Rape and Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is touching another person without that person’s consent and includes rape, groping, child sexual abuse, or the torture in a sexual manner. Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual penetration carried out without a person’s consent. The lack of consent is when physical force, coercion, or abuse of authority is present in the act, or the act of sexual assault is committed against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, including being unconscious, intoxicated, incapacitated, having an intellectual disability, or not of being of legal age to consent. The idea of consent, which is defined as the informed agreement and approval of sexual activity (Basile, Smith, Breiding, Black, & Mahendra, 2014), is one of the more difficult aspects of sexual assault and rape cases. Studies have shown that men consistently perceive women’s actions as more sexual than they were intended. In addition, a verbalized “no” to sex may be interpreted as “keep trying,” or even “yes” by offenders. Some may believe that when injuries are not visible, the woman must have consented. If a man solicits sex from another man, the pursuer may be regarded as virile (Whisnant, 2009).
According to Breiding (2015), 19.3 percent of women and 1.7 percent of men in the United States were raped during their lifetimes. According to the BJS (2016) the rate of rape or sexual assault that was reported to the police was 0.3 per 1,000, with
323,450 incidents reported in 2016, as compared to the rate of unreported rape or sexual assault (0.9 per 1,000 according the NCVS).
Rape and sexual assault can have significant impacts on victims. These include mental health issues, loss of relationships and trust, problems physically recovering from the rape, and the potential of facing sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. The response of a victim is highly individualized. Many women experience shock, denial, confusion, anxiety, and/or emotional numbness immediately after the incident. Some may even experience memory loss. Research has shown that traumatic experiences may trigger the body to not encode memories into long-term memory, which is why some victims do not remember many details surrounding the event (Holh & Conway, 2017). Some victims are affected by the assault for a long time, whereas others appear to recover rather quickly. Denial, especially right after the event, may be more common among victims who are assaulted by someone they know (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, n.d.).
According to RAINN,
• 94 percent of women who are raped experience symptoms of PTSD shortly following a rape.
• 30 percent of women report symptoms of PTSD up to 9 months after the rape. • 33 percent of women who are raped contemplate suicide. • 13 percent of women who are raped attempt suicide. • Approximately 70 percent of rape or sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress, a larger percentage than for any other violent crime.
Developing PTSD has been found to be dependent on a number of factors, such as (Möller, Bäckström, Söndergaard, & Helström, 2014):
• The severity of the incident • The number of prior incidents • The need for medical attention • The presence of multiple perpetrators and/or multiple incidents
Knowing these factors in a case helps direct victims toward appropriate social and medical services. As with other types of sexual violence, help-seeking after rape depends on the severity of the incident, the need for medical attention, whether drugs and alcohol were involved, familiarity with the perpetrator, and fear of victimization. Walsh et al. (2016) found that victims of drug or alcohol-related rape were less likely to seek medical, crisis, or police services. They believe this might be because substance involvement does not fit stereotypical rape scripts, including peritraumatic fear and injury. Victims in these type of rapes have reported worse memory for the event, which could reduce acknowledging the rape, which they found to be the best predictor of seeking services. Race can also play a role in seeking help. African American women are less likely to seek help from formal agencies when compared to White women, due to stigma, experiences of racism, and historical oppression (Bryant-Davis et al., 2015), relying more on informal (religious and social) support systems to cope with victimization. In addition, Hispanic sexual assault victims, including those with illegal immigration status, are less likely to use formal help-seeking, with medical attention being the most common form of formal help-seeking (Sabina, Cuevas, & Schally, 2012). The lack of seeking medical and mental health services can increase the likelihood of developing PTSD, depression, suicidal ideation, and unwanted pregnancies.
The rape of Lucretia has inspired many authors, including Shakespeare, to use rape as a narrative in their writing. In this story, Tarquin raped Lucretia and threatened to kill her if she rejected his advances. The next day she exposed him, which led to the overthrow of Rome. She also killed herself because she was now damaged and no longer a value to her family. These feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and being tarnished are common among rape victims. The story demonstrates the way many victims see their limited power after their victimization and some think the only way to escape is through suicide. Image: Tarquin and Lucretia. Authored by: Titian. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tizian_094.jpg. License: CC-0
Sexual violence, regardless of the type, continues to be a significant problem in the United States. Part of its entrenchment is due to cultural norms, biases, and expectations. Another reason for its entrenchment is due to reluctance to report sexual violence. Public and private responses to sexual violence may also contribute to its entrenchment in the United States.