Sexual assault and harassment has been an ongoing problem. Women are being abused, mistreated, and taken advantage of. Sexual assault is when one person touches another person without that person 's consent. For example, rape is a form of sexual assault. Sexual harassment is similar, but it may be less extreme. It is when someone makes unwanted sexual advancements or obscene remarks toward another person. An example of sexual harassment is catcalling. The victims of sexual assault or harassment suffer from many different things after their experience. These acts of injustice are often seen in the work place. The #MeToo movement is a hashtag used on social media to help demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, …show more content…
After victims suffer from sexual assault or harassment they go through many different things. One major thing victims tend to suffer from is anxiety and depression. This is common, because many people are traumatized after their experience. They begin to think that perhaps what happened is their fault. Although many may feel this way, it is not their fault. It does not matter what they were wearing or if they had a little too much to drink. Regardless of the situation, it is not the victims fault. They also become very fearful, because they are afraid of something similar happening again. Some people change their regular routines to avoid harassers and to lower their chances of something like that happening again. Others change jobs, drop out of school, stop a hobby that they love and even move out of their home. But, the one thing that was not mentioned above was reporting their incident. Many people do not report what happened to them, because they are afraid too (Chatterjee, 2018). Victims tend to feel powerless and threatened by their harassers. They develop a fear of what could happen to them, their families and their jobs if they did speak up. It is unfortunate that there are people out in the world that do such horrible things to others and cause them to have to change their lives and live in …show more content…
It has given women a voice to speak out about their experiences. Sexual assault and harassment is "thriving on the silence of women", but because of the #MeToo movement, people are breaking their silence. Sexual assault and harassment happens in many different places. It occurs in public places, the workplace, people 's homes, etc. Although many people are skeptical of the movement, there is hard evidence that sexual assault and harassment is real and happening to innocent people. Many women have come forward with their experience of being sexually assaulted or harassed. An online survey was done, and it revealed that 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men have experienced some form of sexual assault or harassment during their life. The survey involved people of ages 28 and above for the most part and it included the experiences that women have faced. This involved verbal forms of sexual harassment such as catcalled, whistled at, or inappropriate comments of a sexual nature. The survey revealed that 77 percent of women have experienced verbal assault. 51 percent have been sexually touched without their permission, 41 percent have been sexually harassed online, 27 percent have survived sexual assault, and 47 percent of transgender people report being sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, both in and out of the work place (Chatterjee, 2018). These
In her magazine article, “No, #MeToo Isn’t McCarthyism,” found in the January 2018 issue of The Atlantic, writer Sophie Gilbert refutes various criticisms targeting #MeToo, a recent social media campaign created to spread awareness of the frequency of sexual harassment and assault. She distinguishes serious sexual assault and harassment allegations from claims against men who are merely unpleasant by noting that the former is comprised of rape accusations, while the latter is only “a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors” (2). Critics of #MeToo have attempted to undermine the movement by arguing that it is a facade to allow people to falsely accuse others of sexual harassment and assault. As a result, the accused usually suffer from
What is even more shocking being the number of women to this day that gets abused. "This ‘one in five’ statistic shouldn’t just be taken with a grain of salt but the entire shaker," said James Fox, professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University (Washington Post, 2014) The ‘one in five’ statistic he is speaking about is one in five women get sexually harassed in college (Obama, 2014). This small quote speaks humongous words. As it says in the quote, “one in five,” women get sexually harassed in college and that shows that women aren’t looked at as strong and agile people because
However, even though they are usually not the ones at fault, nothing is ever said about the event. In a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, it was found that 75 to 77 percent of sexual assaults, attempted rapes, and completed rapes were never reported (“Sexual Assault and Rapes”). Furthermore, the blame of the whole event was never put on the person responsible. Instead, the victim was blamed for not denying the advances, or for not making themselves clearer in their intents(“Sexual Assault and Rapes”). This huge chip to carry often leaves the victims feeling isolated, scared, full of shame, depressed, and with a low self-esteem(“Sexual Assault and Rapes”).
Including mental and physical consequences, this form of violence discriminates the rights of a person. A report from UNIFEM proves that only 14, including Canada, out of 186 countries placed legislation regarding sexual harassment. More than 90% of Canadian women confessed they have been sexually harassed, some time in their life. A similar amount of
Harassment and abuse are considered breaches of human rights and occur in all countries. According to Encyclopedia of Psychology, sexual abuse is unwanted sexual activity with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims who are not able to give consent. Most of victims and perpetrators know each other. In sport, women athletes are more frequent victims of harassment and abuse than men athletes. Many women athletes drop out of sport rather than continue being subjected to the constant harassment and abuse.
Saying that a victim was asking for it due to their clothing, spreading the myth that only “weak” men get raped, or otherwise labelling the victim are all examples of victim blaming. According to Amnesty International, about 33% of people believed that the victim was at fault if they had been flirting with predator beforehand. This belief stems from the common misconception that sexual assault is always about sex. As stated by Cambridge for Consent, “Sexual assault is not solely about sex- it is a crime relating to power, violence, and control.” Victim-blaming is unacceptable and absurd because if victims had truly been “asking for it,” it wouldn’t have been
Sexual assault is very common and very difficult to overcome for most, in another article the girls that claimed to be raped talked about their process of overcoming the claimed assault they all have different experiences and different ways of coping with it again showing how different the reactions can
There are many problems on college campuses and several go unnoticed. According to BestCollege.com, “one out of five college students experience some type of sexual assault during their college career”. Sexual assault is a term used to describe any type of unwanted sexual activity without the consent of a person (Sexual Assault). One out of five students being assaulted is a major issue in many ways. For example, being a victim of sexual assault can be very damaging for the rest of one’s life, whether it is mentally, emotionally, or physically.
In another report in 2009, studies show that only nine percent of women report their sexual assault cases to the authorities (Luna 1). Women get assaulted every day in the US, yet very few come forward to the authorities because they have seen the backlash that almost all other women face when they accuse
Sexual Assault is a horrible problem in the United States. On average, 1 in 5 women in the United States has reported being raped at least once in her life. In addition, 78.7% of women reported that their rape occurred before they turned 25, and 40.4% reported that their rape happened before they turned 18 (Itzin 2430). The sexual objectification of women in our society contributes to rape culture that allows sexual assault to happen. In addition, rape victims often do not report their rape due to victim blaming, which is also a part of rape culture.
Building upon earlier work, they used approximately 4,500 female college students to report their sexual victimization. The analysis revealed few incidents, including rapes, are reported to police and/or campus authorities, a high portion disclosing to close friends. Gillibrand, K., Rubenfeld, J., Sulkowicz, E., Hargitay, M., Sullivan, T., Biden, J., & ... Sommers, C. H. (2014). The Debate: How should college campuses handle sexual assault?.
Imagine a college freshman is studying with a friend when suddenly the true intentions of the friend are made apparent. A guy is having a great time at a party until a girl he does not know forces herself upon him. A weak and tired girl is trying to make it back to her dorm room on a Saturday night when a group of frat boys discover her. All of these stories seem different, but they end in the same way: sexual assault. Assault can happen to anyone, anywhere, regardless of gender or age.
College campuses need to foster a community where victims of sexual assault can feel comfortable to confide in someone on the situation in order to report it. It can be hard for a victim to report sexual assault because most likely the perpetrator was someone they knew. Many victims do not want to be seen as a victim, which discourages them from reporting as well. When a victim reports a sexual assault, almost always nothing happens to the perpetrator. College campuses need to work on revising their sexual assault policies in order to make the victim feel safe and ensure that the appropriate action will be
Sexual assault can either be verbal, physical or visual. Joan Van Niekers cited a recent report by the Human Sciences Research Council which revealed that 34% of learners experienced sexual harassment and other 14% were sexually harassed by teachers , therefore this clearly illustrates that sexual assault take place amongst learners in schools is somehow beyond control and happens in many occasions. In this essay, three causes of sexual assault
Introduction: Respect. What does it mean and who deserves your respect? Respect is generally considered a positive feeling or an action shown towards someone or something considered important. It is a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of honoring someone by exhibiting consideration for their needs or feelings.