Rape Around The World
October 4th 2008 04:24
Sorry for the vulgarity of the title but it reflects the gist of this post i.e. it gets straight to the point. Furthermore, this entry is not about rape in general; I am looking at how Generation Y is growing up with rape. How many of us have been violated and how our various legal and social systems have reacted to it. This entry is meant to show you how your peers think about and deal with this issue.
We begin in Afghanistan where consensual and forced sexual encounters outside of marriage are both considered illegal sexual relations "because the Islamic rules say that it is". In Lashkar Gah prison, two thirds of its women prisoners are serving 20 year sentences because they were violated. Oh, how dare they! Away from the prison setting, even the women that stay home are not safe; 87% of females aged 7 years and older have been violently attacked in their own homes and half of these attacks are sexual. Furthermore, 60% of all marriages are forced, and once the marriage is performed you know a man is entitled to his conjugal rights. My information came from here.
The 'Developed' world is no safe haven for women either. The UN tells us a US woman is raped every 5 to 6 minutes and at least 40% of battered women have been raped by their partners. This site has further statistics for rape worldwide.
Perhaps more grotesque still, is the fact that a candidate for the London Assembly had this to say on the matter of rape
"To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that forcefeeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence. A woman would be more inconvenienced by having her handbag snatched."
My source for that quote can be found here. This man may be in the minority but every generation has its rapists and the last thing I want is for those within Gen Y thinking there's justification for their actions because it was sanctioned by a political figure.
Date Rape is a foggy issue where the he said, she said fiasco can complicate things further. If you have the time, the Australian Institute of Criminology has a 6 page report that includes statistics, definitions and information on what the government does to try to prevent date rape.
One thing I could not find information on was the number of male victims. The sources I found made it clear that it is possible for males to be sexually assaulted but try as I might, I could not find anything further although some years ago I did come across the fact that worldwide, 10-20% of males are sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. If anyone has any further information, it would be greatly appreciated.
We begin in Afghanistan where consensual and forced sexual encounters outside of marriage are both considered illegal sexual relations "because the Islamic rules say that it is". In Lashkar Gah prison, two thirds of its women prisoners are serving 20 year sentences because they were violated. Oh, how dare they! Away from the prison setting, even the women that stay home are not safe; 87% of females aged 7 years and older have been violently attacked in their own homes and half of these attacks are sexual. Furthermore, 60% of all marriages are forced, and once the marriage is performed you know a man is entitled to his conjugal rights. My information came from here.
The 'Developed' world is no safe haven for women either. The UN tells us a US woman is raped every 5 to 6 minutes and at least 40% of battered women have been raped by their partners. This site has further statistics for rape worldwide.
Perhaps more grotesque still, is the fact that a candidate for the London Assembly had this to say on the matter of rape
"To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that forcefeeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence. A woman would be more inconvenienced by having her handbag snatched."
My source for that quote can be found here. This man may be in the minority but every generation has its rapists and the last thing I want is for those within Gen Y thinking there's justification for their actions because it was sanctioned by a political figure.
Date Rape is a foggy issue where the he said, she said fiasco can complicate things further. If you have the time, the Australian Institute of Criminology has a 6 page report that includes statistics, definitions and information on what the government does to try to prevent date rape.
One thing I could not find information on was the number of male victims. The sources I found made it clear that it is possible for males to be sexually assaulted but try as I might, I could not find anything further although some years ago I did come across the fact that worldwide, 10-20% of males are sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. If anyone has any further information, it would be greatly appreciated.
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Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
It reminds me strongly of a book by Sheri S Tepper - Mavin Manyshaped. Its a fantasy novel, but the issues were real - in a certain population the females have dwindled, leading to a frequency of pack rapes. Mavins young brother has said to Mavin that the men tell the boys the women really like it, so its not bad. Mavin replies to him something like this -
"You like sweetcakes dont you Mertyn? What if someone came and held you down, and forced sweet cake after sweet cake down your throat, so fast you couldnt taste them and they tore your throat and cut your mouth, and kept shoving them down there until you were full and sick and terrified, then told you they would be back again to do it all on the morrow....And that you should thank them for it, because, after all, you like sweet cakes, dont you Mertyn?"
Theres some perspective, if they like using cake analogies.
Comment by Wynona Lavota
Generation Y Life