It Was Not My Fault free essay sample

As stated, those who judge victims of rape based on appearance are naive, but it is not because they are incompetent. It is because, in most cases, they are not truly educated as to what rape is. Rape is defined as â€Å"any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person. † (Dictionary. com) The word â€Å"any† is present in the definition because the second someone says â€Å"no† to any way in which someone comes onto them, and the someone pursues, the incident is now grounds to be called rape. Because the word â€Å"force† is in the definition, it is implied that the attacker must overpower the victim. Rape is about power; not love, not sexual desire, and certainly not the victim’s appearance. The myth that â€Å"women provoke sexual assault by their appearance,† (Roger Williams University) is false. In reality, â€Å"[rapists] select victims who are vulnerable and accessible. † (Roger Williams University) Rape is about the attacker feeling dominant over another being. We will write a custom essay sample on It Was Not My Fault or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many believe that â€Å"rape is caused by lust or uncontrollable sexual urges and the need for sexual gratification,† (Roger Williams University) but as stated previously, rape is an act of physical violence. The attacker is not looking for sexual gratification. Another common misconception of rape is that women will claim to be raped for attention or pity. The unfortunate part of this myth is that â€Å"88 percent of these women [who are raped] are between the ages of 12 [and] 28. † (Dickson) This is a misfortune on these young ladies’ parts because the years between 12 and 28 are the years with which great amounts of peer pressure are put on females. These are the years where young ladies are searching for an identity, and this is where people assume that they are â€Å"attention seeking. In truth, studies show that â€Å"false reports make up 2% or less of the reported cases of sexual assault,† (Roger Williams University) and â€Å"only 1 out of 10 rapes are actually reported. † (Roger Williams University) It is apparent through these studies that most cases of sexual assault and rape are not false, and that when someone cries out for help in a rape case, i t should be dealt with very seriously. Another fact that must be put into consideration is that rape is not always committed by a stranger. In a recent study done by the Roger Williams University, it was found that â€Å"84% of women who are raped know their assailants; 57% were on dates. † This shows that, while women still need to be cautious of the people around them who they are unfamiliar with, they need to be even more cautious with the ones they know more personally. Further still, women need to be cautious on their first date with a new man, for they may never know what his true intentions are. A common myth associated with women and being raped is that â€Å"if a woman really did not want to be raped, she could fight off her attacker. (Roger Williams University) This is not, however, true. â€Å"The elements of surprise, shock, and fear of harm can overpower a survivor,† reports the Roger Williams Academy. True, there are precautionary measures that can be taken to avoid any chance of being rape, but one can never be too sure. According to Mary Dickson, one in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, with almost a half million rapes occurring in the United States each year. Women should never walk in strange places alone, they should never leave a drink unattended, and they should always be prepared, as far as self-defense goes, to ward off any attacker. However, even with all of these precautionary measures taken, anything can happen. A woman must be ready at all times. An interesting thing to see on the issue of rape is the differing viewpoints of men and women. In a study done by Muehlenhard on sexual predators and their victims, â€Å"60% of men reported that the woman had hinted she was interested in dating him; only 16% of the women said they had so hinted. † This goes to show that, sometimes, a man believes that it is actually acceptable to sexually assault or rape a woman because he believes that she wanted it! In a study done at a California high school, â€Å"54% of the boys there believed that rape was justifiable if they thought that the woman was being a tease. † (Warshaw) Another difference between men and women is that â€Å"many times men will feel led on while women will not have the slightest clue that their actions are being interpreted as sexual. † (Warshaw) It is, in truth, a terrifying reality for women to have to live worried about how they present themselves to the world for fear of being assaulted or raped. However, women not only have to worry about being sexually assaulted, but they also have to worry about being verbally harassed by the public for their appearance. Victim-blaming has become a very popular, very wrong way of explaining why women are raped. The victim is never to blame in a case of rape. Victims do not ask to be raped. They do not want to be raped. It is an act forced upon them against their will. Still, however, society chooses to take the easy way out to point the finger at someone. One man, Michael Sanguinetti, went as far as telling his students â€Å"that to prevent sexual assaults, they should ‘avoid dressing like sluts. ’† (Friedlander) This is appalling to hear of. Although Sanguinetti formally apologized for his actions later on, a group of people banded together â€Å"to make it very clear that sexual assault can happen to anyone at anytime, no matter how you dress or act. And, that it is never the victim’s fault. † (Bumgardner) And thus, SlutWalk was born. SlutWalk is â€Å"an international movement focused on ‘eradicat[ing] victim-blaming from conversations about sexual assault. † (Friedlander) SlutWalk is a new movement that was first aroused in January 2011 after the issue with Sanguinetti. On April 3, 2011, in Toronto, Canada, the first SlutWalk was held with about 3,000 people who joined in to â€Å"shift the paradigm  of mainstream rape culture, which they believe focuses on analyzing the behavior of the victim rather than that of the perpetrator. † (Friedlander) Since the first SlutWalk, the movement has spread to many different countries and American states including â€Å"Chicago, Berlin, Cape Town, New Delhi, Mexico City, [and] New York City. (Friedlander) With organizations such as SlutWalk beginning to show up on international levels, it will be amazing to see the world’s perspective on victim-blaming make a complete turnaround. This will only happen, though, if society will realize that rape has nothing to do with appearance, attractiveness, or sexual appeal. Rape will never be a justifiable action. One does not rape a woman because she is sexually appealing, nor does one rape because she led him on. Rape is centered at a need for power, a need to feel strong and dominate. The sooner people will realize this, the sooner they will be able to rid the world of this evil.