I don’t like to write about serious issues because it is downright depressing, but I think it’s time to talk about a problem we are facing in society–sexual assault. If you were unaware of what exactly sexual assault is (since it is more than just rape), here is a definition provided by The United States Department of Justice.
“Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault is sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.”
All genders are sexually assaulted–some are more common than others and no matter the statistic, it is a problem we face that must be stopped. Sexual assault has occurred throughout many generations and I think it's about time we change the norm.
To start, let’s address the biggest issue at hand– justice. We ridicule individuals for drinking, for their outfits, for changing their minds. We refuse to prosecute someone without hardcore DNA evidence, signs of struggle (bruises, scarring, etc), or witnesses. Do you wanna know the first problem about this? Attempted rape does not have DNA evidence. Boom, there’s the first sexual assault case that results in a victim most likely not receiving justice. Attempted rape does indeed affect the individual the same way rape does. Secondly, children are scared and often times they do not speak up because someone in authority tells them to be quiet, to keep it their little secret. What sucks is by the time the children grow up and find the courage to tell their stories, there is no more evidence or it is past the five-year deadline. Can you even imagine having to live with that memory?
We hire big-time lawyers who slut-shame and blame alcohol, drugs, or clothing as the reasoning for sexual assault. We say “they were asking for it” as if you actually dress in hopes to be sexually assaulted. So, if we're getting technical here, is it okay to set someone on fire because it’s their fault for wearing flammable clothing? And one can get away with it? Okay, cool.
We tell our daughters to not wear “too revealing” clothes and tell our sons to not be stupid, but we never get to the point–we do not teach both males and females not to sexually assault…we teach them how to not be sexually assaulted.
We encourage people to come forward about sexual assault but we don’t give them justice. We say it’s their fault. Now the victim walks the same roads, sits in the same room, eats at the same restaurant, is forced to work with their assaulter!! Don’t you think it’s time to stop torturing these people? Don’t you think they’ve gone through enough?
