Rape and Rape Culture Pervasiveness

Rape culture is a society that believes in blaming the victims of sexual harassment and tolerates male sexual violence. For instance, the society is entertaining the notion that rape victims have participated to some extent in someone's action against them. Rape culture that has been pervasive in different countries considered as inevitable even though is the oppression of values and norms that need to be changed.

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The aim to fight for sexual harassment against women of all ages is not relevant to Western society. For instance, in the United States, rape is considered as an unfortunate occurrence that is influenced by alcoholism, campus life as well as promiscuity. Therefore it means that this unfortunate act does not occur, but influenced by the victims. Western culture is cautious in protecting the sex assault criminals. For example, instead of the news headline reading "The American swimmer was found guilty of sexually assaulting the unconscious lady"; it will read "The American swimmer was cheating on a college test." On the contrary, the media will make the society sympathize with the perpetrator instead of viewing it from the victim's perspective.

In countries like India, this term is mostly used by media to fix its rape culture, the reason why they have a long way to end the discrimination. India is the leading in the rape culture because women in Delhi are kidnapped in every two hours and raped in every four hours, but the victims are advised to keep silent. India has a corrupt legal process when it comes to rape cases where the victim encounter questioning about her sex, personal and love life information and no further inquiry made or justice for the victims (Eaton 4).

India has the most reported rape cases, but they lack appropriate justice mechanism because of fear of shame, dishonor from family as well the belief that nothing can be done about it. Therefore, the victims remain discriminated and unprotected by law and media (Tulshyan).

Social institutions from the functional perspective considered as places of harmony, integrity, equity, and unity meant to meet some common social needs. However, from the gender perspective, it can be understood differently. Our society entails institutions like family, community, state as well as media. Notably, family institutions have influenced culture rape through parenting especially when parents teach their young boys from childhood that 'boys will always be boys. The phrase sticks in their mind and makes them believe that they are above the rules and they can be excused for bad behaviors because they are boys. Therefore, they grow and as their sex desires kick in, and they do not find it wrong to harass others sexually.

Media has a role in supervising rape culture by making people believe that perpetrators matter than victims. A girl was unconscious, and she got raped by two boys at school in Ohio. The boys recorded videos and took photos that they later shared with their friends through social media. Males face charges with a minimum sentence of one and two years. CNN and other media houses started blaming the girl for exploiting herself and sympathized with the boys for being sentenced. Most victims who undergo the same events will fear to report because the media does not care for them hence influencing rape culture (Tharcker 2).

The state institution has influenced the culture of rape, especially in campuses. For instance, in the U.S by the Safe Campus Act forbids release of investigated report of sexual harassment in the university unless the victim reports to the police (Matthew et al.7). Universities do not put into consideration the investigations without collaborating with law enforcement systems hence influencing rape perpetrators to continue with their ill behavior and go unpunished (Eaton 2).

Despite the fact that America enjoys the freedom of expression, rape and physical violence increases because of condoning rape culture hence it is suffering from its consequences. Above all, rape culture has promoted violent acts and sexual harassment to both men and women. Rape culture is real in today's society, and it is evident that most rapists are free and a minimal number sentenced to jail. Consequently, this leads to many victims especially women in America to be sexual victims every year.

Additionally, rape culture has affected the victim's life by causing physical and emotional damage which will indirectly affect their social life. For instance victims especially students have been traumatized hence leading to the low performance at school and creating low self-esteem. The effects are due to victims receiving negative response and reactions from the society and failure of universities to address their issues. In the same way, rape culture has increased the spread of false information and underreporting of sexual assaults. In this way, the victims lack protection but instead, the perpetrators are, and they influence others to commit the same violent acts. Last but not least, rape culture has resulted in suicidal actions by victims who are traumatized and feel that they cannot face the world with such a shame. Lastly, the social effect of rape culture is girls are brought up with the notion that 'men are bad' therefore they are always in fear of men with the feeling of being trapped in a world where no one cares.

Feminists and Social Change

Feminists have a different perspective when it comes to addressing women discrimination issues from the justice system. The American society has a justice system which is flawed and does not focus much on women issues because it speaks a language that favors men. Women as the victims of discrimination do not enjoy the freedom of justice in the court of law. Therefore, feminists have come out to help them have justice and regain power after discrimination. Feminists have played a major role in changing the world in so many ways by proving the world that female rights are important by combating female stereotyping. Therefore, they have made the world a better and happier place for women in several ways.

First of all, feminist criminology is the system that came up with rape law reforms which focused on criminal interests more than a protection of victims, especially in rape cases. Hence, feminists came up with rape laws that changed the focus to victims over perpetrators where they helped victims seek justice in the court of law and ensure criminals get punished.

Second, the feminists made the American society get serious about gender discrimination by coming up with the Equal Rights Amendment Act. Such factors brought about the debate on the rights of women in the community, their roles and how they should be respected and treated. Such discussion pushed many American states to have their gender laws of discrimination.

Third, they struggled to end the rape culture which focused on blaming women for their victimization. Feminists have come up with ways of dealing with the trauma that comes with sexual harassment by giving victims the courage to share their experiences to end trauma. On the other hand, feminism believes that significant proportions of women face rape or attempted rape in their lives, so they encourage everyone to step forward and talk about it. For instance, young feminists have come up with protests on campuses against violence and rape cases and have learned through Slutwalk movement on how to protect their bodies from any form of sexual assault while in school.

Fourth, feminists have joined hands with culture icons to end discrimination. For instance, models in the entertainment industry like Kerry Washington, Lupita Nyong'o, and Janet Mock have fought for equality across cultures. They have changed how to perceive women, their skin color as well as feminist identity. Last but not least, feminists played a part in politics unlike there before (Eschle 4). They forced America to recognize the importance of birth control because feminists played a role in electing Barrack Obama. In his administration feminist, Valerie Jarrett spoke out and ensured the contraception coverage included in the final bill. Lastly, they took on sexual harassment in campuses by suing universities for not handling sexual assault cases seriously and in an appropriate manner. Therefore, feminists have played a role in making the campus a safe and better place for everyone.

Activism has various forms which are used to create awareness. One of them is Activist Training where people obtain tools to organize for a protest or building knowledge. Second, Boycotts whereby individuals protest against the practices of a corporation. Third, canvassing is a form of activism which involves going door-to-door to raise awareness. Fourth, petitions involve signatures to support certain issue in the society through a ballot, referendum or internet. Fifth, Protests consists of a group of people who disrupt the current situation to get their issues addressed. Lastly, sit-ins involve activists staying in position until their demands addressed. A medium of activism is used to educate, transform, connect people, and encourage people to respond to personal, local or global issues.

Activists use mediums Visual art to create public awareness and have the power to incite action through graffiti, painting, theatre, film, sculpture as well as photography to inspire social and political changes. Music is also a medium of activism where musicians speak out to motivate change globally through different genres (Bell 8). Spiritual activism is medium for social, cultural, spiritual good and moral form of action through prayers, meditation, rituals, and chanting. Spiritual practice plays a role in transforming the world positively.

On the other hand, online activism is a new medium for activism communication which is accessible to most individuals. Internet activism has potential to express their issues and create change locally, nationally and globally (Meikle 2). Lastly, parental activism influences the world through essential nurturing skills that become undervalued in western society. Therefore, parents have the responsibility for the values they decide to promote.

Principles are norms that guide action. Some principles have guided feminists in a transformation of women rights for a long time. Equity and equality have transformed relations that oppress and exploit individuals because of their gender, race, age, class, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Furthermore, freedom from violence is a principle that does not tolerate gender-based violence or any form of violence. For instance, individuals have the right to choose their sexual and reproductive life without being influenced.

In the second place, the rights to vote for everyone enabled people to participate in transparent governance both locally and nationally and in various institutions to both private and public sectors. In addition, the right to access public information is another principle which brings about the right to freedom of expression when addressing any issue. On the other hand, honor diversity and avoid discrimination against religion, ethnicity, race, gender, and age.

Works Cited

Bell, Thomas L. Sound, Society and the Geography of Popular Music. Routledge, 2016.Eaton, Victoria. "Rape Culture in American Society-What Factors Influence Citizens Opinions Toward Rape Victims?" (2016).pp 1-28

Eschle, Catherine. Global democracy, social movements, and feminism. Routledge, 2018.Matthew, Dara et, al. "Rape Culture and Its Effects: Evidence from U.S. Newspapers." John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2000-2013,

Meikle, Graham. Future active: Media activism and the Internet. Routledge, 2014.Thacker, Lily K. "Rape Culture, Victim Blaming, and the Role of Media in the Criminal Justice System, "Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship: Vol....