Sexual Assault

Parents should teach their kids about what rape is and how to prevent being in social situations in an unsafe environment. Parents should discuss with their kids the definition of sexual assault/ rape and ask if there are questions or topics that need to be further discussed. Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Letting parents know that kids should feel comfortable and ask questions is an important part of the discussion because it lets them know that parents are someone they can trust and go to. Listen and allow them to share the amount of information that they are comfortable

Frustratingly, these days, some people still treat sexual assault as an “okay” thing, making comments such as “she was asking for it” and that she was “equally responsible” for the situation. This is exactly the sort of mindset that is contributing to the startling statistics today.

As teens and young adults, many people throughout Pennsylvania experience love for the first time. If they decide to act on their feelings, however, what should be a special time and experience may result in serious criminal charges. Depending on a couple’s ages, getting intimate with a partner could be considered statutory sexual assault.

“Among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 5.4% of males experience rape or sexual assault” (RAINN). Rape is a threat virtually anywhere people go, but no place has a higher risk for sexual assault than college campuses. However, many of these occurrences go without penalties against the attacker, and even more are not reported at all. The lack of consequences for the accused indirectly suggests that rape and other forms of sexual assault are allowable and create further problems for the victims of the horrendous actions. Harsher punishments need to be given out for sexual assault on campus, as the current rulings are biased and immoral.

up to 14 years imprisonment; and aggravated sexual assault – victim is wounded, disfigured or life is in endanger – is level 3 which is punishable by up to life imprisonment (Brennan & Taylor-Butts, 2008: 7). Moreover, because of this new amendment, questions about survivor’s past sexual history and sexual reputation are now restricted. The word ‘rape’ was taken out and replaced with sexual assault. The purpose for changing the terminology was to obviate the moral stigma associated with the word 'rape'. This also supported the fact that men could also be victimized because penetration was not required in order to prove the sexual assault. Now both men and women are given rights to equal treatment under the law (Handbook, 2007:4-5).

Bohmer & Parrot (1993) co-authored the “Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights Act of 1991.” This act was signed into law in 1992. This book in a continuation of what still needs to be done to prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment on college campuses. This book covers why college institutions handle sexual assault poorly and the consequence of their negligence. To do this subject justice they focus on the following questions:

This stems from the stereotypes concerning male sex roles, sexual motivation, and sexual functioning. In our society, sexual assault is a major social problem and researchers are beginning to delve more into the topic. This is because there are significant psychological problems that happen after an assault. One problem is that not much scientific research has been done that has been attentive to male victims and their needs. The researchers hypothesized that a male victim of female sexual assault would be judged as more likely to have encouraged or initiated the assault, less likely to be able to be forced to have sex, more likely to have enjoyed the interaction because of the physical reaction, and less likely to experience high stress from the event.

In order to statistically see the differences in sexual victimization by gender, research needs to be geared towards both genders, rather than focusing on one. Society tends to believe that men cannot be raped, and place a stigma around sexual assault that it is “ a crime against women”, but research proves this to be false (Hines, Armstrong, Reed & Cameron, 2012, p.935). Research that has been conducted on men has found that female perpetrators will rape “10%-22% of men” (Hines, Armstrong, Reed & Cameron, 2012, p.922). The statistics are representative of the problem at hand, and further research is required to understand gender differences on sexual assault

Bohmer & Parrot (1993) co-authored The Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights Act of 1991. President George H. W. Bush signed this act was signed into law in 1992. This book in a continuation of what still needs to be done to prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment on college campuses. This book covers why college institutions handle sexual assault poorly and the consequence of their negligence. To do this subject justice they focus on the following questions:

“To every survivor of sexual assault… You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed. We’re with you.” – Hillary Clinton. Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. The younger someone is they are at the highest risk of sexual assault. They majority of victims are under 30. Women aren’t the only ones who are victims of sexual assault. Males who are in their early 20s and in college are 5 times more likely than non-college students of the same age to be a victim. “2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of rape” (RAINN 2016). “Some women take it seriously when they’re not taken seriously.” – John Chancellor. Some things to think about is what is consent, campus sexual assaults, types of sexual assaults, and prevention of sexual assaults.

Should it be common that women experience sexual assault at some point in their life? It is estimated that 120 million women worldwide have experienced sexual assault (“Facts and Figures”). Thirty-five percent of sexual assault is experienced by a non-partner, and 70 percent of assault is experienced by an intimate partner (“Facts and Figures”). These women who endure this act, hardly ever report it to the police therefore, men who commit the crime do not face any sort of punishment. Only 10 percent of these crimes are reported to the police (“Facts and Figures”). Sexual assault in an on-going crime that far too often results in little or no punishment. Many women experience sexual violence at some point in their lives, and to prevent that men need to face harsher punishment so women feel safe enough to report the crime.

Furthermore, female murder fatalities may be alleged as engaging in less disreputable or contributing conduct associated with their own victimization compared with male victims (Baumer, Messner, and Felson 290; Farrell and Swigert 352; Sundby 347). Similarly, sexual assault is an aggravating factor both statutorily and de facto as a contemporaneous felony for a felony-murder charge in most jurisdictions (Snell). Stauffer et al find that juries are more likely to impose death sentences in homicides involving rape. Although rare Pierce and Radelet forty-two report that less than two percent of first-degree murder convictions in their 10-year Illinois sample included a contemporaneous sexual assault, perceptions about the particular heinousness

There has been many issues due to alcohol and sexual assault. Sexual assault happens when a person is being threatened nor can’t protect themselves, also sexual touching to the person. Mainly women, women have a higher risk of being threatened of alcohol and sexual assault. In college many students are not in control when it comes to drinking alcohol. Males are in the edge of being the host of alcohol and sexual assault towards women, males will take advantage of a female who is unconscious due to alcohol. We need to make a change, to find a way to decrease alcohol and sexual assault in college.

Sexual assault is a board term that is a wide-range of sexual victimization, including rape. Sexual assault deals with being forced into any sexual acts that the person disagrees upon. Sexual assault will occur when the abuser makes sexual passes or without penetration. The action maybe physical force or psychological intimidation. The touching of a person’s sexual or intimate parts are sexual advances. Children who are in the middle stage of their child hood are developing the skill of self-evaluation that is aging around six to twelve years of age. Their prime adaptive ego quality will be competence. A sexual assaulted adolescent at this point of their lives will detach themselves from society (Winograd, 2010).

There has been a lot of discussion of rape within sociologists, criminologists, and feminist networks. In my own words, rape is someone engaging with someone else sexually without their consent. Rape is not strictly vaginal penetration, nor an exclusive heterosexual only act. If two people are in a relationship or married, there is still no justification to the perpetrator for their act. In the 21st century, although rape crimes have dropped 24.1% from 2001 to 2010, but not all rapes are reported (Eitzen, Zinn, & Smith, 2010). Curtis (1997) reported that 42% of rape victims do not tell anyone of their assaults. There may be a number of reasons why victims don’t speak out. Victims of rape typically fear their own safety and lives if they speak out on it. Men who are victims typically don’t report rapes because it’s considered demasculizing to their gender. Rape victims are traumatized for life, they live with the burden, as their perpetrators walk away free (Curtis, 1997).