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What is rape culture?
Statistics
- It
is estimated that 105,000 rapes occur per year in the United States.
- From
1972 to 1991, reported rapes increased by 128%.
- In
a 1992 survey, 13% of women were found to have been victims of rape.
- Only
1 in 100 rapists serve more than one year in prison.
- An
estimated 25% of college women have been the victims of at least one rape
attempt since 14 years of age.
- 80% of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 30.
- It is estimated that 60% of sexual assaults are not reported.
- 38% of women report feeling unsafe when walking alone.
- 1 in every 10 rape victims is male.
- 1 in 33 men experience an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.
Not just women
Rape culture affects men along with women. Rape culture creates a connotation of weakness associated with men getting sexually assaulted.
What is a rape culture?
According to Emilie Buchwald, the author of Transforming a Rape Culture[1], it is “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks 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.” Rape culture comprises of the images, language, jokes, laws, tv, movies, advertising and other words and imagery that normalize sexual coercion and violence against women; the constituent elements of rape culture are those things that we are exposed to every day that make rape seem normal. Rape culture normalizes the idea that men are unable to control themselves and that women may be "asking for" rape. Rape culture can be seen in a blatant or passive manner in society.
Rape is a prevailing problem in the United States, especially among young women attending college. The risk of being raped increases by a factor of four for a women attending college. The United States displays one of the highest rates of rapes out of all developed nations. Despite the sheer amount of rape and victims in the United States, the victims that do report their rape are very unlikely to see the perpetrator serve any time in prison at all. Victims are frequently blamed for being raped, while men are generally seen as uncontrollably impulsive. Many times, cases covered in the media defend the perpetrators outright, ignore the issue entirely or cast doubt upon the victim's report. In cases involving fraternities or athletes, the institution involved may protect the perpetrators, as in the University of Virginia. This case also demonstrates the pressure facing victims regarding reporting the crime. Rape culture allows for remarks blaming women for their rape to be made on national news, as with Don Lemon and his advice to the victim in the Bill Cosby allegations. Our goal is to present this information and a possible reason for the prevalence of rape: the existence of a rape culture.
Rape is a prevailing problem in the United States, especially among young women attending college. The risk of being raped increases by a factor of four for a women attending college. The United States displays one of the highest rates of rapes out of all developed nations. Despite the sheer amount of rape and victims in the United States, the victims that do report their rape are very unlikely to see the perpetrator serve any time in prison at all. Victims are frequently blamed for being raped, while men are generally seen as uncontrollably impulsive. Many times, cases covered in the media defend the perpetrators outright, ignore the issue entirely or cast doubt upon the victim's report. In cases involving fraternities or athletes, the institution involved may protect the perpetrators, as in the University of Virginia. This case also demonstrates the pressure facing victims regarding reporting the crime. Rape culture allows for remarks blaming women for their rape to be made on national news, as with Don Lemon and his advice to the victim in the Bill Cosby allegations. Our goal is to present this information and a possible reason for the prevalence of rape: the existence of a rape culture.