Acquaintance/Date Rape

In the American Society, we are seeing more and more of criminal situations being reported and defined as Acquaintance/Date rape. While no one wants to admit it, overall our society does not believe the horror stories of Acquaintance/Date rape victims. The reason that Acquaintance /Date rape is so hard to identify as a crime, is the questionable extent that one took to commit the crime and what if anything did the victim do to stop this act of violence. Acquaintance/Date rape cases are getting harder and harder to prove in the court of law. Most everyone would believe the story of a victim that claims that she was in a situation where she did not know her perpetrator and that she was held against her will and forced to participate or allow sexual activities between herself and the stranger. In these cases, there is normally evidence that can be used in court that would back the victim's side of the story. However, this kind of rape only accounts for close to 40% of rape cases reported. The other 60% come from victims that know who their perpetrator was. These types of rapes are preferred to as Date/Acquaintance Rape. In these sorts of rapes both the victim and the perpetrator know each other from da

Acquaintance/Date rape is a form of rape and is considered a sexual assault. While this crime does not seem real in many people's eyes it is very real and is occurring a lot more than rapes in which the victim does not know her perpetrator. In order to prevent Date rape from occurring, men and women need to be taught to better communicate what they consider the boundaries in a sexual relationship to be. We must teach others that both men and women are equal and they both have rights. By better educating men and women, our society can do away with the common myths about rape. Education is very important because many men and women on either side do not realize that the sexual act that they encountered may be considered rape. No one deserves to be raped and women do not ask in any form or fashion to be raped. The most important thing that our society needs to realize is that when a woman says NO, (no matter what has happened already) from that point on the sexual activity is considered some form of rape.

1.Myth- A woman deserves to get raped if she has agreed to go some place private with her date.

Stranger Rape makes ups only 40% of reported rape cases (http://www.cs.utk.edu/~bartley/acquaint/acquaintRape.html). In dealing with stranger rape, the victim is usually attacked and does not know the perpetrator. This is the type of rape where people imagine the case of a woman walking down a dark ally and someone jumps out and attacks her. Stranger rape can also occur with other crimes such as kidnapping and burglary. People who commit this kind of rape usually use some sort of force. This force can be anything from the use of a weapon, physical restraint, or verbal threats that may threaten their life or a loved one's life (Parrot, 1995). If this crime is reported, the victim has a higher chance of receiving some sort of justice in court rather than those victims of date or acquaintance rapes would receive. Stranger rape is easier to prove in court because of the proof of evidence that might be present. Since stranger rape usually involves some sort of force, this force can be used in court as evidence. Courts are more likely to believe that the individual was raped if there is evidence that can be brought forward as an argument in the case. This evidence can be bruises in which the victim suffered or a weapon that was used during the rape, however, courts have a harder time believing victims of Date/ Acquaintance rape.

Throughout males and females lives, they are always reminded of their sex. The media is a very important way of teaching male and female roles in life. Our society is based on old time traditions that women are here to serve men. The media portrays this opinion as something that is still socially accepted. Women are portrayed as sex objects not sure of what they want on television. Television also limits women by implying that they can not be sexy and feminine in addition to being assertive and being in charge (Parrot, 1995). Television inspires kids by giving them role models in which they can imitate or look up to as a hero. Television does not always portray these heroes as the good guys. When children begin to idealize negative personalities on television, it might inspire them to do the same thing that their hero is doing. If children are idealizing negative personalities on television, they may be getting the impression that men should dominate women because they are inferior to men (Parrot, 1995). Between education, playtime, sports, and the media there are strong mixed signals sent out to the youth about the roles of men and women. If children grow up believing that men rule and women follow, than our society will experience more and more cases of rape due to the fact that men may believe that they deserve sex anytime that they want it. Men might also rape women to show their superior side by humiliating the woman. In looking at the different types of rape, it is easy to s