My first reaction was that this report will be used as proof to those that believe women often create or embellish stories of rape. Statistically speaking, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. Rape is THE most underreported crime in America.
How then to explain this woman? Simple. Rape, like any other crime, has a small percentage of falsified reports (about 5%). This is actually the exact same rate as any other crime like grand theft auto (thank you, Charlie Sheen), abduction or murder.
However, because rape has such gendered societal concepts of what constitutes acceptable behavior, it becomes quite the hot-button issue. I wrote my honors thesis on Pornography and Sexual Violence, but no matter how enligtened the men I date are, none of them is ever able to have even an abstract conversation about pornography and sexual violence without almost immediately becoming defensive. Listen, rape (though simply defined) has become a complicated thing. We say it's about sex, but it's really about violence. We say it's not a big deal, but according to the DA I used to work for, rape is worse than murder because you have to live through it. And, 98% of the time, rape is committed by males. You can understand how they'd become defensive.
No one wants to admit that we live in a type of culture where the female's body is less important than the male's, that her needs are somehow negotiable whereas his are justifiable. However, in my research, I've found that 47% of high school boys think it's at least 'maybe okay' to force sexual intercourse on a female in certain situations. The situation most cited? If she 'turns him on'. the underlying message is that she should've known better.
When we hear a story like the above it maps perfectly on our social consiousness. Though unspoken in polite society, rape culture perpetuates the myth that the onus is on women. No wonder we discount the true reports as false, and the false reports as proof.
The actual truth: that 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted in their lives (that number reaches 1 in 2 during the first three months of college, known as the Red Zone) is too difficult to give credence to, because if it really is so prevalent, then how many men have sexually violated a woman?
More than we can admit.
*scorpio*
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