulted by a family member or a known other (72.4%) (Hayes H, Prenzler, 2009, p.106). A prime example of how the media misrepresents the nature of these crimes and create an image of stranger danger which makes the public believe that strangers predominantly commit these crimes (Chappell, 2008). Accordingly, the media’s misrepresentation of sexual assault cases has led to the myth of stranger danger which has led to the thought that these crimes are committed by strangers and that victims don’t know their

Moreover, most of the sexual assaults go unreported, but the ones that do get reported, less than half of them get a conviction. If only 10 % of sexual assaults are reported, from that 10%, only 1 in 4 get convicted for their crimes (Butt, 2013). A study done in Winnipeg in the mid-1970s showed that more than 70% of charges were filtered out of the criminal justice system, 20% were reduced to lesser charges, and only 10% of original charges resulted in convictions (Gunn & Minch, 1988). A sexual assault or even a sexual relationship between two consenting adults is a very hidden act; meaning most of the time there could be no other witness or little hard evidence. In this situation, the testimony of the victim is very crucial for the prosecution of a sexual assault case (Walsh, 1987: 1129). There are many external and internal barriers that could discourage the victim from proceeding to convict the accused for his crimes. External barriers such as, the formal atmosphere in the courtroom during the trial; victims could be intimidated by the rigid rules; reliving the horrific experience and facing the assailant; or the court trial may come at a time when the victim has begun to move on (Best Practices, 2013: 61). Furthermore, internal barriers such as myths and gender stereotypes could also demotivate the victim from testifying in court against the

To begin with, the topic of rape and sexual assault is constantly silenced by society and joked about. For the most part, rapists and sexual offenders are never served justice, and often are not reported. 68% of sexual assault cases have gone unreported and 98% of rapists will never spend a single day in jail (U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Bureau of Justice.) Only 2% of these criminals receive jail time. Only 2% of the criminals get what one deserves for ruining another’s life. Most victims are three times more likely to suffer from depression and six times more likely to develop post traumatic stress disorder; victims are twenty six times more likely to abuse drugs than the average person ( World Health Organization.) It is a common belief

“Twenty to twenty-five percent of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career” (Gray). That is about one in four or five women. “Half of the students that go to Baker University are women” (“Baker University”). That would mean that ten to thirteen percent of the female students on campus have either been raped or rape has been attempted against them. I have used five articles to examine the link between the belief in a just world and how much blame a victim receives based on the support victims get from friends and family, and any differences based on gender of the perpetrator and victim.

Once attacked, rape victims will often feel embarrassed, angry, or depressed about the situation. Many will feel that no actions can be taken against their attacker, especially if the attacker’s identity is unknown. A high percentage of victims will not report their

In the United States rape completely toxic and it’s a dangerous myth. On college campuses where drinking is prevalent, most victims don’t report their assault to the police because of the fear of being blamed for the incident. “A recent National Crime Victimization report showed that only 55% of sexual assaults reported in their survey were reported to the police” (Hayes, Abbott, Cook 2016). Hayes goes on to explain that rape myths are defined as “attitudes and false belief held