RAPE

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RAPE
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• Stranger Rape unknown assailant
• Acquaintance Rape/Date Rape known to victim
• Statutory Rape intercourse with a person under
  age of consent

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Prevalence of Rape

• 11.9-28 depending on study
• 1 in 6 women, 3 of men

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Facts and Figues

• One fifth of college women experience forced sex
  by someone they know. (Ms. Magazine/National
  Institutes of Health Study)
• Approx. 80 of all rapes are acquaintance rapes.
  (U.S. Justice Department)
• The majority of acquaintance rapes are committed
  against women between the ages of 15 and 24.
  (U.S. Justice Department)
• A woman is raped every two and one-half minutes
  in this country. (Senate Judiciary Committee)
• 90 of all rape survivors are women. (F.B.I.)

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Rape - Underreported

• self-blame/fear of others blame
• attempt to block recall
• mistrust of legal system
• fear of retaliation from rapist
• concern about publicity

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False Beliefs

• women cant be raped if they dont want to be
• Rape is a violent and brutal act. Attacks,
  intimidation, injury, abuse, humiliation, threats
  and degradation are not enjoyable. Anyone can be
  immobilized by the threat of death or violence. A
  woman's health, size or strength have little, if
  any, bearing in this situation, especially when a
  gun or knife is used! However, a woman's
  preparedness can help overcome the paralyzing
  effects of terror.
• many women cry rape
• F.B.I. statistics show that false accusations of
  rape are the same for any other felony 5. Every
  victim who decides to prosecute must undergo an
  extensive medical examination, a thorough
  interrogation by the police, and a difficult
  court appearance to testify.

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FALSE BELIEFS

• all women want to be raped
• rapists are obviously mentally ill
• Studies have shown that only 5 of convicted
  rapists have a diagnosed mental disorder.
• males cannot control their sexual urges
• Men are fully responsible for controlling both
  their minds and their bodies. Most men rape
  because they fell a sense of entitlement.
• Only women are raped
• 10 of rape survivors are male. (90 of rape
  survivors are female and 98 of perpetrators are
  male)

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Rapists

• Men incarcerated have strong proclivity toward
  violence
• traditional gender roles embrace male dominance
• self-centered
• anger toward women
• Alcohol may contribute

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Victims

• Females all ages but 50 report being first raped
  before 18 years old
• Males - reported less often
• fear judgement
• receives little attention

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Age Breakdown of Women Rape Victims
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Acquaintance Rape

• Token resistance
• poor communication
• some feel justified after being led on

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• The United States has the world's highest rape
  rate of the countries which publish such
  statistics - 4 times higher than Germany, 13
  times higher than England, and 20 times higher
  than Japan.

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• anger, power, and sexual gratification pay
  varying roles
• stranger rape - feelings of anger and need to
  express power
• acquaintance/date rape - desire for sexual
  gratification

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• "Another thing about equality is that it cannot
  co-exist with rape...And it cannot co-exist with
  pornography or with prostitution or with the
  economic degradation of women on any level, in
  any way...because implicit in all those things is
  the inferiority of women." (Andrea Dworkin)

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• Patriarchy (Valerie Patterson)

RAPE CULTURE An integrated set of beliefs,
norms, values and concepts that encourages and
promotes the victimization of women Non-material
culture (Norms, values, beliefs, etc.) Material
culture (Stratification occupation structure)
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A Rape Culture

• a culture in which rape is prevalent and
  pervasive and is sanctioned and maintained
  through fundamental attitudes and beliefs about
  gender, sexuality, and violence. 
• traditional gender roles polarize the sexes
• rigid ideologies serve to label men sexual
  subjects (predators) and women sexual objects
  (prey).

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1976. Our Blood Prophecies and Discourses on
Sexual Politics. New York Harper Row Andrea
Dworkin

• Rape occurs when a man, who is dominant by
  definition, takes a woman who, according to men
  and all the organs of their culture, was put on
  this earth for his use and gratification. Rape,
  then, is the logical consequence of a system of
  definitions of what is normative. Rape is no
  excess, no aberration, no accident, no mistakeit
  embodies sexuality as the culture defines it. As
  long as these definitions remain intactthat is,
  as long as men are defined as sexual aggressors
  and women are defined as passive receptors
  lacking integritymen who are exemplars of the
  norm will rape women,.

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RAPE CULTUREEmilie Buchwald, Pamela Fletcher,
Martha Roth. 1993. Milkweed Editions

• It is a complex of beliefs that encourages male
  sexual aggression and supports violence against
  women. It is a society where violence is seen as
  sexy and sexuality as violentin a rape culture
  both men and women assume that sexual violence is
  a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes.

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Is Rape Built into our Culturally Prescribed
Gender Roles?
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Nature v. Nurture

• sexuality not just a matter of instinct for human
  beings... human sexual behavior and feelings are
  learned phenomenon which generally conform to the
  prevailing norms and values of the society
  concerned... People learn norms, values and
  scripts regarding sexuality and "appropriate"
  sexual behavior during the socialization
  process...

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Sexual Scripts

• define sexual sensations, events, objects,
  situations and people.
• guide sexual behavior
• follow certain commonly accepted rules and
  understandings
• encourage men to be aggressive and women to be
  passive

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Sexual Scripts

• provide members of a society with the "who, what,
  when, where and whys" of sexuality.
• tell them with whom to be sexual, what to do
  sexually, when to be sexual, where to engage in
  sexual activities and why...
• -- Allude to gender differences implicit in
  "traditional gender/sexual scripts"

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CharacteristicsMen are

• Independent
• Better at spatial tasks
• Aggressive
• Assertive
• In control of emotions
• Ambitious

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CharacteristicsWomen are

• Dependent
• Have good verbal skills
• Passive
• Emotional
• Nurturing
• Cries easily

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CharacteristicsMen are

• Happiest when pursuing career
• Preoccupied with studies or job
• Well informed in issues of business, world
  affairs
• Mechanically inclines

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CharacteristicsWomen are

• Happiest when caring for children
• Preoccupied with appearance
• Disinterested in business and world affairs
• Are inept mechanically

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What Role Does Gender Play?

• How do the general gender characteristics match
  that of the image of
• The "typical" rapist?
• The "typical" victim?

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Wartime Rape

• U.N. 1996 declaration crime of war
• Motivated by attempts to dominate, humiliate,
  control
• Destroy family societal bonds
• Terrorize population

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Aftermath of Rape

• Initial feelings of shame, anger, fear, guilt,
  powerlessness
• Self-blame
• Physical symptoms frequently occur
• Impaired sexual functioning
• PTSD distress developed after trauma
• Less severe repercussions if counseling begun
  ASAP

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Aftermath of Rape
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Risk Reduction for Men Women
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Men

• Do not listen to or tell rape jokes. They help
  perpetuate attitudes that make acceptance and
  tolerance of rape easier.
• Never insist on having sex, even if you think
  she's "leading you on", dresses provocatively, or
  if you have had sex with her before.
• If you are getting mixed signals from a woman,
  stop and ask her directly what she wants.
• Use alcohol responsibly. Alcohol and drugs are
  implicated in many rapes and diminish our
  judgment and sensitivity. Being drunk is not a
  legal defense--you can and will be charged and
  convicted of rape.
• Remember that "no" means "NO". If you do not
  accept a woman's refusal to consent, you run the
  risk of raping her.
• Remember silence is NOT consent.

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Women

• Trust you intuition.
• Be assertive. State clearly what you want and do
  not want. Do not be shy about setting your
  limits. It is potentially dangerous to think it
  cannot and will not happen to you.
• Be aware of your surroundings, and ask yourself
  who else is around the immediate area.
• Use alcohol responsibly.
• 80-90 of acquaintance rapes involve alcohol
  and/or drugs. These drugs cloud your judgment,
  numb your reflexes, and make it difficult to
  anticipate a situation in which sexual assault
  might occur. Beware of men who are angry or
  hostile if you say no threaten, bully, or try to
  control you have been violent with previous
  girlfriends engage in sexual harassment or tell
  sexist jokes try to make you feel guilty or
  accuse you of being uptight if you say no.