Basic HTML Version
----------~----~==----------------~-----==pan~
Y
ou're on your way bome from
the grocery store. The man in
the elevator gets off on tbe
same floor in your apanment
building. You reame he is following you.
y
OUt
hean
niCing.
you
hwry
10
gel
inside
yourdoor. You're a second too late. He's
behind you, forcing bis way in ....
lncidences like this are numerous
across the country. According to the
1974 Uniform Crime Reports released
by the
f'BI,
58,000 females were the vic–
tims of rape,
a
nine percent increase
over
1973,
and a doubling since 1967.
The 58,000
cases
reponed in 1974 means
tbat on tbe average of every rune
minutes a woman or g¡rl1n America
was
raped! Even !bese astounding figures do
not teU the wbole story since experiS
estimate that only about
ontJiflh
of the
rapes that oecur are reported.
Any femalc may be a victim of rape.
Lack. of sexual attraction is no protec–
tion. Very youog children, womeo in ad–
vaoced pregnaocy, and elderly women
in their 70's aod 80's bave
been
victims
ofsexual atact.
Rape
can
aod does take place almost
aoywhere, aoytime, aoy day of the
week.
The crime of rape is uruque among
violen! crimes: lts victlms are female. lts
pbysical, social and mental ramitications
~~~E~~~~!~~~~~~~~~~
THECR• OF RAPE
"-'!_d the fear of rejection by
busb'!!!_~
....-
. "
' •
·
~
family orfriends.
'
:
••~
.6.'fle':..l
by.M.
y·
.&t;.;. • •--
hn •u ·"' ' '••
Most uruque of
a1J
is tbe legal struc-
lriUI '
U
Ul
ture surrounding rape - a struc:ture
largeiy based oa a framework of societal
attitudes and assumptions in wbicb the
pivotal question is tbat of tbe
victim
's
innocence.
1t
is the only crime in wbich
the criminal factor is not the crime itself
- but whether or not the vic:tim was
forced to participate. The fac:t of crime
hinges on the element ofeonsent.
Tbis attitude ofslceptlcism toward tbe
credibility of women wbo claim tbey
were raped exasperates women's libera–
tion leaders aod rape victims, wbo feel it
reflecu a pervasive
masa~lin"
attilude of
suspicion toward women, as weU
as
tol–
erance of a certain degree ofmaJe sexúaJ
aggression.
A reeva!uation of our altitudes, as a
society,' toward rape necessitates ex–
ploding tbe pervading mytbs about
rape, iis victims and its perpetrators.
Take
a
fraolc look at sorne of the facts
aod some of
lb~
myths about the crime
women fear most.
Myth
#
1:
Women Secretly
" Wentlt"
TbefF is a persisten! myth that many
women secretly want to
be
raped.. Tbey
"ask for
it:'
This ntyth persists among men; we
women know betterl
"Rapists
can
oeither admit nor ex–
press the fact that
ilwy
are a menace to
society," writes Dr. James Sellcin.
" . .. Even convic:ted rapists serving long
prison terms deny tbeir culpability.
Th~
teoaciously insist women encour–
age and enjoy sexual assault"
(Psychol–
ogy
TodJJy,
January 1975).
lt
would seem that this attitude of the
convicted rapist bas permeated our so–
ciety as weU as our couns. In a court of
l2
by
Amy Bowman
.
law, quite ao issue is made of wbat is
termed "victim precipitated rape" and
"assump1ion of risk." These are concepts
used by the legal defense to transfer
resp<>nsibility for the crime from the
rapist to tbe vic:tim. By focusíng tbe
blame on ber,
tb~
lhereby hope to
lessen the guilt oftbe assailant.
If,
r~
instaoce, lhe victim aocepted a
driolc from the man, ber accu.ution of
rape is wealcened
~since
by drinkjng sbc
toolc
a
chance, made berself vuln.erable,
and
also
introduced ao element of ftim–
ulation for lhe maJe."
So
states sociolo–
gist Menacbem Amir in his s tudy
Pau~r/IJI
of Forcible
Rape.
Or, if sbe
aUowed him to come to her home. she
was either indicating willingness to bave
sexual intercourse or
was
sbowing her
readioess
lO
"assume the rislc" of being
attacked.
Wbat tbe
victim
ac:tually
did
is held as
less sigrufican1 Iban how lhe assailant
interprete.d
ber actioos.
However,
a
study madc in Phila–
delphia showed that over 85 percent of
rcported rape cases involved sorne forro
of violence - roughness, beatíng, or
cboking.
1t
is diJlicult
10
coneludc from
tbis
tbat these rapists were misled as
lO
the desires of their
victims.
A ba.zard of tbis "victim precipi–
taúon/ assumptioo of risk" analysis
is
that a woman could not be beld legally
blameless unless sbe tived in constan!
fear tbat every man is a potenúal rapist
(this includes friends and relatives since
they are responsible for 29% of all re–
ported rapes). If any of her actions con–
flic:ted with the traditional expectations
of "appropriate female bebavior," tbis
could be
used
as inc:iminating evidence
against bi::r in a coun of law. Even-sucb
a simple freedom as talcing a
waJic
alooe
in tbe park, especially in the everung,
could be interpreted as sayiog. "rm a
sexually available female.'"
or
"1
will
as–
sume lhe rislc ofbeing áttacked." -
Tbe purpose of
our
laws aod
oouns
is
to
deal wilh tbe
offerul~.
He is the one
wbo aggressively aod violeotly acted out
bis
thougbts and feelings againsr an
available subject.
E
ven
if
tbe victim un–
consciously or innocently made berself
vulnerable to sexual attack, the fact re–
mains that
she
is lbe victim.
HopefuUy, future laws
will
focus on
a
womao's pbysical integrity, peace of
mind, aod freedom of movement witb–
out fear of sexual attack as fundamental
rights
to
be
protected by the law.
Tbis
dubious doctrine of "victim pre–
cipitationlassumption of risk" contril>–
utes to the fac:t that
80%
of accused
rapists walk. out of court as free men.
Such
an
amazing fact makes you won–
der just who our rape laws
real/y
pro–
lect ! Tbis brings us to a second
pervasive myth.
Myth # 2 :
lnnocent Men
Convlcted
Anotber prevalen! misconception is
tha1 innoceot men are
oflen
uojustly im–
prisoned duc to false accu.utlons.ofrape
brought by malicious women wbo are
af!licted with sexual and emotional
problems.
lt
would
be
unfair to
c~im
that
in–
nocent men bave never been unjustly
accüsed and convicted of rape, but it is
equally invalid to promote it as a major
coacem wben there
is
very little sup–
porung evideoce.
Tbe unfonunate ambiguity of the
tenn, "unfounded complaint," has with–
out doubt cootributed to the myth that
women malee many false rape com–
plaints.
Most complaints detenruned to be
"unfounded" by prelirninary police in–
terrogation involve at least one of the
following factors:
(1)
evidence tba1 the
vic:tim was intoxicated; (2) dclay in
reporting by tbe victim; (3) lack of
pbysical condition supporung lhe aUe–
g;ltion;
(4)
refusal to submit
10
a medical
examinatioa; (5) tbc previous relation·
ship of tbe victim aod the offender;
(6)
the. use of
a
weapon without aocom–
panying battery.
Most of tbese factors are not relevan!
to whcther or not a rape has actually
beco commiued. They are, bowever,
relevant to lhe chaoces of having
a
case
talceo to coun and obtaining a coo–
victlon. The investigatlog police officers,
in ell'ec:t, bave absolute discretion as to
wbether
~
not any further ac:tioo
is
taken to prosecute the case
m
court. The
ebances of an invalid claim surviving
such
a
thorough potice examination and •
rcacbing the courts would be quite low.
Furthermore, in view of the statistic
(stated eartier) that
80%
of accused rap–
ists walk out of court as free men, it is
obvious tbat very few meo - wbetber
innocent or guilty,c.r
a¡e.t>'U
CQllviciW!
Myth # 3: Rapists - H•lpl•aa
Vi<:1imsof
o..
¡,.
Anolher popular myth (among males)
is that meo bave "uncontrollablc sex
drives." Therefore, men who rape are
no1 responsible for their acts slnce they
are victims of unexplainable urges,
fierce desires, and passions which ca.n be
impossible to control once they have
been aroused. Once aroused, the betief
goes, rape
is
the
natural
result,
if
tbe
womao
IS
no1 wiUing
lO
salisfy tbe appe–
tite sbe has created.
The fac:t is tbat few
rapes
are' spon–
taneous.
As
Professor
Amir
reveals in
Pallerns of Forcib/e
Rapi,
over 80% of
tbe reponed rapes were either entirely
or parlially planned. Rapists look for
women who are vulnerable to attack -
the handicapped,
tb~
aged, the sleeping,
tbe intoxicated, or !hose wbo are vulner–
able by their environment (isolated,
aloae, or in
an
easily cn1ered residence).
Women wbo are characteristically
friendly aod of service-oriented
ooeupa–
tioos (nurses, waitresses, teacher,
cte.)
áre oflen the vic:tims of rape. They are
too
willing
10
respond to tbe ploy of a
cry for help or aid from a stranger.
The element of premeditated rape is
abo
evident in the fact that nearly balf
of
all
rapes are committed by acquaint–
ances of tbe victims - an estranged bus–
baod, a spumed boyfriend, a rclative or
elose friend, a neighbor,
~
just a casual
acquaintance.
"Neigbbors aod acquaintances are thc
most poteotially dangerous people as far
as brutal rape is concemed," states Pro–
fessor Amir. They are more prone to
carry out acu of sexual bumiUation that
seem
10
involve personal vindictiveness
against the vic:tim.
WEEK ENDINO MAY l4, 1975