Myths surrounding the act of rape - Essay Example

Myths surrounding the act of rape Introduction There are various myths surrounding the act of rape. The first myth sees the darkness as an unsafe time for women to walk alone. If a woman walks alone in the middle of the night and is raped, she will not blame anyone but suffer the consequence alone. This is a denial of women’s right to freedom of movement and a justification to therapist for the action. The myth prevents most women who are raped during the night to seek legal justice to the person responsible. They believe that the only safe place is at home and if they are in darkness with a known person (Flood, 2012).The irony here is that most rape happens at home with close family and friends whom we really trust. When close persons rape a woman at home, the judge can base their argument on this myth and set the criminal free. The second myth specifies those who are only raped. They believed that rapists only assault the young and beautiful girls who are sexually attractive and within a certain age limit. The age and beauty is a mere comment by men to describe the physical appearance of young girls. Attractiveness is far from rape since crime goes beyond age and does not care about physical appearance of an individual (Easteal, 1998). The act of rape has no boundaries in terms of race, class, culture and the physical ability of a woman. When an old lady is raped, she will fear to report the incident since she fears the stigma associated with being raped. Those who believe in the myth will think that no one will get attracted to an old and ugly woman like her. The third myth is a malicious belief about women, when a woman denies an action she means yes. This means women are untrustworthy human beings. Men partners who want to take advantage of the women in the society justify their action basing on the myth (Allison, &Wrightsman, 1993). It is never the truth since there should be a serious consensus before having sex, and every person have the freedom to change his or her mind depending on the moods. If a partner uses force to get sexual satisfaction at the expense of the other partner, the action will amount to a sexual offence. Due to the common belief that no one can be sexually abused by his partner have left many cases go unreported due to fear of victimization and criticism by the society. The fourth myth holds that those who are raped are women who drink, wear revealing clothes, are prostitutes and seduce men and that what happens to them is a function of their misbehaviour. However, all women have equal rights and have the freedom of expression (Hart, Ogloff, & Roesch, 1999). Media play a role in promoting in promoting rape cases; this is because whenever a rape occurs they describe how a young woman was behaving before she was raped. The myth gives the offender justification, and the blameis shifted to the victim. Rape an offence and a criminal act in nature and there is no excuse for assaulting someone. The fifth myth holds that men of a certain race and are mentally ill and that they rape women. When a different race and a sane man rapes, they will never believe the victims allegation and hold the criminal. Many cases go unreported due to ignorance and bias opinion. Rapists come from all backgrounds it does not matter if black or white and from different religious setup. Ninety-five per cent of men who rape are sane while only a small percentage of 5 per cent rape and are insane (Unger, 2001). It is a contrary opinion to the myth that the only men who rape are insane. The myth is used as an scapegoat by men who rape women, which will never be accepted morally in the community. There is also a belief that women do not rape; the reality is that most men are raped in silence (Greene,& Wrightsman, 2007). When a woman uses force to engage in sex with a man it amounts to sexual harassment and should be reported to the court. Men fear to report the case because of the myth that no female can rape a male. The other myth is that women can make up stories as revenge against men. Most people believe so due to media reports. The media reports every year the percentage of women who accuse men falsely of rape. Men can use the report to court and come out unpunished, and the victim is left helpless. In the legal proceedings, jurors are supposed to determine if the accused is guilty or innocent. Rape case is a criminal offence and lacks evidence on the part of the victim. The jurors use their opinion to make a decision if the defendant is guilty or not. The decision is biased since they depend on human judgment and depend on the defendants argument (Stahly, & Corrigan, 2007).The testimonies by the victim are influenced directly by the myth that a rape victim should behave in a particular manner. The juror believes that a person should be terrified and traumatised of the event, but the fact is people have a different reaction to events in life. When there is little evidence of a rape case, thus jurors use their drive opinion to make a decision. The judgement will be open to stereotype and mythical beliefs of the juror's background. If all the court judgement depends on evidence, all the decisions made by different judges will be uniform across the rape cases nationally,. Men juror mainly depends on rape myths to make their decision, for over a decade jurors have blamed the victim for their dressing code. Most victims who wore seductive clothes were held responsible for the action and the defendant is excused from the malicious act (Ogloff, &Schuller, 2001).Jurors with a negative attitude to women behaviour make a biased decision basing on womens behaviour. When jurors majorly depend on the rape myths, a guilty defendant can be justified and assumed to be a call of nature. The defendant can be left free if the judgement is in favour of the victim (Coon, Mitterer, Talbot, &Vanchella, 2010). For a society to be just, the jurors should base their decision on a neutral grounds, judge a case using the scientific evidence (Hammond, Berry, & Rodriguez, 2011). A reasonable judge knows that rape is an act that is against the human rights and should not be condoned. References Allison, J. A., &Wrightsman, L. S. (1993).Rape, the misunderstood crime.Newbury Park, Calif: Sage Publications. Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., Talbot, S., &Vanchella, C. M. (2010).Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior.Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Easteal, P. W. (1998). Balancing the scales: Rape, law reform, and Australian culture.Leichhardt, NSW: Federation Press. Flood, D. R. (2012).Rape in Chicago: Race, myth, and the courts. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Greene, E., &Wrightsman, L. S. (2007).Wrightsman's psychology and the legal system.Belmont, CA: Thomson/ Wadsworth. Hammond, E.M., Berry, M.A., & Rodriguez, D.N. (2011).The influence of rape myth acceptance, sexual attitudes, and belief in a just world on attributions of responsibility in a date rape scenario. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 16, 242252. DOI: 10.1348/135532510X499887 Hart, S. D., Ogloff, J. R. P., &Roesch, R. (1999).Psychology and law: The state of the discipline. New York [u.a.: Kluwer Academic. Ogloff, J. R. P., &Schuller, R. A. (2001).Introduction to psychology and law: Canadian perspectives. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Unger, R. K. (2001). Handbook of the psychology of women and gender. New York: Wiley. Stahly, G. B., & Corrigan, R. A. (2007). Gender identity, equity, and violence: Multidisciplinary perspectives through service learning. Sterling, Va: Stylus. Read More