In recent years, the most controversial subject has been brought to surface by many and has been one of the most argued subjects around the world. Sexual violence happens daily, to anyone, and at any place. In the United States, it is known to be a frequent occurrence with an estimate of one in four women that would most likely be a victim in their lifetime. It has been become more serious as a social problem to the point of social movements.
With such high rates in the United States, it is crucial to comprehend and be educated on rape myths that have been driving the tolerance of sexual violence. Make more common sense not plagiarism sentences lololEssentially, rape myths are beliefs by many of us that may cause the ever-changing sexual violence. These beliefs also contribute by shifting blame for sexual assault from offenders to victims. There are many examples of these myths, some include women ask for it and rapists are sex-starved or insane.
As evidence of Peter stating Sue was wearing a bodycon dress and that automatically resulted in the thought of having a chance to sleep with her only because she gave him the signal. Such common rape acuities embody beliefs that have practically no realistic basis. Iconis (2008) defined rape myths as attitudes & beliefs that are generally false but are widely and persistently held, and that serve to deny and justify male sexual aggression against women. On one hand, men may see rape myths to confirm men’s sexual acts against women. On the other hand, women may see rape as a denial of personal vulnerability. A perfect instance of men validating rape myths would be, no result of bruising would be identified as no sexual violence, therefore the victim may not claim they were raped. In other words, if a victim does not show any evidence of struggle or physical harm, they cannot claim anything has happened. The same thing would go for women, a way they are contributing to rape myths, are the fact that they believe if they do no act in a promiscuous way, they will certainly not be a victim to such horrendous act. Hence, Sue thinking she could get out the situation by asking Peter to go for a walk because subconsciously she knew did not want to be in that position or damage her social image. Moreover, rape myths help preserve rape and there is a lot of information that circulates about sexual assault and the victims. It is a common belief that rape or sexual violence does not happen as often as people would like to imagine, but in reality, approximately 293,000 victims would fall under being sexually assaulted every year in the United States. Sue, herself, believed she would never think she would be in that situation but, it is more common than Sue or anyone can begin to imagine. Research shows that one sexual assault occurs every 2 minutes. Not that it is a new concept but nowadays, a person is more vulnerable to sexual assaults wearing revealing clothes or drinking a lot. And unfortunately, that will automatically reveal that the person is asking for it and the clothing choices are an invitation and consent to sexual activity. Undoubtedly, sexual assault is seen as an act of lust that cannot be controlled which can be true in some cases. Sexual assault is also about power and control and may be motivated by sexual fulfilment. Peter believed Sue stopped resisting because she finally was into having sexual intercourse with him but was not thinking right in the first place. What is obvious is that Sue did not fight back, Peter believed that she finally wanted to engage in sexual activity with him. But to Sue, she seemed as though she was experiencing what is called tonic immobility in better words, a frozen response during an assault where she physically could not move or speak. Peter had this idea of Sue wearing the tight black dress and the look was an invitation to get what he wanted. It is usually only women who dress suggestively who are raped. Thus, if a woman was not dressed suggestively, it was not rape; if she was dressed suggestively, it was her fault (N.D). In the case of legal view, Florida does not legally define rape; the state classifies all forms of sexual penetration under the same category. Sexual Battery, which is more generally known as rape, is one of the most aggressively prosecuted crimes in Florida and carries some of the most severe and long-lasting penalties of any criminal offenses states Hornsby (2017). Unquestionably, most rape cases often come down to the accuser’s word against the accused. If I were Sue’s situation, I would have fought back and insist on stopping Peter simply because I would have not wanted to engage in any sexual activity with him. I personally know that I am not strong enough to stop him. Peter would have to force contact and that alone would fall under Aggravated Assault. Sexual assault/battery is a crime and the legal definition that comes with it is any non-consensual physical or penetrable contact with another person using their sexual organ or a physical object. Under Florida Statute 794.011, it is an illegal crime to commit and there would major consequences when someone commit such crime. In my case, Peter would be charged with Aggravated Assault, otherwise known as sexual battery. This serious crime would put Peter behind bars for up to thirty years, along with thirty-six years of probation, and a ten thousand dollars fine. Hornby in Sexual Battery and Rape in Florida, states that Under Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code, Aggravated Sexual Battery is assigned a level 8 offense severity ranking and, absent prior criminal history or grounds for a downward departure sentence, and a judge is required to sentence a person convicted of aggravated sexual battery to a minimum sentence of seven and a half years in prison followed by at least two years of sex offender probation. (2017) make more sentences please.In conclusion? The purpose of this paper was to show how rape myths has been accepted in our society, whether it was from a man’s perspective or a woman’s perspective. It is sad to say that there are many people who have been victims of attempted rape or sexual assault. With the result of having such high rate in sexual violence, we can conclude that we are in need for a social change or mindset. Whether it is validating men’s actions and ignore the consequences or believing that one’s clothing choice might be the result in being a victim. We must be able to comprehend the beliefs and attitudes and the myths behind rape culture to make it come to a stop.