Tom sat on the sofa, his shoulders hunched forward, his eyes staring listlessly into space. In his hands, a forgotten cup of coffee trembled violently, the lukewarm liquid spilling over his fingers. He hadn’t uttered a single word since his impassioned attempt to justify Booker’s assault, and as the minutes ticked by, his silence only added to Doug’s concerns. Although not an expert, as a cop, Penhall understood about trauma, and fearing his friend was going into shock, he made the decision to call 911. With an ambulance on its way, he dialed a second number, and after a brief conversation, he hung up. Turning his attention to Tom, he wondered how to proceed. While he wanted to offer comfort, he honestly did not know what to say. How did you console the victim of sexual assault when the perpetrator was a trusted colleague you worked side by side with day in day out? He was out of his depth and terrified of making matters worse, but he knew he needed to do something other than making a cup of coffee, and approaching Tom, he squatted down and laid a hand on his knee. “How ya doin’, buddy?”
If Tom heard, he made no acknowledgment. His eyes remained dull, his expression vacant. Somewhere, in the midst of the chaos that was the harshness of reality, he had managed to build a protective wall, a refuge in his mind where he was no longer a victim, no longer a weak, pathetic excuse for a man. He was Tom Hanson the cop, the loving son, the loyal friend; he was a man free
In more than just the examples given in the documentary, reporting a sexual assault seems almost baffling in terms of procedure, both in military life and in civilian. It is a difficult enough prosses for a man or women to endure in civilian life. Just noting what I have witnessed in my time here at Georgia Southern University, it is a long, horrifying, and complex means to achieve justice, and even then, it is certainly not guaranteed. Even at the conclusion of this class, it is still difficult to grasp the blatant disregard for an entire section of the armed forces. The ones who are willing to make the huge personal sacrifices to serve their own country, when that same courtesy would never be reciprocated. As stated multiple times in The
Are you okay? Please do not cry. You are not alone. You do not know me but I am listening; I will wipe your tears, and stand by your side. Because what happen to you is not right, it is unjust, unmoral, and revolting. Although I was not there, I am here now. Although I have not experienced it, I am listening. However, I will never truly understand what you went through because I have not lived it. Sexual assault is “illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicting upon a person who is incapable of giving consent”, according to Webster Dictionary. I will not judge you, I will not patronize you, and you can trust me. What happened that night? Can you remember? What started out as a fun night with drinking and dancing; ended with your cold naked body lying upon the ground. You were intoxicated, incoherent, and unconscious. Your blood alcohol level and your dashing good looks should not make you vulnerable or a victim to inhumane acts of sexual violence.
Every two minutes a woman is sexually assaulted in the United States (FBI, 2003). According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sexual assault is the most under-reported violent crime in the United States. In 2005, the Armed Forces received 2,374 reports of alleged cases of sexual assault involving its members. Of these figures, the Air Force received 584 reports. That is an increase of 28 percent over the past year (DoD, 2005). The Air Force is concerned with the safety, dignity, and well-being of all its members. The Air Force does not tolerate sexual assault and has implemented a comprehensive policy that reinforces prevention, response, and accountability.
The alarming increase in sexual assault among male and female students is a source of concern. Despite improvements in the general statistics on rape cases, the college setting remains to be the hot bed of sexual assault, especially among the female counterparts (Allen, 2007). A victim, regardless being a male or a female, never feel safe in their life as something precious was taken from them once. Statistics show that 17.6% of women are likely to be victims of rape in their entire lifetime while only 0.3% of males are estimated to be the victims of sexual assault. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), the most critical ages men and females are likely to be engaged in sexual abuse is when they are children or adolescents (Gonzales, Schofield & Schmitt, 2006).
In America, 1 out of 6 women fall victim to rape at some point in their lives—completed or not (“Victims of Sexual Violence” 1). However, this is only one form of sexual assault that women are forced to face. Groping and other non-consensual, sexual acts are also examples of sexual assault (“Sexual Assault” 1).. Many perpetrators of sexual assault roam free, practically unaffected and likely to commit another similar act, while the woman could feel the effects of this event for her entire life. This problem affects women from around the globe—and it’s time that we put an end to it, because if we don’t, who will? If boys were to be taught how and how not to treat women in their early years, sexual assault would not be as prevalent, thus, women, including us, would not have to worry as much about enduring this kind of torment.
Being sexually assaulted as a child and teenager can ruin your life. As a child, you, really don’t
Jade does not receive adequate treatment from her counselor when reporting a recent sexual assault. Her integrity is questioned, and the counselor advises her to forget the incident ever happened. The rapist receives no punishment or consequences for his actions. Cases similar to this hypothetical situation occur regularly. Victims of sexual assault often resort to dropping their cases due to the lack of support and services offered by the college. Students continue to fight for the fair treatment of everyone on campus. The problem with reporting sexual assault during college lies in the unfair treatment of the victims and the limited consequences and punishment for the rapist. Colleges have attempted to lower
Sexual Assault described in technical terms is defined as any sort of sexual activity between two or more people in which one of the people involved is involved against his or her will. (3) The description of "against his or her will" extends to varying degrees of aggression, ranging from indirect pressure to a direct physical attack. While sexual assaults are associated with the crime of rape, it may cover assaults which would not be considered rape. What constitutes a sexual assault is determined by the laws of the jurisdiction where the assault takes place, which vary considerably, and are influenced by local social and cultural attitudes. Every year, an estimated 300,000 women are raped and 3.7 million are confronted with unwanted
Sexual assault and rape are serious social and public health issues in the United States and throughout the rest of the world. In particular sexual assault on college campus are prevalent at an alarming rate and leaves serious effects on the victims. This essay will focus on statistics and the prevalence and effects amongst college students, through examining a number of reasons why women fail to report sexual assault and rape. This essay will also cover sexual assault prevention and things that can be done to mitigate the risk of becoming a victim to such matter.
The topic of sexual assault has always been a tough subject to discuss because it is a heinous crime that can and has happened to men, women, young and old. It is a topic that is disturbing and heart wrenching, especially when involving children. In the past few years, our media outlets have captured the images and stories on sexual assault, focusing mainly on College Institutions and how sexual assault cases have been handled within those institutions. Sexual assault is a very important topic to discuss, since this can happen to anyone you know, man or woman, adult or child, or yourself. This paper will touch on the different types of sexual assault, stigma of sexual assault, treatment of sexual assault, and understanding the perpetrator. There will be a brief discussion of the current social issue of college campus sexual assault. Sexual assault is such a wide topic with many areas to discuss, but this paper will outline the basic understanding of sexual assault and what can be done to overcome this stigma of sexual assault and how we can help the victims/survivors.
“Every 109 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted (RAINN.org). Sexual assault, according to the US Department of Justice is, “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient such as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.” Sexual assault victims suffer from depression, post traumatic stress disorder, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and a number of other issues. For various extenuating circumstances, sexual assault is quite the problem in Las Vegas, and while there are multiple solutions to stop sexual assault, prevention is a very effective solution to the problem.
One high school assignment that was very challenging was in my AP Language class my junior year of high school. The assignment was to write a research paper over sexual assault. This was something that was very challenging, because a few very close people to me have been victims of sexual assault. The writing process took awhile, because I decided to interview them to have them go into as much detail as possible. This was very hard on them, and it was very hard on me to see their reactions and to hear the incident. Once we got past that I went into serious research mode by reading different books about it it and searching as many credible websites as possible. I was very shocked and heartbroken to see how often sexual assault occurs to both
What is rape, and to whom does it happen? Generally speaking, rape is a violent sexual act imposed on a nonconsenting partner that makes you question many things about yourself. Unfortunately the mythology usually surrounding rape is that it only happens to women. The fact is, rape does not only happen to women, but men as well. It is one of the most misunderstood of all crimes, and when the victim is male, understanding why it has happened, is one of the hardest things to comprehend.
The military has made progress in reducing sexual assault and connecting victims to services. Sexual assault runs against the grain of military standards of service and value, yet it continues to happen. Repercussions for reporting these assaults are creating challenges for our service members, and hindering the progress of their mental and physical care. Continued and expanded efforts are needed to help support survivors and work to prevent sexual violence from occurring. Policy changes to the current reporting procedures could eradicate sexual violence and reduce the stigma surrounding the taboo topic.
Sexual violence becomes a big topic that people pay more attention to it these days. It is a positive attitude because it should let people know how serious it is. Sexual violence is not the same as other types of violence. It does not only hurt women by physical, but also hurt them by very serious mental problem. As we all know, the mental disease sometimes cannot totally recover by having medicine. Patients need other people to help them by talk with them, which can figure out the way to treat. In my opinion, the issue of sexual violence is a huge mission that should be attached importance to deal with it, also it needs the support of the public.