1 out of every 3 American women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. This is just one of many statistics that show us the scary reality of sexual assault. Many people don’t even think about it, but the fact is it’s happening all around us. There is a big debate on rape and what exactly it entails, especially when it comes to whether or not the sex was consensual. In order for sex to be considered consensual, both parties must say YES and agree with the act.
One of the times there is great controversy is when alcohol is involved in cases of sexual assault. When someone is drinking, they are not in complete control of their bodies, and that is what leads to trouble and confusion. Alcohol may make someone act a certain way, and they may not want to have sex, but it may be assumed by the other person because of their behavior. This is why it is so important to make sure you get verbal consent before actually having sex. The fact that they don’t say no isn’t enough, and in order to have consent both people must say yes and agree to have sex. That is the biggest argument when it comes to someone who is accused of rape; they didn’t say no.
Also, because of alcohol, many rape victims are unsure of what happens and are afraid to report it.
The scariest part about rape to me is that the majority of victims are raped by someone they know. As we talked about in class, many people assume that all rapists are big, scary, men who come out of the bushes and attack at night. This is not even close to the truth. In fact, a huge number of rapes occur within relationships, and many are not reported. Just because you are in a relationship with someone and you have had a sexual relationship, doesn’t give you permission to expect sex whenever you please. Being in a relationship does not excuse the consent rule.
The last thing I want to bring up about rape is that although the vast majority of rapists are men, that doesn’t mean women are not capable of raping as well. It is not as common, but it is not something that should be looked past. I also feel that many men are afraid to admit that they were raped, so there are probably way more cases than we know about that just haven’t been documented. We need to break the stereotypes of rape as a society, and encourage victims to come forward so that we can stop the vicious cycle.
Same as what you're pointing out about women commintting sexual assault, it seems that women's aggression in general is taken less seriously or is brushed off in our culture. Even when women kill, it must be because she was abused or provoked, or maybe because she had postpartum depression if she kills her children. Which may very well be true, but why don't we offer a similar compassion to men and their circumstances? I think it's because aggression and violence are stereotyped as natural for men but not women, but of course women do act aggressively and violently too. While it's not to the same degree or frequency that men act aggressively or violently, it's still important to acknowledge that women do at times commit violent crimes, even rape. So thanks for pointing that stereotype out in this post :)
ReplyDeleteVery good topic. I learned so many things about this topic happening in developing countries. However, i just cannot believe that There are so many rapes happening in America, too.
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