Understanding Of Rape Research Articles

Leveraging Geo-Profiling to Address Rape as a Public Health and Criminal Epidemic in the United States

Abstract Rape, as a pervasive societal issue, transcends the boundaries of public safety, criminal justice, legal jurisprudence, and public health, casting a long shadow of fear, trauma, and profound consequences across communities. This article delves into the multifaceted nature of rape, recognizing it not solely as a criminal phenomenon but as a complex public health crisis demanding comprehensive intervention. In response to the imperative of addressing rape and serial rapists as a criminal and public health epidemic, this study introduces an innovative approach that harnesses the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and geo-profiling. Through synthesizing criminological and epidemiological insights, this research elucidates the transformative role of geo-profiling in understanding, preventing and solving rape crimes. Geo-profiling data analytics capabilities are harnessed to dissect the intricate details, patterns and dynamics of rape incidents, offering a data-driven foundation for preventive strategies. Moreover, integrating geo-profiling techniques empowers law enforcement and public health agencies to map high-risk behaviors, areas and optimize resource allocation geographically. This holistic approach advances our understanding of rape as a public health crisis and informs targeted, evidence-based interventions to reduce its prevalence. In a contemporary landscape marked by the imperative of innovation and interdisciplinarity, this article contributes a nuanced perspective to the discourse surrounding rape. By unifying law enforcement, criminal justice, legal, and public health paradigms and harnessing geo-profiling as a powerful tool, we embark on a path to address rape comprehensively, recognizing its profound impact on individuals and society.

Victim blaming, prior history to sexual victimization, support for sexually assaulted friends, and rape myths acceptance as predictors of attitudes towards rape victims in the general population of Pakistan

BackgroundIndividuals who have been sexually assaulted often turn to their friends for comfort and support. Responses to such disclosures vary greatly and may be influenced by prior victimization, the relationship of the disclosure recipient to the accused, and the recipient’s acceptance of rape myths. Moreover, currently there are no studies to date that have validated the Illinois Rape Myths Acceptance Model in Pakistan.MethodTo gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, the online survey was administered to the general population. Of this sample, 512 (consisting of 312 females and 200 males) reported having received a rape disclosure from a friend.ResultsThe results showed that having lower scores on rape myths acceptance (being less likely to endorse rape myths) was significantly associated with positive attitudes towards rape victims. Similarly, being female, having graduate or above level education, not blaming the victim, having prior history of sexual victimization, offering support for friends experiencing sexual assault, and being liberal were significantly associated with positive attitudes towards rape victims. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis of the Illinois Rape Myths Acceptance Scale showed acceptable model fit indices and relevance to the Pakistani context.ConclusionIn conclusion, it has been assessed through the results that showed that having lower scores on rape myths acceptance (being less likely to endorse rape myths) was significantly associated with positive attitudes towards rape victims. Similarly, being female, having graduate or above level education, not blaming the victim, having prior history of sexual victimization, offering support for friends experiencing sexual assault, and being liberal were significantly associated with positive attitudes towards rape victims. It is further concluded that having experienced sexual victimization leads individuals towards showing empathy to rape victims and thus may influence them to provide support for such victims. The findings further show that Illinois Rape Myths Acceptance is a valid measure for measurement of rape myths in Pakistan as established through the acceptable model fit indices. With the use of validated scales, we could gain a better understanding of rape and the factors related to it, which could be used to inform practices and policy decisions.

Beyond Rape Culture? Toward A Theory of the Work of Rape

Beyond Rape Culture? Toward A Theory of the Work of Rape

Lessons from War Rape: How Can War Rape Help Understandings of Rape in South Africa?

Rape is often thought of as a crime that is incidental to the general violence of a nation. However, in order to understand the causes and consequences of rape more thoroughly, it is necessary to examine the ways in which rape is used systematically and strategically in the service of certain ideologies and national/group imperatives. It is also vital to comprehensively explore the collective or communal effects of rape. The extensive research into rape committed during times of war and/or conflict proves very valuable in developing understandings of the systematic and collective nature of rape. The aim of this article is, thus, to draw from the knowledge related to war rape to more thoroughly understand the ways in which rape in South Africa is carried out systematically and strategically in the service of developing a national identity and upholding heteropatriarchal ideologies, as well as to understand the communal effects of rape in this context. In so doing, the paper focuses on two main aspects of war rape and rape in South Africa, these being the socio-symbolic positioning of women as central to the efficacy of rape and rape as a form of social control. In addition, drawing on the correlations around war rape and rape in South Africa, the article argues that rape in South Africa could be classified and legislated as a crime against humanity, as is war rape.

‘Real rape’ and the coverage of sexual violence in Dutch newspapers, 1880 to 1930

ABSTRACT Feminist criminologists have used the concept of ‘real rape’ – the understanding of rape as a violent act by a stranger – to explain the low prosecution of acquaintance rape in contemporary society. It is argued that the media perpetuates this understanding of rape by focusing on violent assaults by strangers. Systematic analyses of such distortions in press coverage in earlier periods are, however, lacking. This article considers the Netherlands in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an interesting case because Dutch law explicitly criminalised certain forms of acquaintance assault. The article aims to determine and explain newspaper representations of the relationship between the perpetrator and victim in the coverage of sexual assault. The analysis is based on a dataset of all items on the sexual assault of women and girls in four newspapers and five sample years between 1880 and 1930. The results show that assaults by acquaintances made up only a small proportion of the cases reported in the newspapers. Many of the items match the ‘real rape’ concept. The evidence suggests the journalists were overreporting violent stranger rapes both because such stories were more easily available and because they carried a more appealing message for readers.

Countering MacKinnon on Rape and Consent

Feminists are divided on whether consent should be employed in legal definitions of rape. Catharine MacKinnon has criticized the usefulness of consent in enabling legal systems to recognize and prosecute instances of rape (MacKinnon 1989, 2005, 2016). In a recent article in this journal, Lisa H. Schwartzman defends the use of affirmative consent in rape law against MacKinnon’s critique (Schwartzman 2019). In contrast to MacKinnon, Schwartzman claims our understanding of rape must include both force and consent components. In this paper, I will argue in agreement with Schwartzman and against MacKinnon that the legal definition of rape should include an affirmative consent component. I will take Schwartzman’s discussion as my point of departure and consider whether she has responded adequately to MacKinnon’s criticisms of consent. I will argue that her responses are not fully adequate. In particular, she has not successfully rebutted the argument that an appeal to consent is unnecessary once we have accepted an expanded definition of coercion. I will then provide a more affirmative defense of affirmative consent in response to MacKinnon’s most challenging criticism.

The Rape Theory and Phenomenon among Teenagers

Social problems in Malaysia is on its red alert, especially involving rape and sexual assault among teenagers. Due to this serious increment, all the researches regarding theories and rape phenomenon among teenagers are supposed to benefit the citizens. Thus, this concept paper aims to briefly discuss the rape theories and explain the rape phenomenon among teenagers as well as the advantages obtained from rape case studies. Several rape theories and importance of understanding rape phenomenon include to introduce new branch of knowledge in psychological counselling and consequently, those importance’s would benefit the counselling practitioners (teachers, counsellors, counselling and psychology lecturers), parents, citizens, government institutions and not to forget, the NGOs

Perception of sexual violence in Tamil movies by Malaysian Indian viewers

ABSTRACT This study explored how Malaysian Indian viewers read and perceived the portrayal of sexual violence in Tamil movies produced in India. Sixty youths were selected, using a purposive sampling method, to participate in focus group discussions. The discussions were transcribed and analysed for common themes related to their reading of sexual violence in Tamil movies. Four main themes were identified in this study: forms of sexual violence; blurring lines between sexual violence and pre-marital sex; stalking; and rape comedy. Participants clearly identified rape as a form of sexual violence but were more cautious when identifying other forms of sexual violence especially when it was portrayed as part of courtship. Participants were divided in their understanding of rape as part of a comedy scene. Generally, participants accepted the way sexual violence was portrayed in the movies without overtly challenging the meaning of these portrayals. The portrayal of sexual violence and the reading of it by viewers followed traditional notions of femininity and rape myths in their society.

Avenger in distress: a semiotic study of Lisbeth Salander, rape-revenge and ideology

ABSTRACT Culturally constructed ideals and stereotypes are part of collective sense-making processes. One such stereotype is Nils Christie's ideal victim. The present study discusses how the ideal victim shares key features with another cultural stereotype: the damsel in distress. Moreover, the study addresses attempts at subverting such stereotypes, which can be found in the women avengers of rape-revenge narratives. Studies of rape-revenge narratives have elucidated how such stories (re)imagine rape victimhood and survival in Western and Nordic culture, in ways that question the ideal victim qua damsel and her underlying patriarchal ideologies from a feminist perspective. However, such critique has led to the creation of other stereotypes and ideologically complex and even problematic portrayals of rape and victimization. Through a semiotic analysis of portrayals of a popular rape-revenge protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, the present study discusses how different ideologies surface, converse, and collide in fictional narratives of rape, survival, victimhood, revenge, and retribution. The study finds that while embodying resistance to the damsel, Lisbeth Salander also embodies aspects of the patriarchal ideologies that keep the damsel in place, thus creating an ideologically complex image. This creates a space for questioning the cultural understanding of rape, victimhood, and resistance.

The Relationship Between Rape Myth Acceptance and Sexual Behaviors.

An extensive amount of research has been devoted to understanding rape myths, especially in the context of sexual attitudes. Few studies have examined sexual actions as a correlate of rape myth acceptance (RMA). As such, this study utilizes the Updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA) and its four distinct subscales to examine adherence to rape myths and an individual's view of sex and sexuality in a sample of 1,310 college students. The IRMA was included in its entirety and separated into its four subscales: "She asked for it," "He didn't mean to," "It wasn't really rape," and "She lied." Results indicated that the most impactful variables for all four subscales were adversarial heterosexual beliefs, stereotypical gender beliefs, and being male. The main implications of this study pertain to implementation of programming. Intervention programming should focus on younger males due to their increased adherence to certain rape myths. Furthermore, programs that address not only rape myths but also other traditional and negative belief systems should be employed. Results of this study lend support to the supposition that it is not necessarily individual characteristics that have a large effect on RMA but is instead a strong adherence to traditional belief systems.

The Afterlives of Rape in Medieval English Literature by Suzanne M. Edwards

Reviewed by: The Afterlives of Rape in Medieval English Literature by Suzanne M. Edwards Vickie Larsen Suzanne M. Edwards. The Afterlives of Rape in Medieval English Literature New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Pp. vii, 193. $95.00. Suzanne Edwards's The Afterlives of Rape in Medieval English Literature is not about rape, but about having been raped, about living on within the dominant epistemology of the European Middle Ages as a survivor of sexual assault. Edwards's challenging, deeply troubling—and also supremely timely—introduction challenges her readers to acknowledge [End Page 465] how their own investments in condemning rape and in calling for justice may come at the expense of accompanying survivors in their survival. It opens with a passage from City of God, in which Augustine offers theological consolation to the rape victims of invading Visigoth soldiers during the siege of Rome in 410 ce. For Augustine, Edwards tells us, rape is "an extreme bodily experience of dispossession" that "reorganizes embodiment around the knowledge that one has never been as self-possessed as one might have thought." Augustine defends the "moral, ethical and material" integrity of the rape victim and claims that any shame that a survivor might feel results not from guilt, but from "a consciousness of the self as constitutively dispossessed" (7). Regardless of how others might view the victims of 410, Augustine attributes to them a "painful—but spiritually valuable" knowledge of human limitation (8). I read and I rage at Augustine's homage to the survivor, and at Edwards's investment in it, and perhaps even at her willingness to work through it—carefully and disinterestedly—for her readers. In an age (like every other) when people of all gender identities suffer from sexual violence, some of it inside Christian spaces, Augustine's commitment to seeing victims as they live on after rape—rather than simply averting his eyes—is hardly consoling, and the supreme knowledge of "dispossession" that he accords to rape victims—with its implications of a universal powerlessness against predation—stings like salt in a wound. In Chapter 1, Edwards examines Thomas Aquinas's determination in Summa theologiae that suffering rape in obedience to God counts as martyrdom. Edwards patiently untangles Aquinas's "strained" negotiation of the problem that martyrdom must be chosen willingly while rape is, by definition, a violation of the will (23). She uses Aquinas's understanding of fear in rape narratives—fear of the loss of virginity and fear of surviving the separation of the self from the will—to frame her comparison of Ambrose's and Goscelin of St. Bertin's hagiographic retellings of the life of the Virgin of Antioch. In De virginibus, Ambrose narrates the story of the virgin's double bind: a traditional martyrdom is off the table; the virgin must choose between worshipping idols and being sent to work in a brothel. She chooses the brothel in obedience to her god, and in so doing chooses her own rape. Her first client helps her escape, and they both end up properly martyred, but not until she has consented to rape. According to Edwards, Ambrose's version emphasizes the virgin's understanding of rape as martyrdom, her rescue from it [End Page 466] being convenient for readers, but not essential to her own progress toward martyrdom. Goscelin's telling of the same tale in his Liber confortatorius emphasizes instead the virgin's fear of rape and its shameful aftermath. Goscelin's survivor will not so much be dead to the world, martyred through rape, but will live out whatever remains of her life in penitent humiliation as a whore. Edwards closes this chapter by mapping the links between rape and death in the pseudo-hagiographic Life of Christina of Markyate. Christina is not a martyr, but her pursuit of sanctity requires her to live in fear of rape and repeatedly escape from impending sexual assault. Edwards's partnering of Christina's vita with the hagiographic narratives is not entirely satisfying, insomuch as martyrdom by death or rape do not factor into the narrative (Christina valiantly rescues her virginity for her chosen spouse, Jesus). The hagio-graphic narratives might have been more...

Unacknowledged Rape in the Community: Rape Characteristics and Adjustment

Unacknowledged rape, labeling a rape as a nonvictimizing event, remains largely unstudied among non-college women. This study therefore sought to examine differences in assault characteristics, adjustment, and disclosure by rape acknowledgment status among a sample of lower income rape victims (n =104) recruited from a reproductive health clinic (mean age = 28.8 years). Although unacknowledged rape was infrequent (17.1% of victims), unacknowledged victims reported that the perpetrator used less force and were less likely to have assertively resisted, as compared to acknowledged victims. There were no significant differences in disclosure, depression, and somatic complaints between unacknowledged and acknowledged rape victims. Implications of the findings for understanding rape acknowledgment and postrape adjustment among community women are discussed.

Unacknowledged Rape in the Community: Rape Characteristics and Adjustment.

Unacknowledged rape, labeling a rape as a nonvictimizing event, remains largely unstudied among non-college women. This study therefore sought to examine differences in assault characteristics, adjustment, and disclosure by rape acknowledgment status among a sample of lower income rape victims (n = 104) recruited from a reproductive health clinic (mean age = 28.8 years). Although unacknowledged rape was infrequent (17.1% of victims), unacknowledged victims reported that the perpetrator used less force and were less likely to have assertively resisted, as compared to acknowledged victims. There were no significant differences in disclosure, depression, and somatic complaints between unacknowledged and acknowledged rape victims. Implications of the findings for understanding rape acknowledgment and postrape adjustment among community women are discussed.

Framing the problem of rape in South Africa: Gender, race, class and state histories

With rates of rape in South Africa among the highest in the world, the significance of context has surfaced repeatedly in South African scholarship on rape. Most commonly, rape is understood as a symptom of deep and pervasive gender inequality, historical, social and economic legacies of apartheid as well as post-apartheid state discourses that have normalized rape and enabled it to be tolerated. In addition, the role of masculinities has received significant attention, linked to social and economic histories and contemporary political narratives. This article considers how scholarly discussions on rape in South Africa are evolving. Applying a critical sociological lens of enquiry to the ways in which the problem of rape is constructed, it outlines the significance of state histories in understandings of rape in South Africa today, the explicit and implicit ways in which research and writing on rape is racialized and classed, and considers the implications of this.

Post-Penetration Withdrawal of Consent: Expanding the Definition of Rape in Kenya within a Hegemonic Masculinity Discourse

The gendered nature of Kenya's common law and statutory definition of rape, influenced by male hegemonic discourses, results in denying women a reasonable measure of sexual autonomy protection - especially in cases of post-penetration rape. This paper focuses on an audio tape - (in)famously referred to as the "Mollis tape" - which was 'leaked' online as its point of departure to: one, interrogate the hegemonic conceptualization of sex between men and women which places sexual control in men while stripping women off sexual autonomy; and two, analyze the limited definition (and subsequent understanding) of rape as currently conceptualized in Kenya's legal framework. The paper therefore seeks to make a case for the expansion of the definition of rape beyond Kenya's current common law and statutory understanding of rape and consent.

Feminist Framework Plus

The radical–liberal feminist perspective on rape posits that the assault is motivated by power and control rather than sexual gratification and is a violent rather than a sexual act. However, rape is a complex act. Relying on only one early strand of feminist thought to explain the etiology of rape limits feminists’ understanding of rape and the practice based upon the theory. The history of the adoption of the “power, not sex” theory is presented and the model critiqued. A more integrated model is developed and presented, the Feminist Framework Plus, which knits together five feminist theories into a comprehensive model that better explains the depth and breadth of the etiology of rape. Empirical evidence that supports each theory is detailed as well as the implications of the model on service provision, education, and advocacy.

Podstęp przy zgwałceniu w prawie polskim oraz angielskim i amerykańskim

The article discusses deception as the modus operandi of the perpetrator of rape. First, the Polish criminal law approach to rape by deception is discussed. The author presents the commonly accepted ways of understanding the term “deception” as it is used in Art. 197 § 1 of the Polish penal code. Then some interpretation discrepancies are discussed, e.g. the problem of contracting a false marriage in order to obtain the victim’s consent to sexual intercourse. Next, British and American criminal law approaches to the problem of rape by deception are presented. The author stresses the most prominent differences in understanding rape by deception in those legal systems, coming to the conclusion that they are partly due to the fact that the victim’s lack of consent (or valid consent) is seen as the main component of the crime of rape, while in the Polish penal code the lack of consent is not directly expressed and is only presumed in the process of interpreting the statutory features of the crime of rape.

Law enforcement officers' perception of rape and rape victims: a multimethod study.

In a study to assess law enforcement officers' perceptions of rape and rape victims, researchers asked 149 law enforcement officers to respond to surveys which included a definition of rape measure, an unfounded rape claims measure, and the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale-Revised (RMA-R) measure. Although most officers scored low on the RMA-R--indicating that they did not adhere to myths about rape--most officers also responded with incomplete definitions of rape and inaccurate estimates of the number of false rape claims. Multivariate analyses indicated that officers' open-ended responses did not predict their scores on the RMA-R scale. It is argued that the RMA-R alone does not accurately measure officers' understanding of rape. Officers need ongoing training on the legal elements of the crime, the necessity of sensitivity with victims, and research-based statistics on the prevalence of rape.

RAPE AND RACIAL APPRAISALS

AbstractUsing Black women's responses to same-race sexual assault, I demonstrate how scholars can use interpersonal violence to understand social processes and develop conceptual models. Specifically, I extend the concept of racial appraisal by shifting the focus from how indirect victims (e.g., family and friends) use race to appraise a traumatic event to how survivors themselves deploy race in the aftermath of rape. Relying on 111 interviews with Black women survivors in four cities, I analyze how race, gender, and class intersect and contour interpretations of sexual assault. I argue that African Americans in this study use racially inscribed cultural signifiers to root their understandings of rape within a racist social structure (i.e., a racial appraisal)—which they also perceive as sexist and, for some, classist—that encourages their silence about same-race sexual assault. African and Caribbean immigrants, however, often avoid the language of social structure in their rape accounts and use cultural references to distance themselves from African Americans. Last, I discuss the implications of my findings for Black feminist/intersectional theory.

The South African Sexual Offences Act and Local Meanings of Coercion and Consent in KwaZulu Natal: Universal Human Rights?

Abstract:In 2007 South Africa's Parliament passed the Sexual Offences Act, which had been debated since 1999. The law includes a statutory provision with new legal definitions of rape and consent. Influenced by Western human rights ideology and vocabulary, the Sexual Offences Act represents one form of discourse in South Africa about sexual coercion and consent. By using ethnographic methods, this article examines the wide disparity between some of the state discourses about coercion and consent and local beliefs and practices about the meanings of these terms in the Zulu township of Mpophomeni. Proponents of South Africa's new democracy often ignore poor young women's and men's local understandings of rape and of the violence they encounter on a daily basis. Against this background, the article offers recommendations to improve the current law and its effectiveness.