THREE COMPETING APPROACHES TO REDUCING THE PROBLEM OF FORCIBLE RAPE
Over the years, three approaches have been devel- oped to address the problem of sexual assault. The oldest (now subject to vehement denunciation) is the blame-the-victim approach, which faults the attitudes, words, and actions of the person attacked. Following the logic of this approach, females must change their ways and take precau- tions to avoid facilitating sexual assaults through careless, reckless, or even provocative behavior. Because teenage girls and young women are more likely to be targeted than others, risk reduc- tion strategies should focus on behaviors and situa- tions that researchers have been identified as heightening their vulnerability to attack. Consum- ing alcoholic beverages to the point of intoxica- tion, associating with males who are heavy drinkers, and spending large amounts of time in bars, clubs, fraternity houses, and parties raise the
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odds of being sexually assaulted. Techniques to resist advances verbally and then physically if nec- essary can reduce the chances of a completed rape. Interventions proven to be effective include rape awareness programs; campaigns against binge drinking; self-defense, assertiveness, and resistance training; establishing support networks among friends; and providing health care services such as medical treatment and psychological counseling (see Fisher et al., 2008; and Erdely, 2014).
An alternative perspective is the blame- the-offender approach, which views sexual assaults as pathological acts by mentally disturbed individuals. If deranged sexual predators are the source of the problem, then the solutions lie in criminal justice strategies that remove these dangerous deviants from circulation (incapacitation via incarceration, followed by treatment, compulsory if necessary during a period of postprison civil commitment). Because the public can’t be sure a released sexual predator has been cured completely, community notification laws are needed to alert neighbors whenever an ex-convict moves nearby so that female family members can remain vigilant and take defensive measures. Various techno- logical devices are now used to monitor the where- abouts of former sex offenders.
In theory, deterrence through punishment attempts to teach the offenders who are not mentally disturbed a lesson they won’t forget and to make transgressors into negative role models to serve as warnings to other men so they will think twice, con- sider the likelihood of imprisonment, and decide not to act out their vicious fantasies. But deterrence and incapacitation are ineffective strategies as long as many rapists are not complained about, caught, and con- victed, thereby escaping the sentences mandating the punishment and treatment that they need. At best, an efficient criminal justice system weeds out assailants and brings them under control one at a time, after they have struck and caused a great deal of harm. At most, criminal justice “solutions” can only keep a lid on situations that breed new crops of assailants.
In the debate over the causes of forcible rape, victim blaming, victim defending, and offender blaming focus too narrowly on the attitudes and actions of the male aggressors and their female
targets. These points of view tend to ignore crucial insights about prevailing cultural themes surround- ing ideas about masculinity and femininity, sex roles, romance, eroticism, seduction, domination, and prestige. According to the institution-blaming perspective, a serious examination of the roots of the problem of forced sex would focus upon the economic, political, and social inequalities between males and females and the cultural supports for rape in contemporary culture. But these larger issues get lost when the analysis is limited to a deconstruction of the “he said/she said” interaction by victim blamers and victim defenders.
Antirape activists have sought not only to defend victims but also to place the burden of blame for recurring outbreaks of male “sexual terrorism” on key social institutions, especially the family, the econ- omy, the military, religion, and the media. Asserting that “the personal is political,” they have stressed that apparently private troubles need to be seen as aspects of larger social problems besetting millions of people. Collective solutions that get at the social roots of male-against-female violence hold greater promise in the long run than any reliance on individual strategies of risk reduction and self-defense. Attitudes and myths that tacitly belittle, normalize, or excuse date rape and acquaintance rape must be countered. And more men must realize that rape is a problem they too should be concerned about and strive to solve (see Buchwald, Fletcher, and Roth, 1993; Smith and Welchans, 2000; Ottens and Hotelling, 2001; Price and Sokoloff, 2003; Abbey, 2005; Koss, 2005; Sanday, 2007; Fisher et al., 2008; Brown and Walklate, 2011; Burleigh, 2014; and Erdely, 2014).
President Obama advocated this approach when he urged more men to intervene when they witness a crime in progress, and to report the attack after- wards, declaring “I want every young man in America to feel some strong peer pressure in terms of how they are supposed to behave and treat women” (quoted in Calmes, 2014). Vice President Biden elaborated on this theme, noting, “Men have to take more responsibility; men have to intervene. The measure of manhood is willingness to speak up and speak out, and begin to change the culture” (quoted in Calmes, 2014).
V I C T IMS OF R AP E S AN D OT H E R S E XUAL AS S AULT S 373
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SUMMARY
Rape and sexual assault victims face a host of special problems. The nature of the attack can be emotion- ally devastating, with severe consequences that can spoil any future enjoyment of sexuality. Because of long-standing attitudes toward sexuality, public air- ing of details is embarrassing. Due to old ideas and traditional cultural themes, a woman’s violation will be widely regarded as a loss of status. Her accusa- tions may be disbelieved as entirely unfounded (it never happened) or exaggerated (she gave consent at the time but later cried rape) or she may be blamed as sharing responsibility with the male for the terrible miscommunication and misunderstand- ing that unfolded. Filing a complaint and pressing charges will cause the most intimate aspects of her life to become an open book. She will feel as if she, and not the male she accuses, is on trial. Even a conviction will not bring closure if she is emotion- ally scarred and suffers from lingering phobias and recurrent flashbacks or anxiety attacks.
Special solutions have been devised to address these problems. Starting in the 1970s, feminists in the antirape movement brought about significant changes in the way the criminal justice system and the larger society respond to these attacks. The
complainant can seek immediate solace and advice at a rape crisis center. The victim’s name is not publicized. Trained detectives and prosecutors, many of them females, handle sex crimes cases. The collection of forensic evidence is carried out by the police and medical personnel more scientifi- cally and thoroughly. The laws of evidence have been changed to make corroboration less difficult, and arguments smearing her as a willing participant based on her past sexual experiences are less likely to be admissible in court because of shield laws. She does not have to struggle to her utmost to prove that what happened to her was against her will.
And yet, serious problems persist: reporting rates, clearance rates, prosecution rates, conviction rates, and incarceration rates remain stubbornly low.
Sexual assaults have been exposed as a festering problem on college campuses, on military bases, in jails and prisons, and even in some dysfunctional marriages.
Strategies to reduce rape include focusing on educating girls and women to take precautions, on controlling known offenders, and on eradicating what are believed to be institutional supports and cultural encouragements for sexual aggression.