Sexual Assault/Rape Victim

“Rape is unique. No other violent crime is so fraught with controversy, so enmeshed in dispute and in the politics of gender and sexuality… And within the domain of rape, the most highly charged area of debate concerns the issue of false allegations. For centuries, it has been asserted and assumed that women “cry rape,” that a large proportion of rape allegations are maliciously concocted for purposes of revenge or other motives.”

The outfit we may choose to wear causes certainly, absolutely no harm to others surrounding us. Thus, what may be the point? Why must they enforce it? Therefore, now is our time, as students of Westlake High School, to stand up for what we believe in and declare we be given the right to wear whatever we may please. Under certain circumstance of course, nothing outrageous, or whore-like. And as for males of our society, no pants must expose thou of thy nature below the waist.

In a 1991 court case, a woman accused a man by the name of William Kennedy Smith of raping her. When being questioned about the incident, Smith stated that she was wearing underwear from Victoria’s Secret. The case was then acquitted. Smith made this point because the Victoria’s Secret brand promises that if women wear their lingerie then they are irresistible. This goes to show that men just see women for what they wear and can say that the woman was asking for it. In another court case in 1990 a male Canadian judge accused a three year old girl of being sexually aggressive and set her molester free and back to his job as a babysitter (503-04) This further proves the point that women, even little girls, are the ones held responsible for the actions people do to

Men could make the mistake of “thinking that women [are provoking] attacks against them by the way they dress” (“Rape Myths” para. 9). A woman’s intention when she goes out in her tight dress can be to attract the attention of the opposite sex, but sometimes that can go too far. On the other hand, wearing the wrong thing can affect a woman’s chances in being accepted in a social setting. For example, if a female celebrity wears something that strays away from what society would consider as “what’s in”, then she can be publicly shamed by social media. That celebrity could receive the label of a “fashion victim”.

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.

University of Tennessee Knoxville was recently involved in a lawsuit for enabling athletes to sexually assault women by silencing the victims and failing to provide disciplinary actions or even investigation onto the accused. While this is a recent case, this is not the first time this sort of behavior involving a school has been brought into light. One in four women will be sexually assaulted by the end of their undergraduate career (Posluszny). Sexual assault happens throughout society no matter what the gender or age, seeming to be in increasing epidemic over the last few years. While the idea of sexual assault is largely met with public hostility in theory, actions often contradict this. This contradiction lies heavily in a culture that is unwelcoming to the victims and often leads to the perpetrators being tolerated. The existence of rape culture in western society occurs due to the preservation of violent media, patriarchal standards, and the state of the criminal justice system. This culture cannot be improved until we confront each of these problems to their roots.

Fact: Many survivors experience tonic immobility or a “freeze response” during an assault where they physically cannot move or speak. Myth: A lot of victims lie about being raped or give false reports. Fact: Only 2-8% of rapes are falsely reported, the same percentage as for other felonies. Myth: A person cannot sexually assault their partner or spouse. Fact: Nearly 1 in 10 women have experienced rape by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Myth: Sexual assaults most often occur in public or outdoors. Fact: 55% of rape or sexual assault victimizations occur at or near the victim’s home, and 12% occur at or near the home of a friend, relative, or acquaintance. Myth: Rape does not happen that often. Fact: There is an average of 293,066 victims ages 12 or older of rape and sexual assault each year in the U.S. This means 1 sexual assault occurs every 107 seconds. Myth: People that have been sexually assaulted will be hysterical and crying. Fact: Everyone responds differently to trauma- some may laugh, some may cry, and others will not show any emotions. (Myths and Facts 1)

One way rape victims are handled improperly through the criminal justice system is by victims characteristics. This may include the victim's age, job, risky behavior such as drinking or using drugs. When a victim portrays any of these characteristics, most times it is often thought of that they provoked the offender or made the opportunity easier. This attacks the reputation of the victim, most times this determines whether chargers will be filed or not. This is an accuse for people to blame the victim for her action.

“Focusing women and drinking ignores a serious reality: The student perpetrator who is a sex offender” (Kingston). According to the author Anne Kingston of the article “The Real Danger for Women on Campus.” Most females that report their rapes when they were under the influence of alcohol or dressed a certain way were seen as consenting sexual partners not as rape victims. For example, in Toronto a police officer made a remake saying women would protect themselves from rape if they didn’t dress like sluts. People tend to focus on the victims’ clothing, reputations or what they were doing that night and not focusing on the real issue of their sexual

“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.

“Was she really wearing that? No wonder he assumed she wanted it.” Everyone has heard this at least once. The trend of blaming victims for their own rape only justifies the rapist’s actions and help him avoid punishment. It leaves the victim feeling dead inside and traumatized. Rape is one of the worst crimes committed against women. Unfortunately, this hateful crime has been going on for years and persists. Rape has been a global issue. In order to address this crime, one must know what exactly rape is, who is getting blamed for it, and what the aftermath of rape is.

The stereotype of who a typical sexual assault victim is, is also detrimental to abide by as male victims of sexual assault will often fear being blamed and feel emasculated as a result of their victimisation. The continuation of stereotypic types of victims when considering a certain crime can often distort the seriousness of sexual

Fitzgerald and Lonsway define myths of rape as “false but persistent beliefs and stereotypes regarding forced sexual intercourse and the victims and perpetrators of such acts” (Kahlor). These rape myths include opinions that women who act or dress offensively are asking to be raped, or women who claim to have been raped when they later regretted having consensual sex. While it may be a common myth that some women lie about being sexually assaulted, “the fact is that only 2% of rape reports prove to be intentionally reported falsely” (Bohmer). An additional flagrant myth about rape is that no actually means yes, and that being raped is what some women secretly want. Although there a many myths about rape that are related to the rape victim and what she was doing and wearing, there are many myths about rape that define the rapist and create false images on what people actually commit rape crimes. An example of one of those myths is that “rapists are sex-starved, insane, or both” and that the action of rape is strictly a passion crime (Iconis). These assertions provide many

Let start off with a quote stated by Freda Adler “ Rape is the only crime in which the victim is accused.” Most people say that if victims are walking around with inappropriate clothing attracts sexual actions. Im my opinion I think that if you say no it means no. If you are forced to do something that you don't want to that is considered rape. Kurt Metzger “ Victims are accused because they are failing to prevent what happened to them.”

This literature review provides a brief overview of six scholarly articles and other facts about sexual assault .This review will first define sexual assault as it is defined in these articles. It will analyze the strengths and limitations of the definition used and will discuss the occurrence of sexual assault in the general population.This review will also illustrate the protective factors, barriers to recovery , impact of development and the specific sexual assault population that are absent in these articles. Sexual assault is a societal issue that impacts men and women at every age in their life, it’s much more highly reported among college aged women. The majority of women who are victims of rape are