Rape

By: Cat

Rape is a sensitive subject, a taboo subject in some places, yet it is so unbelievably common.

“Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape

‘There is no single theory that conclusively explains the motivation for rape; the motives of rapists can be multi-factorial and are subject to debate. Several factors have been proposed: anger, a desire for power, sadism, sexual gratification, and evolutionary pressures’

‘The rate of reporting, prosecution and convictions for rape varies considerably in different jurisdictions. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (1999) estimated that 91% of U.S. rape victims are female and 9% are male, with 99% of the offenders being male. In one survey of women, only two percent of respondents who stated they were sexually assaulted said that the assault was perpetrated by a stranger. Several studies argue that male-male prisoner rape might be the most common and least-reported form of rape, with some studies suggesting such rapes are substantially more common in both per-capita and raw-number totals than male-female rapes in the general population.’ – wikipedia.org

When part of a widespread and systematic practice, rape and sexual slavery are recognized as crimes against humanity and war crimes. Rape is also recognized as an element of the crime of genocide when committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a targeted ethnic group.’

“People out there must be told about the self-loathing that follows rape and how it’s the greatest breakage in divine law to mutilate themselves, as I have done.” – Tori Amos

“By not coming forward (about rape), you make yourself a victim forever."

Rape depicted in film is a controversial subject, one that attracts a lot of debate.

“The fact is that rape happens every six minutes. I think that’s why it’s starting to infiltrate movies so much, because it’s really part of our world, and it’s a part of our world that we never really wanted to look at before. It’s the ultimate violence.” – Elisabeth Shue

Margaret Lazarus, director of the documentary “Rape Culture” says repeatedly viewing these acts is damaging in itself. "My feeling is that the more violence we observe, the more paranoid our world·view "