Hollywood Rape

Sexual violence is a major problem affecting our society. The “me too” movement has shined a light on how serious this issue is. Women are being sexually assaulted in places where they should normally feel safe, at school and at work. Brave women around the world are coming forward with their truth. Is important for woman and girls to know that it is okay to speak up because sexual violence doesn’t just cause physical injury, it has a profound impact on physical, emotional and mental health as well.

In the documentary, The Hunting Ground, there is an exploration of rape on campuses throughout America. According to the film, more than 16 percent of college women are sexually assaulted while in college (Dick, “The Hunting Ground”). Interestingly, the woman actually ended up complaining of two traumas: the first being the actual rape, and the second being the method in which the Universities decided to handle the complaints. Within the documentary, the numerous women that were interviewed complained vehemently that instead of pursuing the predator that raped the victims, the victims were blamed and silenced. The women were asked whether they were drinking alcohol, what they were wearing, if they said no, and if they

Many individuals might wonder, what is rape culture? “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.” Most women limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. (Marshall University)

“Only 344 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police. That means about 2 out of 3 go unreported.” (Rainn 1). Many victims of sexual assault don’t report the assault for certain reason, but there are some that can not report the assault because it is past the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is how long a person has to report a crime or how long the police can pursue a crime. The statute of limitations on sexual assault can range from 3 to 30 years depending of the ‘type’ of assault and the age of the victim. Sexual Assault should not have a statute of limitations because of the psychological effects and the time it takes for a victim to recover. In fact many victims who were sexually assaulted as children don’t realize that they were assaulted until they are adults because the memories of the assault were repressed.

America has a proud history of being a country that has many different ethnicities and cultures living within its borders. But one of the most prevalent cultures is one that transcends race or country of origin, rape culture. The term used by modern day feminist and gender activist defines a culture which normalizes rape and sexual assaults because of the deeply rooted societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality. In a rape culture the instances of rape are accepted as everyday occurrences and even as the prerogative of men, resulting in the stigmatization and blame placing of rape victims. Although the phrase “rape culture” is relatively modern, the

It is said that 88 percent of women sexually assaulted on campus do not report. (Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation 2015). Four to five percent of victims report but not to the police, nine to ten percent thought police would not to anything to help, ten to fourteen percent did not want to get the culprit in to trouble, twelve to nineteen percent thought that it wasn’t important enough to turn in, twenty percent were afraid of reprisal, and twenty three to twenty six percent thought it to be a personal matter (RAINN). The percentage of sexual assault claims that turn out to be false range from two to eight percent. When people are focused on those small numbers they forget to keep in mind how majority of the cases that go reported for sexual assault, turn out to be true.Then there are the cases that do get reported, and with these brings along the perpetrators who rarely get serious punishments. The majority of them will not go to jail or prison.

While a great deal of crimes go unreported in the United States, by far the most common is sexual assault. While this crime is usually associated with women being the victims, men can also be assaulted. Sexual assault is different from other crimes, in that the victims often feel like it is their fault that the crime happened. The majority of these victims are attending college, and are on campus when the crime takes place. A multitude of colleges in the past have been pushing sexual assault cases under the rug. Recently, new laws and efforts have been made so that people are aware of what happens at colleges and are not afraid to speak up about their sexual assault experiences. Sexual assault is the most underreported crime in America due

“Most sexual assaults go unreported and more that one half of assaults are committed by someone known to the survivor. One third of women will experiences some form of sexual violence during their lifetime. Sexual assault victims may experience long-term mental and physical health problems throughout their lives.” (Luce, H. 2010).

Sixteen of these twenty will be prosecuted, but only ten will result in conviction” (Shen). Of all rape reports, only 10 percent end in conviction. Therefore, if a false accusation, which already has a low probability of occurring, is made, it then only has a 10 percent chance of being convicted. This 10 percent chance is likely even lower, as if the case is properly investigated, a false accusation will not end in a conviction. False accusations are not the problem in society, but rather sexual assault. Underreporting, paired with the increase in rape, demonstrates the growing urgency to deal with the problem of sexual assault before it gets out of hand. Although false accusations of rape are without a doubt a problem, they are in no way as big as the growing problem of rape in our society. False accusations should not be society’s main concern, but rather the number of sexual assaults which occur. In the military alone, sexual assault has grown, with “about 3,000 service members reporting being sexually assaulted in 2012, but a confidential Department of Defense survey suggests the figure is closer to 26,000 — up 35 percent over 2010” (Koons). These numbers may even be

Victim blaming is a huge issue in our society. Most people don’t question why the rapist raped the victim, but instead ask what the victim was wearing, and explain that “she led him on,” and that “she wanted it.” Or, in many opinions, the worst one, “Boys will be boys.” Let’s say someone was robbed of a new iMac that they had in their home. Alright, how ridiculous would it sound if police responded to the report with, “Were you flaunting this item?” The owner would respond with, “It was out in my living room, you could say so.” And the police would say, “And you weren’t home.” Owner, “No.” Police, “So, you were you asking for it to be stolen by having it out in plain sight when you weren’t home?” That illogical argument is used by many officials who are informed of the assault of a student or citizen that reports it. “Were you wearing skimpy clothing? Were you asking for it? Were you

Two men passing by witnessed Turner on top of the victim. When police were called, they found her unconscious, in fetal position. The two witnesses had pinned down Brock Turner and kept him there until law enforcement arrived. Consequently, Turner was charged with five felony counts, which later got reduced to three, a sentence of a maximum 10 years in prison, and he would have to register as a sex offender. There were two witnesses, the police caught him, remarks that Turner had made unwanted advances towards women at parties before had been reported, yet Brock Turner got out with a 6 month sentence, which resulted in an early release, getting out after 3 months. Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman and served less than half a year for it. Rape culture is still relevant due to situations like the Brock Turner case. Cases in which victim blaming is a large component make sexual assault seem justifiable by cause of a victim’s inappropriate clothing or incapacitation. The objectification and blaming of sexual assault victims is ubiquitous in the United States and it urgently needs to be

We live in a society surrounded by billboards and magazine advertisements displaying the over sexualisation of women. As a society, people tend to be okay with it. But the depiction of women in this way does not just end there. It may be surprising to hear that every year, approximately 460 000 people in Canada are sexually assaulted. That is over 1260 sexual assaults a day, 1 every minute. Over a third of them will never be reported. The media is one of the most trusted and effective sources of information, conveying society norms. We live in a media based society and everything we do has some impact on the media. Sexual assault victims are represented negatively in the media further promoting a problematic rape culture. This is often done

Sexual harassment and assault is a major problem for women all over the world. It can happen to anyone at any time and place. Here are some statistics that everyone should be aware of. On average, there are 321,500 victims of rape and sexual assault every year in the United States. This means that almost every 98 seconds a person is sexually assaulted. People from the ages of 12-34 are at the highest risk of assault with a whopping 69%. Even though it’s not mentioned as much in the media or may not seem possible, 1 out of every 10 rape victims are male. 1 out of every 6 women in the U.S. will be or has been the victim of attempted or complete rape. While on the other hand, 1 in 33 men in the U.S. have experienced an attempted or completed rape.

Women, girls, men, and boys are vulnerable victims of sexual assaults every day in our country. While females experience much higher rates of sexual assaults than males. The problem that this country faces is the lack of being able to track rapist, in addition to the victims that chose not to report their assault of being raped to the police. Issues of under reporting comes from the victims with multiple reasons that hinders them from reporting these heinous criminal acts. Thus, the sad realization is that the perpetrator is usually some one that you know, that you would of never of thought that they could and would, and do sexually assault you.

Social Media and local news coverage of high profile famous cases of sexual assault can give a misleading perceptions of the actual cause of the problem. Some of these articles talk about the stereotype with ‘stranger danger’ sexual assault and how it is actually not true.Most people who experience sexual assault are assaulted by someone who they actually