College Campus Rape Research Paper

College Campus Rape

Truly the definition of rape has changed over the years, and many people have many ideas on what it is. We all agree that rape is a terrible thing, but we no longer agree on what rape is. Today's definition has stretched beyond bruises and knives, threats and death or violence to include emotional pressure and the influence of alcohol. The lines between rape and sex begin to blur. Many say that rape is when a man has sex with a woman against her will. But then again the definition is not clear because some people feel that age determines if something is rape or not. Wiedie (2004) believes that rape is a felony by the common law declared by Parliament for the unlawful and carnal knowledge and abuse of any women over the
age of 10 years old against her will or of a female child under the age of 10 years old with her will or against her will and the offender shall not have the benefit of clergy. So here you can see that there are many ideas on what rape is but the most accurate definition is any kind of sodomizing or sexual intercourse done against the will of the women.
Rape has been around for a long time.
As this quote will state rape has been around since ancient times and is something not encouraged. "Rape was an offense under Roman Law, Jewish Law, and Anglo-Saxon Law, so it is evidence that is a crime with a long history, and misdeed severely disapproved and discouraged in a civilized society" (Warshaw, 1994, p. 86). So here you can see that rape has been out since almost the beginning of time and is not something tolerated. The fact is women are the ones who are being victimized by this crime of rape. As you will see in this quote women are the ones who are in danger, "Revisionists like Ms. Roiehe often point out that some women are categorized as rape victims in studies even though they do not identify them as such" (Warshaw, 1994, p. 84). Also in this quote it proves the same, "84% of all raped reported in the United States were done on women" (Warshaw 1994, p. 10). As stated above, the victims of rape are mostly women. Now it has been proven that rape is mostly done on women, but how does it affect them? Women that were victims of rape suffer many emotional problems. These emotional problems are called Rape Trauma Syndrome. Women who suffer from this trauma feel that they have been invaded and violated. Her own comfort zone and reality are destroyed because she has not been able to control her own physical safety. In this quote, it will show how rape affects a woman after a rape act, "Even though the actual assault is over, a
woman may suffer from Rape Trauma Syndrome, a variety of difficulties commonly experienced after a sexual assault. People respond to sexual assault in many different ways, ranging from extreme calm to extreme agitation. Some of the reactions are emotional shock, denial, nightmares, sleeplessness, intrusive memories, or thoughts about the assault, inability to work or make decisions, impaired relationships, and feeling of guilt, despair, depression, fear, anxiety, self-blame, anger"(Schwartz, 1997, p. 245). Some of the reactions of the aftermath may be short lived, while others can be troubling for months or years.
Acquaintance rape and date rape are the two most know rapes done on college campuses. Both acquaintance and date rape are similar because acquaintance rape is a rape in which the victim and the rapist know each other. In date rape it is the same only everything happens on a "date". Romeo (2000) believes acquaintance rape describes a rape in which the victim and the assault know each other, whether they are classmates, a boyfriend, or just the nice guy that lives in the apartment next door. Romeo (2000) explains that date rape is included in the definition of acquaintance rape and describes a rape that occurs while the victim and the assailant are on a date. Both acquaintance and date rape have been proven that they are almost different in most cases. They are basically similar because the rape is done by people who the victim knows. Also they are similar because they have the same affect on why it happens, the condition the victim is usually in, the numbers of it being reported, and what the aggressor will try to get what he wants. Here is an example of acquaintance rape, "In 1978 I was raped by an acquaintance in my college dorm. This was no murky instance of date rape; I was asleep when the perpetrator, a guest at a party my roommate was given in our campus apartment, let himself in, gripped my arms over my head and bored his way into me" (Warshaw, 1994, p. 84). Warswhaw (1994) states another instance, when a female attends a party in her dorm at a university, and a football player an acquaintance asks her to come to his room down the hall. She refuses, and he insults her, not listening to her protest to stop, the football player forces her to his room.
There are a number of different reasons why acquaintance and date rape happens