Date Rape Essay ⋆ Criminal Justice Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

It is estimated that 13 percent of women and 3 percent of men have been raped in their lifetime, but this is based on reported rapes. Since rape is the most underreported crime, rates are vastly underrepresented by official statistics. However, statistics still show that the majority of rapes are committed by perpetrators known by the victim (e.g., friend, acquaintance, spouse), though these assaults are even less likely to be reported by victims. There is much misconception, myth, ambiguity, and controversy surrounding the issue of rape and more specifically acquaintance rape/date rape. Some do not consider date rape and/or acquaintance rape as a type of sexual victimization or a crime because neither of these conforms to the societal preconception of what constitutes rape. Alternatively, others consider date rape/acquaintance rape a hidden problem of sexual victimization since it is not as acknowledged as stranger rape and arguably causes more trauma as the perpetrator is known by the victim, causing a betrayal of trust that is not present with a stranger rape.

Defining rape is problematic without even considering specialized situations such as date rape. Historically, definitions of rape were limited, defining rape as only penile-vaginal penetration. Any type of sexually related assault that did not meet this definition (e.g., oral copulation, sodomy) was not considered rape. Sexual assault, rather than rape, is often used as a catchall term to refer to several different types of sexual victimization and includes rape, forced sodomy, forced oral copulation, and any forced or unwelcome sexual touching. The term rape does continue to be used, especially with distinct types of sexual assault, such as “date rape,” to refer to any sexual victimization. Despite this, rape definitions vary widely among state legal statutes. The federal government’s definition of rape remains: unlawful sexual intercourse with a female that is completed with the use of force or without consent (of the female). As a result, male rape and other types of sexually related assaults are not classified as rape offenses.

Many of the same problems associated with defining rape are also associated with defining date rape. Date rape is a term often used interchangeably with acquaintance rape. However, date rape is a distinct type of sexual victimization. Some would define date rape in the same way as acquaintance rape since it is a sexual assault committed by someone known to the victim (instead of a stranger). Acquaintance rape is typically defined as nonconsensual sex between adults who know each other (this includes anyone who is not a stranger to the victim). Others consider date rape as only one form of acquaintance rape. These definitions of date rape depend on contributing environmental factors of the assault, for example, the assault occurs in a residence or vehicle following a date. However, the same assault, occurring while two individuals are studying together, would be considered acquaintance rape. Using this classification as a type of acquaintance rape, date rape is considered nonconsensual sex between adults who are dating or on a date.

Date Rape Drugs

Drug-facilitated sexual assault is often called date rape, even if the assault did not occur during a date. These assaults should more accurately be considered acquaintance rapes that are facilitated by the use of drugs and/or alcohol. Drug-facilitated sexual assault occurs when an individual is given a substance without her/his knowledge for the purpose of impairing the victim and making her/him vulnerable to an assault. In the 1990s, a greater number of victims reported they had been drugged and sexually assaulted, which resulted in the media reporting on commonly used “date rape drugs,” prominently, gamma-hydroxy-butrate (GHB), Rohypnol (“roofies”), and ketamine. However, the most commonly used “date rape drug” continues to be alcohol. Alcohol can increase the likelihood of assault by lowering the inhibitions and reflexes of the victim and perpetrator, and lead to increased offender aggressiveness and less forceful victim resistance. Victims are more likely to voluntarily ingest alcohol than other substances, and this may impair the victim’s ability to identify the incident as a sexual assault and/or report it due to self-blame.

History

Rape has often been an overlooked and neglected crime. Historically, laws prohibiting rape were used to protect the property value of women (but did not consider this a personal crime against women themselves), were nonexistent, or placed the burden of proof on the victim. In 1642, the first rape statute, based on English common law, was passed in the American colonies and defined rape as a crime if a man had “carnal copulation” with any woman under 10 years of age, a married women without consent, or a single woman (over aged 10) by force and against her will. Using the basis of English common law, five criteria needed to be met to prove a rape occurred: (1) the act was defined as illegal, (2) during the course of the attack carnal knowledge (i.e., penile–vaginal intercourse) occurred, (3) the victim was a woman, (4) force was used during the attack, and (5) force was used against the victim’s will. Victims with more bruises or injuries resulting from the assault had a greater chance of demonstrating that the assault occurred against the victim’s will because injuries demonstrated that the victim resisted the assault. Victims seeking justice by using the courts faced an uphill battle because merely by being a victim of rape a woman lost her credibility. By admitting she was raped a woman was also admitting that she had sex with someone either outside of marriage or with someone other than her husband. Rape laws excluded rape by a spouse. Not until 1976 (in Nebraska) were marital rapes recognized as criminal. As a result of societal perceptions and the legal elements needed to prove rape, it was exceedingly rare for any convictions to be secured against perpetrators during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Rape laws changed little until reforms began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The first comprehensive law on sexual assault was enacted in 1974 in Michigan. Some reform of existing rape laws eventually spread to all 50 states. Despite these reforms, the notion that rape could be committed by acquaintances and/or during the course of a date remained disregarded. Gradually, the criminality of acquaintance rape began to be recognized in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, despite legal recognition that rape can be committed by acquaintances, spouses, dates, and other perpetrators known by the victim, many within society still maintain the misconception that “real rape” is committed only by a stranger. As a result, victims and/or juries still often do not consider an incident of date rape as a real rape because the perpetrator was either known by the victim or had a prior relationship (sometimes sexual) with the victim.

Traditionally, it was believed that only women could be victims of rape, but in recent years the reality that both men and women can and are rape victims has been acknowledged by scholars and the public. Despite this, discussions of rape and sexual assault almost exclusively focus on women because the majority of victims of rape are women.

Owing to this history and enduring misconceptions of rape and sexual assault, the victim is often made to feel punished by the legal process, being subjected to scrutiny of the offense itself and such personal factors as sexual history, behavior, and choice of clothing. Societal perceptions reinforce the idea that the victim is to blame or in some way contributed to the assault (e.g., by wearing revealing clothing or drinking alcohol). This is particularly the case with acquaintance/date rape. Since acquaintance/date rape involves a victim and perpetrator who know each other, a victim who willingly went on a date with the perpetrator, even if she/he did not consent to intercourse, is more likely to be seen as to blame, even by the victim him/herself. If reported, the actions of the victim will be questioned and scrutinized more than if the perpetrator were a stranger.

Deniers and Rape Myths

Rape myths are beliefs and attitudes widely held, yet generally false, which serve to justify and/ or deny sexual aggression (most often by men) against others (often women) within society. Two rape myths of particular pertinence are the myths of “real rape” and “most rape claims are false.”

Although statistics have proven repeatedly that the majority of rapes are committed by those known by the victim, the popular conception is that rape is committed by strangers. Due to this myth of “real rape,” acquaintance rape/date rape is not perceived as sexual assault because the circumstances of the assault do not conform to what is expected when there is a real rape.

The myth of “most claims of rape are false” is one of the most pervasive rape myths in society and widely accepted as true. Those believing this myth maintain that women claim rape, particularly after a date, out of guilt over the sexual encounter or vengeance (i.e., when the woman is rebuffed by the man she pursued). Assuming that the majority of rape cases reported is false is a terrible mistake as it denies victims the protection of society and empowers perpetrators with the sense that their actions are condoned. Rape remains the least reported crime because of victims’’ fear of being blamed, secondary assault by the justice system, or possible retaliation from the perpetrator.

Bibliography:

Allison, Julie A. and Lawrence S. Wrightsman. Rape: The Misunderstood Crime. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1993.
Holmes, Stephen T. and Ronald M. Holmes. Sex Crimes: Patterns and Behavior. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2009.
Meloy, Michelle L. and Susan L. Miller. The Victimization of Women: Law, Policies, and Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Parrot, Andrea and Laurie Bechhofer. Acquaintance Rape: The Hidden Crime. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1991.
Reddington, Frances and Betsy Wright Kreisel. Sexual Assault: The Victims, the Perpetrators, and the Criminal Justice System. 2nd ed. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
Ward, Sally K., Jennifer Dziuba-Leatherman, Jane Gerard Stapleton, and Carrie L. Yodanis. Acquaintance and Date Rape: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,

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