Date Rape

Paper Summary:

This paper seeks to explore the effect of rape myths on the victim. The paper explains that rape myths are stereotyped, false and prejudicial beliefs which serve to downplay the perpetrator's responsibility and criminality while shifting blame towards the victim. The paper looks at how these myths continue to be entrenched in society and thus dominate the general attitudes towards this crime. It also discusses how the myths contribute significantly to victims' feelings of guilt and often make it impossible for them to realize that they have even been raped.

From the Paper:

"To understand their dilemma we have to consider the societal predispositions towards the subject, the gender roles engrained in both women and men and the self protective mechanisms that exist in both the rapist and the society that tolerates his actions. The legal definitions of rape so far include forced vaginal, oral and anal sex that was either accomplished or attempted. Date rape, more specifically, is sexual assault that occurs when victim and perpetrator know each other through some form of accepted social contact. It is an act which uses sex as a weapon to exert power and humiliate, which makes this such a unique scenario, legally and personally. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abbey, A & McAuslan P. "A Longitudinal Examination of Male College Students' Perception of Sexual Assault" Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume 72: 747-756.
• Belknap, J. The Invisible Woman, 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Wadsworth, 2001.
• Bondurant, B. "University women's acknowledgement of rape: Individual, situational and social factors" Violence against Women, 2001, Volume 7: 294- 314.
• Brownmiller, Susan. Against our Will. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.
• Cahill, Ann J. Rethinking Rape. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 2001.

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