One of the main reasons many victims choose not to report sexual assault is distrust in law enforcement and the belief that nothing would be done to help them. A report done by the Sexual Assault Among Latinas Study showed that many victims spoke with their families about what happened, but very few victims sought help from the criminal justice department. According to the study, only 6.6% of the women involved sought help from law enforcement, and 33%
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”).
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.
As a woman, I am aware that rape is a huge problem in the United States, but I was unaware that this issue occurs largely in most other countries in the world as well. Former president Jimmy Carter produced several examples and facts of how the United States is not the only country suffering from this crime, but is a country that holds high statistical proof that rape is one of the most common crimes against women. He explains that the U.S. Justice Department reported that 191,610 cases of rape or sexual assault occurred in the United States in 2006, and that 91 percent of these victims were female. This means that more than 475 woman become victims every single day in the United States. However, girls couldn’t flee from the U.S to a different country like India because Radha Kumar descries rape in India as also being one of the nation’s most common crimes against women.
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.
They tend to seek help in their campus administrators and they do not provide resources, support that will help the victims, instead, they ask blaming questions. The administrator is more interested in what the victim was wearing and how drunk they were. Victim blaming is when a victim of a crime is held responsible or blamed for the harm being committed. These victims are quickly blamed for their offender's actions and live in fear of running into their offender again on campus. Approximately about 88% of women do not report; victim blaming has caused a silent effect in which women are embarrassed by reporting.
A social injustice that I have become aware of within the past year is rape culture and the victim blaming that comes with rape
Both male and female rape survivors constantly hear that they should’ve enjoyed it, did enjoy it, it’s their own fault, and should be ashamed.
Date rape victims are left ashamed and full of fright. They do not know how to cope with life after they have been through a traumatizing situation. This could affect the perpetrator as well. The perpetrator could have once been a victim. There are many interventions and programs everywhere that could help both the victim and the perpetrator.
“In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, chocking, drowning.” This verse from the British poet and veteran, Wilfred Owen, encapsulates the essence of chemical weaponry in the First World War. Inherently, tactics and strategy are as old as warfare itself. Indeed, as technology evolves, so does the way war is waged. The concept of chemical warfare did not come to fruition until the 20th century, when military officials were horrified yet impressed at the devastating effects of such weapons on European battlefields.
“Kerstetter and Van Winkle found that women who were raped by a stranger were less likely to pursue criminal charges if they violated one or more traditional sex role norms (e.g., the woman had been in a bar alone, she had invited the man to her home) as compared to if they did not,” according to Hildebrand and Cynthia in 2015. People like to victim blame. People like to say “she was asking for
When the topic of rape and sexual assault comes up in conversation, many people truly feel a strong sense of empathy for the victim, yet many others criminalize the victim for how they themselves got into the assault. Why does our society continue to persecute a victim? For the only ones who should be questioning in this fashion are those investigating the crime in of itself. Rape culture has become a natural part of our society and the largest part of this “culture,” is victim blaming. Yes, there are two sides to this issue, whether to stop the victim blaming or how the victim can avoid becoming a victim in the first place, it does not matter for there needs to be a better balance for this issue.
A few reasons a person may not report a rape includes: denial, fear of the legal system, fear of retaliation, guilt and blame, personal matters and victim-offender relationship. Due to denial, victims do not report rape because they may not be sure if it was rape. In order for a victim to come to the decision of reporting rape he or she needs to realize it was rape. Some victims do not realize it was rape due to the issue of less violence (Burgess et al., pg.376). The victims who report their rapes are the ones who acknowledge it was rape and the rape that occurred was more violent (Burgess et al., pg.376).
Men, it's our fault too. The guilt is not just yours to bear. It is well agreed upon that rape is an act committed out of a degree of disrespect towards the fairer sex. It is also well agreed upon that we need to change these mindsets of men that drive them to commit such heinous crimes.
Once again, unfairly, there are no responsibilities placed on rapists for their heinous
