Sexual Abuse And Rape Culture Essay

Sexual Abuse and Rape Culture

Every year, rape costs the United States more than any other crime resulting in a total of $127 billion and $93 billion for sexual assault. Over the course of the past few months, we have heard numerous cases of sexual violence and abuse; these cases are astonishing because this is not something that should be ignored or dismissed. The stories told by victims have caught the attention of all people because it has become very prevalent in our society today. Countless women have been silenced by the authority of men, and these women have become too scared to speak out and seek accountability. This has gone on for too long and it has become less about sexual harassment but also about the abuse of power, especially

They believe that this is a hoax or just a ruse made up by people because they want attention. Just last year at Grant High School, a teacher named David Lickey wrote a paper to a group of freshman students stating his views on rape culture claiming that is is not real and calling it “dubious”. A former student was outraged by this because she was a survivor of rape and this felt like a personal attack on her experience (Brabaw, paragraph 3 and 4). This goes to show that not everyone is aware of rape culture and sexual assault, and it can have negative impacts. Another misconception is that only women are victims to rape and sexual assault, but men are also victimized. Some men will call out other men on rape culture because they know that those actions were not acceptable. No matter the victim, all types of people are at risk; any gender, any race or ethnicity, any culture, any age. Throughout our history, most men don’t take accountability for the wrong actions they made, which has become the major issue and causes a rift between groups of people. More and more women have spoken out their personal testimonies of their experience with sexual harassment. They have and continue to use their voices to speak out against this injustice and the abuse of power that has tainted and scarred many innocent lives. The more people who join this movement it brings awareness to everyone so we, as one community can eradicate this issue. Now after everything I just said you might be thinking, how does this relate to me? Or, what can I do to help others who might have gone through with this? Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Sexual abuse and rape culture have become an increasingly hot subject in the past few months as hundreds of cases are being brought into the light because women are feeling