Essay Sample on Rape Victimization

Rape is perhaps the most heinous crime that can be committed against an individual. Rape cases are not so common in the media, probably because many of them go unreported. Additionally, there are no clear limits by which rape is defined. This means that many people are victims of rape, although they do not know about it. Basically, rape is any sexual activity that happens without the consent of one of the parties in the activity. When a person is raped by their intimate partner, they make no attempt to report it to anybody. However, a few people gain the courage to report sexual incidences which they feel that were forced onto them without their consent. My subject falls into this category.

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I interviewed a woman who had been forced to have sex by his boyfriend as a teenager. According to the girl, her boyfriend persuaded her to visit his apartment and collect a gift that the latter had bought for her. The girl was reluctant to oblige, although she finally did because it was a man she knew well about. The man was considerably older, and the two had been having sex for a while When my interviewee got into the mans apartment, they had lunch together in the bedroom. For all the time they were having lunch, the girl did not anticipate that anything would happen, allegedly because the man did not raise any red flags. Suddenly, the man pinned the victim on the bed as he tried to force himself on her. The girl mounted resistance that was futile. During the rape, the man looked and acted aggressively as he countered any resistance from the girl. On his part, the girl tried to convince the man to let her go by crying and pleading with the suspect. After the rape, the man got angry, because the girl made him feel like he had raped her. After the incident, the man drove the girl home. The victim took a shower and changed her clothes. She refrained from reporting it to her mother because the mother could blame it on the girl for having a relationship against the mothers advice. She also didnt tell the police, because she thought that they may not take it serious, arguably because the two were already in a romantic relationship when this happened. Lastly, the victim told me that she did not seek any counseling.

Similar incidents have been reported in the news. In 2nd June, 2016, the New York Daily News reported that a 17 year old boy raped his 15 years old girlfriend and later chocked her to death. In this incidence too, the victims was reported to have resisted the boys urge to have sex, and when she was raped, she begged her boyfriend to let her go. The boy, however, never gave in to those pleas. The boy was later charged with murder in a Texan juvenile court (nydailynews.com)

The above incident adds to the total statistics on sexual violence in the United States. National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) reports that by 2015, nearly 0.1% of all women in the United States had been raped by their intimate partner in their lifetime. Some of these women reported forced penetration, others reported attempted forced penetration while others reported alcohol or drug induced sexual violence. About 1 in 45 men had been forced to make complete penetration by an intimate partner. The statistics showed that there were high rates of sexual violence among gays and lesbians. For instance, 46.4% lesbians, 74.9% bisexual women and 43.3% heterosexual women reported sexual violence other than rape in their lifetime. Additionally, 47.4% bisexual men and 20.8% heterosexual men reported that they had encountered sexual violence other than rape some part in their lifetimes. Astonishingly, statistics show that 91% of women are victims of rape, while only 9% of men are. According to NSVRC, 8 out of 10 rape victims knew their aggressors. Only 8% of all rape victims were assaulted in their workplaces (nsvrc.org).

The NSVRC statistics point that male child sexual abuse is more profound in the country than male adults. While only 1 in 71 men reported sexual abuse, one in six boys become victims of sexual abuse before they turn 18 year old. To assert the role of family in perpetuating sexual violence, the statistics show that 34% of rapists are kin to the victims. Before they reach 10 years old, 12.3% of women are raped, while 30% of women encounter sexual assault between the age of 11 and 17 years. These statistics also show a weak relationship between rape victimization in childhood and adulthood: more than 30% of all women raped before the age of 18 become rape victims in their adulthood. According to the statistics 96% of rapists are men while 76.8% of rapists are women. In the country, 325, 000 children are at risk of becoming victims of commercial child sex. The mean age at which girls become victims of rape is 12 to 14 years while hat of boys in 11 to 13 years (nsvrc.org).

In addition to the incidence and prevalence of rape in the country, the NSVRC provides the economic impact of rape. Medical and legal costs of one rape case amount to $151 423, topping the list of national criminal expenditure. In addition, 81% of women rape victims and 35% of men rape victims report short-term and long term impacts. The most common long term impact is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Lastly, the statistics indicated that health care cost for adult women rape victims are 16% higher than those of children (nsvrc.org).

Work Cited

National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Statistics about sexual violence, 2015, http://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_media-packet_statistics-about-sexual-violence_0. Accessed 7th November, 2016

Wagner, M. Texas teen accused of raping, killing 15-year-old girlfriend recorded video as victim begged for her life. Ney York Daily News, 2nd June, 2016.