Sexual violence is an extensive problem that is occurring throughout the world. Rape victim suffer the experience of their assault and many suffer a secondary victimization due to negative reactions from individuals around them. Society has come to the point where sexual violence is normalized and excused in the media, this is referred to as rape culture. Rape culture normalizes sexual violence and victim blaming. The way the media portrays this issue not only affects the victims but it also affects the criminal justice system. The world revolves around the media, whether is he news, a TV show, music, etc. so anything the media wants to throw out to the public will clearly be seen and taken into consideration. In order to help stop the issues
Rape myths are inaccurate believes that are widely held. They are able to provide people with a false sense of protection by undermining the severity of the action or even oppose that fact that its happened. “Rape myths underlie and fuel violence against women and inform the negative societal reactions to those who have been sexually assaulted.” (Du Mont & Parnis 102) When talking about the case of R v. Ewanchuk we can notice the use of rape myths in order to justify the act of sexual assault towards the young women. Mr. Justice McClung’s was the judge in this cases and had many myths of why this young women was assaulted.
Furthermore, Griffin commonly sites credible studies and explores historical moments to provide context and support for her claims. One article in particular written by Griffin (1971) demonstrates her masterful use of ethos, “Rape: The All-American Crime.” This article was the first of its kind as it discusses rape from a feminist perspective and challenges common beliefs about rape. Up until this point rape and sexual violence was rarely discussed and when it was it was by a man. Griffin begins the article by explaining her credentials, describing her personal experiences with rape culture in America, and illustrating the urgency with which women and victims need to be heard.
Rape myths are at the center of the problem of how rape and sexual assault cases are looked at, and treated as in society. Rape myths vary, some excuse the rape, others try to minimize the severity of the situation, while others doubt the act even happened in the first place (Levit and Verchick, 196). Some examples of rape myths include: a victim was “asking for it,” a victim’s previous sexual history, regretful sex is not rape, a woman’s “no” means “yes,” and women lie about rape all the time. Rape myths are targeted towards women, not the rapist. Despite, rape myths being proved false by empirical evidence, they are still prevalent in society.
While the legal definition of rape has changed over time, the occurrence of this act has remained constant. Rape stories are a permanent fixture on every evening news broadcast; the latest perpetrator being comedian Bill Cosby. One of Cosby’s accusers is left questioning why it took 30 years for people to listen. There is often skepticism around women who accuse men of such acts. Rape culture allows us to discredit these accusations by blinding us via a perpetrator’s economic and social status.
The correlation from the countries highlighted with the issue at hand is society’s global response, which is ignoring the issue. Victims are have self-learned through society’s response towards sexual assault and rape is to keep quiet and to be ashamed that it happened to them. Victim’s result to blaming themselves and thinking things such as: “I drank to much”, “It happened because of what I was wearing”, or “I didn’t fight back hard enough”. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Dar Fur sexual assault and rape cases are not talked about or ever recognized, but used as a weapon of war. In Spain and the United States such cases can be brought to trail but are extremely hard to try in court.
They both need to change. ”(“Rape culture, victim”). There are multiple statistics that argue against victim blaming. Statistics exemplify that 82% of victims were assaulted by some they knew.
To many individuals, sexual predators are stereotyped as “weirdos lurking in the bushes” or as stalkers of “women who walk alone” (106). From a critic’s perspective, it seems as if Card has overemphasized her allegation that rape is an institution. Here, Card is making the aggregate of rape cases into something that it is not. According to Card’s definition of an institution, there are “rules that establish roles and positions” as well as the “distribut[ion] of responsibilities and opportunities” (100). However, rapists and sexual predators do not have a set rulebook that they follow, nor do the rapists have a duty to carry out.
When I first learned about rape, and sexual violence in general, I assumed that every victim reported their abuse, and every rapist went to jail. Once I learned that the reality was the opposite of my beliefs, I was confused. I did not understand why someone would not go to the police and seek out charges against their assaulters. Yet, the stories of Frances Thompson and the victim of Nate Parker, illustrate the extreme dangers that come along with reporting. Moreover, I am currently worried about the details that have been released in the Derek Rose rape case, and what may happen to the victim in this situation.
American culture in the 1970’s witnessed a pivotal shift in the public understanding of sexual violence. The second wave feminist movement brought about the first public discussions of rape as a personal experience and a widespread social problem. Modern understanding and modes of criticism of rape largely stem from this moment that publicized issues, which previously had been private matters. Before this time, since there had been no public discourse concerning sexual violence there could be no widespread ideological development.
Often times men and women are afraid to speak up about rape because often times attorneys and judicial figures choose to baby the suspect and sympathize with them. Rape victims are questioned about the rape, but not in the way they should be. Questions like, “What were you wearing?” are asked, but should be replaced with, “What was the situation surrounding the rape?” Rape has become such an everyday occurrence in the US today that it might as well be legal. Women and men are constantly being told that they are the problem and that it is their own fault they were raped.
In society and college campuses, sexual assault occurs quite frequently. According to an estimation one third of women experience a forced sexual experience at least once in their life and most of the time it occurs in colleges. Men have also been reported to be victim of sexual assaults mostly by other men. Most of the time the sexual assault is planned and perpetrated by a third person, who is known to the victim of incident. Drug and alcohol use play role in this issue and contribute to the problem as most of the time the victim and perpetrators are under the effect of alcohol or any other drug during the incident.
There needs to be more of an understanding from the communities, friends, and family, of the effects of sexual violence. The victims need understanding and not ridicule. Rejection can lead to many other problems. Some of the community believes the women now have a sickness which is a fear that lingers inside the victim. Many husbands do not want to be intimate or even touch their wives after a rape occurs.
Growing up in today’s world presents a numerous amount of different challenges, hardships, and an abundance of controversy among other daily tribulations. Not only do people encounter certain hardships some may face life scarring events. For some being a victim of rape is categorized into one of these situations and it may become a recurring burden for the individual. He or she may have not received justice for the action that took place or they may have been humiliated. A curious individual or one who has been affected by this first hand may ask how do we as a world overcome such an act.
“Although concerning sexual practices between adults and children have existed throughout history and across cultures, whether such behavior was conceived of and defined as ‘abuse’ has been dependent on the societal values of the particular period” (Denov, 2004). In today’s society, sex offending has become an increasingly, concerning phenomenon that individuals must become more aware of. Although generally regarded as a male phenomenon, over time, female perpetrators have become equally important as male perpetrators. Due to the lack of public awareness, female sexual predators go unreported. As a result, society must become more aware of female sexual perpetrators, as many incidents of females assaulting both young men and women have gone unreported for some time.
There are numerous definitions of rape culture. The most accurate definition of rape culture is, “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women . . . In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm . . . In a rape culture, both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable.”