Rape 2
Usually when one thinks of rape, a scene of a severely beaten woman left to die in a dark alleyway pops up in one's imagination. Rape is stereotypically scene as a woman being sexually assaulted and beaten by a stranger while she is walking down the street, walking to her car, or even sleeping in her own home. The image of rape in this society tells us that rape is only rape when a woman has been attacked by someone whom she does not know, such as a stranger jumping out of from the bushes, or a robber who has entered a woman's home. Even references such as Webster's New World Dictionary, define rape in a similar manner, stating that rape is, "the crime of having sexual intercourse, usually forcibly, with a person who has not consented." Because of these stereotypes, the issue of date rape, and what to do about it, has become a very debated issue. Date rape can be best defined as, "Non aggravated sexual assault, nonconsexual sex, that does not involve physical injury or the explicit threat of physical injury," (Pinneau, p. 340). Unlike the conventional definition of rape, in date rape the woman is usually not physically injured, and "about 60% of the victims of date rape know their assailants," (Hughes & Sandler). Consider
Another reason why date rape should be outlawed is due to the fact that humans owe it to society as a whole to be good citizens. Allowing date rape to happen without any consequences sends the wrong message out into society. If everyone is allowed to date rape, then society would be a place where women would fear going on dates, and men would have more freedom to take advantage of women, since society does not put any consequences on the rapists. Overall if date rape was not outlawed, we would not be living in a virtuous society, but rather a society where even good friends can be allowed to take advantage of their friendships and rape women. Not doing anything to provide stronger regulations against date rape would mean that we have failed to function as a virtuous society, where people are expected to do the "right thing." In this country, every person has a basic right to bodily integrity. Both men and women have this right which simply states that a persons body must be respected as their own, and they ultimately have the right to decide what happens to their body. In the case of date rape, when a woman is forced to have sex against her will, even if she knows her assailant, her right to bodily integrity has been ignored. When the unwanted sexual relations occur, the woman has lost one of her basic rights, while the rapist ultimately loses nothing. Since the right to bodily integrity is universalizable, it is not wrong to say that date rape is wrong, since it takes away this right. Thus, date rape should be put under heavier regulations or even outlawed. Understanding why date rape regulations should become more severe can also be easily seen if one imagines that one's family member or close friend has been the victim of date rape. From this point of view, one can easily side with the victim and would fight that the date rape regulations be tightened. No caring human being would allow their family member or friend to be date raped, and have the rapist suffer no, or little consequences. A caring individual would underst
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1382
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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