Research Paper on Rape
Unfortunately, rape is a sad reality for many Americans. The American Heritage College Dictionary defines rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts. Rape is a huge problem our society faces, however, there are a couple of ways that rape victims can reduce the likelihood of this crime occurring to them. Individuals can check the National Alert Registry to identify sex offenders. Individuals can also began to report their rapist to decrease the chance of that person committing the crime again. It is imperative that Americans become familiar with our surroundings and what we can do to prevent this from happening to us. Rape is a devastating crime that can have lasting negative psychological affects on the victim of the rape.
There are precautions individuals can take to help minimize the chances that the person they are involved with has not committed a sex crime in the past. This is an easy method to use especially since most rape victims know their assailant. There are millions of people in America who have been victims of rape. According, to American Rape Statistics, approximately 28% of victims are raped by their husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives. Rape occurs usually by those individuals feel most comfortable with, like a husband or boyfriend. Preventable measure to reduce the occurrence of rape is to consider finding out if their significant other is a registered sex offender. Another thing people can do is visit the National Alert Registry website and find out how many sex offenders live in your immediate area. Additionally, one should search to see if someone you are considering dating or marrying is registered. While conducting a sex offender inquiry in my own neighborhood I found there were 135 registered sex offenders. However, there may be many more sex offenders residing in my neighborhood that have not had to register. To increase the reliability of the sex offender register it is important that those who are victims of rape report the crime.
Rapists prey on their victims knowing that victims usually do not report when their rape. Rapists tend to target vulnerable individuals, such as, children and women. Women are the number one victims of rape. According to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) website 1 in every 6 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. A sad fact is 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. People do not usually report their rape because they are afraid. They believe that it is a private or personal matter and they fear reprisal from their assailant. Women and other victims often lose their self-worth, therefore, rape continues to be under-reported. A resolution to having more rapes reported is to provide more organizations to expand counseling and advocacy services for rape victims. Hopefully, this will increase the willingness of victims to report rapes to the police. Some people decide not to report because they do not believe reporting the crime will make a difference. However, reporting can lead to the rapist going to jail if there is enough evidence and them being forced to register as sex offender. While registering as a sex offender is not the best way to handle those that commit sexual offenses it is an attempt to hold offenders accountable.
Victims of rape often manifest long-term symptoms psychologically. The rape becomes a burden they carry for the rest of their lives. It can severely impact victims in ways we can only imagine like developing a poor sense of trust, love, intimacy, and self-esteem. These are basic characteristic all women want in a relationship and without them victims are off balance and many time become incapable living a normal life. A couple of solutions to this dilemma are seeing a therapist and joining a rape victim organization. These choices may help heals the heart and diminish the guilt victims carry. Further, it may help victims change the way they think and teach them how to avoid rape occurring again. According to Nonsense Self-defense website avoiding rape is only easy if you are aware of your surroundings and not blindly put yourself at risk. To ensure that you safeguard yourself from becoming a rape victim you should know how to mentally prepare in the event that you are put in that situation and to learn self-defense techniques that will help you get out of the situation. Those who manage to get out an attempted rape situation often suffer from similar issues of those who were actually raped.
Some victims of attempted rape encounter psychological problems as well but usually not to the extent of actual victims. Many women that live with nearly being sexually assaulted usually do not obtain help. However, time sometimes helps heal the pain associated with the negative event. Although women do not forget what has occurred to them they are many times able to move on and accept that it happened to them. Like in the movie the Watchmen, Sally tells her daughter, “In the end, you just wash your hands of it and shut it away.” She did accept that she was a victim of attempted rape but she didn't want it to run and predict the rest of her life and what type a person she would be. Also telling her daughter, what, “I should curl up and whimper for forty years? You want, I should go be a nun?”. Sally said this to let her daughter know time had passed and what happened is behind her and there's no reason to allow it to hinder her current life. Overall, one has to move on from tragedies even though they'll always be apart of your life.
Many children are victims rape as well. Sometimes in the form of incest by their fathers or family members and other times as sexual assaults by others. Parents must protect their children to the best of their abilities. This includes educating children about their bodies and what is acceptable and what is not. According to RAINN website 15% of rape victims are under the age twelve. This is astonishing and we need to put our detective foot forward and reduce these numbers drastically. I took out your first three sentences because they were not strong. Please come up with two or three more sentences to make this paragraph stronger. Do not use “we” remember this is a research essay.
This should be your last paragraph.
Individuals of rape are three times more likely to suffer from depression, six times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, thirteen times more likely to abuse alcohol, twenty-six times more likely to abuse drugs, and four times more likely to contemplate suicide. These are huge life changing effects for rape victims, impacting their lives in drastic ways. Sometimes the tragedy of rape is not realized. Many victims are unable to live normal lives and reach their full potential and all they have to give the world. It is everyone's duty to become involved in victim's lives and give them the complete support they need. Rape is too common today and we must minimize the number of victims. At the same time, it is imperative that individuals take a more proactive role to protect themselves from sex offenders by using the National Alert Registry.