Silence Breakers Speech

Last week, the White House released a short, celebrity packed, 60-second public service announcement (PSA) on the topic of sexual assault. 1 is 2 Many addressed those who are in control of preventing sexual assault as its intended audience was those who can put a stop to sexual violence: the perpetrators or would-be offenders. Although this one minute announcement completed the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it failed to encompass the central issues concerning the culture of sexual assault: societal misperceptions, the victims, and the justice system. Sexual assault is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries; the culture of sexual assault is rooted in both legal practices and societal perceptions.

In America, 1 out of 6 women fall victim to rape at some point in their lives—completed or not (“Victims of Sexual Violence” 1). However, this is only one form of sexual assault that women are forced to face. Groping and other non-consensual, sexual acts are also examples of sexual assault (“Sexual Assault” 1).. Many perpetrators of sexual assault roam free, practically unaffected and likely to commit another similar act, while the woman could feel the effects of this event for her entire life. This problem affects women from around the globe—and it’s time that we put an end to it, because if we don’t, who will? If boys were to be taught how and how not to treat women in their early years, sexual assault would not be as prevalent, thus, women, including us, would not have to worry as much about enduring this kind of torment.

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.

In the article “Athletic club weekend turns into a nightmare for college freshman” by Carol smith and Lee Van Der Voo, Emily Lorenzen shares her story of being a rape victim. Emily shares her account because she wants to help to prevent rape from happening to anyone else. After interviewing Emily the authors shared a statement expressing that “Emily lorenzen believes that if people hear her story, they will be more comfortable confronting the issue of sexual assault on campus. She wants more conversation, so that men get a clearer definition of rape, face stiffer penalties if they ignore it and administrators learn to reach out to women like her and show compassion. She especially wants bystanders to step up and protect people who are vulnerable.” Rape victims need support to not feel guilty or ashamed, and that is exactly what Emily and her father desire. On this topic, Shipman an influential contributor of the Spokane sexual assault

Sexual assault policy in the United States as it stands is clearly inadequate for protecting the physical wellbeing of men and women from sexual assault. Layering of policy serves a s a Band-Aid on a social wound much too large to be contained and the rise of sexual assault as a public problem reiterates the need for greater legislation and policy to protect everyone from becoming prey to the crime of sexual assault. While eyes focus on the (disproven) rise of violence in the United States, and turn to gun control, other violent crimes are forgotten. Sexual Assault has seen several cases of policy failure that actors have tried to salvage through the act of policy layering and have not significantly resolved the problem.

Have you ever heard about the #MeToo Movement? According to the Metoomvmt, the #MeToo Movement is founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to help people who survived from sexual violence, particularly young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing. Using the idea of “empowerment through empathy,” the me too. movement was ultimately created to ensure survivors know they’re not alone in their journey. This movement was a big issue for people in the United States in 2017. TIME Magazine named the “Silence Breakers,” those who spoke out against sexual violence and harassment as part of the viral #MeToo Movement, as its Person of the Year (Metoomvmt). This issue is very important and delicate problem for society in the United

Sexual violence is a common occurrence amongst women around the world. One in three women, ages 18-34, say they have been sexually harassed at work. One out of every six woman in the United States is a victim of an attempted or completed rape- and about 72% of victims report either short or long-term effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The #MeToo movement originated in 2006, and was first used by Tarana Burke to promote “empowerment through empathy” in women of color who had suffered and were victims of sexual abuse and assault. The movement grew in popularity in October of 2017, when Alyssa Milano used the hashtag to reveal the full extent of sexual assault among women. In January of 2018, the Time’s Up movement, in response

Throughout history and literature, people have been oppressed. They speak out only to be silenced. It takes a strong person to speak out again and to speak for the voiceless. Political figures, lawyers, even average civilians have stood up and spoke out for the silenced. A modern day example would be Beyoncé’s

This can be seen online at websites like RAINN, but even more so, in real life cases like the Brock Turner, Larry Nassar, and Harvey Weinstein cases. The problem of sexual assault not only affects the victim but their surroundings as well. Between the many cases that have been fought in our country and the cases fought in the world, sexual assault has been a big issue coming to light in the past couple of decades. Sexual assault is not okay and never will be. Sexual assault in any and all cases is 100% caused by the attacker.

The current activist movements that are fighting privilege and rape culture are making slow, but steady progress. With every few steps forward, there is a setback. Additionally, the current political environment is tumultuous and difficult to navigate. Take Back the Night has been a successful movement that has allowed many sexual assault survivors to have a safe space to rally for their rights and share their stories. Some aspects of Take Back the Night are not always successful in inciting political change, but the movement itself provides the acceptance and safety that survivors need (Take Back the Night, 2018). Take Back the Night also provides education on consent and safe sex. The Women’s March has been more successful in creating change.

The acts of sexual assault and harassment are unfortunately commonplace in today’s world, with over 321,500 cases reported a year on average in the United States of America alone (RAINN, 2015). The prevalence of these acts formed a foundation for the creation of the Me Too movement, a prominent and more recent social movement that encourages survivors of sexual assault and harassment to speak out about their experiences and voice their truths. Through speaking out, survivors assist in illustrating the magnitude of the issue of sexual violence and the negative effects that these aforementioned acts may have on people. With the ever rising prominence of this social movement, one may plausibly question how much impact the Me Too movement is truly

I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in

Women, girls, men, and boys are vulnerable victims of sexual assaults every day in our country. While females experience much higher rates of sexual assaults than males. The problem that this country faces is the lack of being able to track rapist, in addition to the victims that chose not to report their assault of being raped to the police. Issues of under reporting comes from the victims with multiple reasons that hinders them from reporting these heinous criminal acts. Thus, the sad realization is that the perpetrator is usually some one that you know, that you would of never of thought that they could and would, and do sexually assault you.

Imagine being robbed of your innocence in a matter of seconds. Imagine not being able to speak out due to threats and fear of seeking help and not being taken seriously. Troubling, is it not? Sexual abuse has always been a problem in society that can affect anyone. Sexual abuse brings along many negative outcomes; however, throughout the years, sexual abuse has been a factor that has always been ignored. Even though sexual abuse has had many attempts to be avoided in various environments, all have failed.

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.