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Stanford Rape Case Study

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Colleges throughout the United States need to take more action to help prevent rape and help support rape victims. One incident that happened recently that shows more reform needs to be done on college campuses was the Stanford case. Marina Koren reported in her article “Telling the Story of the Stanford Rape Case” that at about 1 a.m. on January 18, 2015, two male Stanford students were out when they saw a man on top of women by a dumpster. When the two men approach the scene the man took off revealing an unconscious half-naked woman. While one of the male students remained with the victim the other chased down the rapist and held him to the police arrived. This rapist came to be known as Brock Turner. Later on, during the trial, the woman …show more content…

In the article “Feminist History of Rape” by Suzanne Brown she writes how the use of language that degrades specific groups of people allows for that group to be viewed as less important. These stereotypes rationalize for mistreatment of targeted groups such as women (Brown 8). Likewise, Christopher Kilmartin explains in his article “Changing Male Attitudes Reduces Sexual Violence” that “ seeing them [women] as a lower status allows us [men] to justify mistreating them in many ways.” College dorms, fraternities, and athletic teams are all informal places where young men can speak demeaningly of women with no one speaking up saying how it is inappropriate (Kilmartin 136). Just like in the Stanford case when reporters addressed the victim as “unconscious intoxicated women” they belittled the victim (Koren). Media plays a large role in rape culture. The media reinforces gender roles that encourage males to be aggressive and females to be submissive (Brown 8). These cultural beliefs help create an environment where sexual assault can flourish (8). When the media uses a passive voice and making the victim the subject rather than the abuser also makes rape seem unimportant (Kilmartin 137). For example when announcing a sports game the broadcaster does not say the game was tied and then a player made a three-pointer at the last second (137). No, the viewers want to know who is playing, what is the game tied …show more content…

In my opinion, not enough is being done on campus to help students who are victims of rape. My first reason for why campus rape culture is real is victim blaming. Victim-blaming is when an outsider places the accountability of the rape directly on the victim rather than the rapist. Victim blaming is a serious issue and will need arduous effort to be stopped since it is so interwoven into American society. I feel that it is important to end victim-blaming in order to protect the victim from mental illness. Victims should be comforted and sympathized with rather than schooled at. It is important for people to realize the victim never asks to be raped. Another way campus rape culture is real is because of the way schools handle rape cases. Schools need to do more to support the victim rather than care about their reputation. Students trust schools to take care of them when in a time of needs and this does not exclude rape. When the school quiets a case they are saying that they care more about people who graduated or people who are applying, rather than the students attending the school in present time that they do not care. The most important people in the school should be the present students. It is also the counselor's job to provide information to the victim or help the victim adjust after rape not to give an opinion on who initiated the rape. Finally, society as a whole needs to

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