The Uncomfortable Facts of Rape Culture

Since I was young, my mother has always taught me to well aware of my surroundings when going outside because as women we have always been in danger of sexual assault. Everytime my mom saw anyone who was a man glance at me, she would attempt to protect me especially if the men were of older age because she knew they were more dangerous. She would often hold onto my arms or place me on the safer side of the walk way. This was her way of telling me to always be careful when going outside. I grew up fearing what would happen if I was put in a situation like that it’s such an uncomfortable thing to think of.

No matter the circumstance, rape or sexual assault is wrong and there is no excuse to support such illegal actions. It deserves punishment and should be served to the fullest extent. With the way our generation is, do you think our children’s generation would be safer?

The subject of the rape is broad but no matter the situation, a crime is a crime and its effects on society are heartbreaking. Things to often keep in mind  is the type of people the perpetrators were or how they have a possible connection to the victim, the age/ethnicity of the criminal, and the punishment or actions done after the sexual assault.

Sexual assault can happen to anyone of either gender, the safety among women and men is at risk because it can happen at any given time by anyone. In the article “Perpetrators of Sexual Assault Violence: Statistics” by Rainn.org it shows that 28% of the perpetrators were strangers, 45% were a friend, 25% was by an ex or present spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend, 6% were multiple people of the victim does not remember, and 1% was by a family member.

People often think about a certain race when rape is brought up and how the situation occurred as well as taking their age into consideration. Sadly we focus on the race and age of a potentially dangerous person in order to calculate danger and safety. In the same article by Rainn.org, it demonstrates that 50% of the perpetrators were 30 and older, 25% were 21-29 years old, 9% were 18-20 years old, and 15% were 17 years old or younger. Out of 100% of people charged with sexual assault, 50% were caucasian, 27% were black, and 8% were unknown.

In many of these situations, most perpetrators end up unaccused and walk free.  The outcome of most sexual assault cases are that the perpetrator walks free, of 1,000 rapes, sadly 994 rapists walk free. Out of 1,000 cases, 310 are reported to the police, 57 reports lead to arrests, and only 11 cases are brought to a prosecutor. From those, 7 cases they are followed by conviction under a felony, and lastly only 6 of those rapist will be incarcerated.

Sexual assault is an issue that is not handled properly in most cases, it often lets the perpetrator walk free which endangers the community. We are then left to fear our safety when going outside, no matter who we are or where we are. This proves that we should encourage the awareness of sexual assault in the community so that we don’t grow up fearing what would happen to us if we were to go outside alone.