RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
Introduction
Rape
refers to the use of force, coercion or manipulation to have sexual
intercourse; anal, vaginal or oral, with a person when they do not consent. It
involves the sheer use of force, violence and aggression so that a person can
not resist the advances of another. Sexual assault refers to the wide range of
activities such as sexual harassment, child abuse or inappropriate sexual
contact. In the United States, rape or a
sexual assault is reported every six minutes. This statistics grossly under
represents the exact numbers of rape cases (Odem
& Clay-Warner, 1998).they went further to state that
for every rape reported, almost 10 cases go unreported. The gravity of the
crime of rape and assault makes many people think that it could never be left
unreported in the 21st century. However, this common view is far
from the truth as most women are molested without raising their voices. The question
that often lingers in the minds of the authorities and sociologists is what
makes the women victims keep quiet. The paper will seek to discuss the reasons
why so many women do not report to the authorities when they become victims of
rape or sexual assault. The paper will, in the conclusion section, give some overview
of what should be done to encourage rape and assault reporting by the women.
Reasons why rape and sexual assault
reporting by women in low
Kimani (2007) argue that the trauma and stigma
attached to the victims of rape or sexual assault does not end even when the
rapist is convicted. There is a perception by some women that nothing is going
to change in their lives and the crimes will still linger in their minds. In
addition, due to the shameful nature of the crime, women find it embarrassing
when they are blamed that they were the cause of the assault for instance by
how they dressed. The feeling of hopelessness that comes after rape always
leads to the women keeping it to themselves.
Due
to a high acquittal rate for the sexual assault cases as compared to other
crimes, women are reluctant to report the crimes. Failure by the justice system
has led to the lack of faith of some women thus they don’t report the rape
cases. Since rape and assault cases often needs the offenders DNA and proof that there was no consent, women
would rather not suffer the humiliation in the court room that they were trying
to make up the crime. The loss of dignity that results from the courts
deliberations has led many women to rather stick with their dignity than seek
justice. Some of the questions that the women who are victims of rape or
assault are put through make them feel as if they are also being put to trial
thus some of them would rather stay with the crime than report. The court
process can be more humiliating to the victims than the crime itself (Hart
& Rennison, 2003).
Sexism
and racism are also major contributors to why women don’t report rape cases.
The belief that the women are inferior creatures to men propagated by sexist
ideologist has often led women not to report rape. The women see themselves as
people meant to satisfy the men’s needs. There is also a notion that the men
cannot control their sexual desires and thus rape is not of their own making (Odem & Clay-Warner, 1998). They went further to state
that women are socialized to accept these forms of assault on them as normal.
The increased portrayal of women in pornography as objects of man’s desire has
engraved the sexist prejudices further; the women are shown as submissive to
advances by the men. Sexism can also be propagated by the authorities for
instance the authorities see the women of color in America as more susceptible
to rape due to their economic standing than the white women. When a white woman
is raped, the authorities doubt their stories and thus leading to some of them
not reporting the crimes. The women of color are stereotypically classified as
promiscuous so they are not believed in most cases. Since even the institutions
are sexist, the women do not trust them to deliver justice
Women
risk social isolation in societies that are closely knit for instance, the immigrant
communities or traditional aboriginal villages. Rape cases go unreported since
the women who are raped do not want to be shunned due to the embarrassment
their actions can cause the community. The majority of assaults in these
societies are perpetrated by people whom the women are acquainted with such as
their family or neighbors. Women of
color do not report rape cases so that they can help dispel the notion that the
black communities are violent (Khan, 2000).
Hart
& Rennison (2003) record that rape and assault cases are sometimes not
reported due to fear of vengeance. The prevalence of rape by the people who are
familiar with the women (acquaintances), such as work mates, relatives, the
people they are dating. The women may not report the crime since they think the
person may repeat the ordeal. The rapists have used the fear of retaliation to
coerce women into not reporting the assaults and rape cases done against them. Most women who did not report the rape cases
said that the men threatened to kill them with their families.
Misconception
that there is no rape or sexual assault in marriage leads many women who are
victims not to report their partners. According to Australian Bureau of
Statistics (2005), of the women raped by their partners, only 19% reported
these cases. This can be attributed to the need by the women to maintain the
family fabric, being there for their children of fear of possible retribution
and financial dependence on the man. Sexual abuse by a partner is no t
considered rape in many countries since the women are viewed as the man’s
property after they are married and should always satisfy his sexual demands
(Khan, 2000).
According
to Kimani (2007) the cultural belief that rape prepares the women for marriage
has led to fewer women reporting the cases. Once a person has raped or sexually
assaulted a woman, they have the right to marry the woman. The victimization
increases since the woman does not report but accepts to become the wife of the
abuser. The abuse can continue right into the marriage due to repeat acts by
the offender. Men in such societies want to show the power that they have over
the women relegating them to subservient positions. Odem
& Clay-Warner (1998), further state that in some societies a man had to
rape a woman before they could be admitted to adulthood. The raped woman has no
place to report the crime. These remnants of traditions have persisted to date.
In such societies when a married woman was raped, the husband received
compensation for the crime thus the crime went unreported.
Conclusion
Rape
has been found to be very prevalent in societies that practiced retrogressive
cultural practices for instance the Indian and aboriginal communities where the
men were seen as superior being to the women. The men therefore had the right
to do anything with the women. These practices should be done away with so that
the women can grow up knowing that they are just as equal as the men. The
pegging of a rape conviction to proof of non consent beyond reasonable doubt
has also contributed to the dismissal of most of the cases brought against
rapists by women. They judicial system should instead rely on the watertight
evidence of DNA and other medical reports. Only then will the women be
encouraged to come out and report the cases of assault and rape against them.
The stigma that is associated with the victims of rape should also be reduced
so that the women can report rape cases without fear that they will be shunned
by the society. Moreover, the judicial system should shed its sexist and racist
ideologists if there is to be achieved an increase in the number of women who
are reporting the rape and sexual assault. Finally, a system of victim
protection should be put in place so that the identities of the victims of rape
and sexual assault can be concealed. This will remove the stigma that initially
prevented many women from reporting the cases.
References
Australian Bureau of
Statistics (2005) Personal Safety Survey.
Australia Canberra: Commonwealth
Hart, C. &
Rennison, C. (2003). "Reporting Crime to the Police, 1992-2000,"
Special Report. NCJ 195710, Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics United
States Department of Justice.
Khan, M. (2000). ”Domestic
Violence against Women and Girls”. UNICEF
Innocenti Research Centre.6:12-23.
Kimani,
M. (2007). “Taking on violence against women in Africa”. Africa Renewal. 21 (2): 4
Odem, M. & Clay-Warner,
J. (1998). International norms, local
activism start to alter laws, attitudes. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly
Resources.
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