A New Approach to Rape, Essay Example

It is undoubted that rape stands out as one of the most demeaning, horrendous, and distressing experiences that an individual can ever have.  It tends to leave the victim with some feelings of self-blame, self-loathing, rage, and can even result in post-traumatic syndrome disorder (PTSD).  This thus points out the need to have rape being punished severely, just like how ordinary battery issues are handled.  The placing of rape in a typical statutory scheme has made rape to be an unclear and conflicted incident that does not guarantee the victim getting the needed justice.  Despite the existence of justifications of why rape is considered a crime of such status, these justifications seem to fail due to one reason or the other.  Rape needs to be analyzed through the lens of assault or battery and needs to be treated as such as opposed to the current handling of the issue where most rape perpetrators have walked scot-free.  However, as mentioned in the prompt, since the idea of treating rape as a crime like other forms of crime seems not to be fully implemented, can we address the reason as to why some individuals rape?

The question as to why men rape is a complicated question that draws multiple answers to all those who are asked the questions. This is due to the several factors that exist that help in producing a rapist. First, it is important to understand that there are no particular characteristics that can help identify a rapist. This means that a rapist can be any person, including the person you are looking at now. This statement is not meant to make individuals scared of everyone else, but it intends to elaborate on how there is no specific type of people who commit such a crime.  Despite the difficulty in quantifying the motives behind rape, some common characteristics linked to rapists include the lack of empathy, narcissism, and feelings of hostility towards women.  Sexual assault or rape is not more about desired sexual interest or gratification, but it is more about dominating the person.  Rape is thus not a mental disorder or behavioral issue but a criminal offense, and despite some rapists having underlying psychological issues, there is no disorder that is known to compel individuals to rape.  Rapists just see women as objects with their intention to dominate them and satisfy their sexual needs. Therefore, to avoid some incidences of rape, it is undoubted that we have to effectively socialize our young men and boys and their perception they hold against women.

As it stands, several researchers have linked men to have negative attitudes towards the victims of rape when compared to their female counterparts. That is, they mostly blame the rape victim as the perpetrator of rape as opposed to the actual offender of rape. Such a mindset thus needs to be tamed in order to handle incidences of rape in the future. The fact that most males are more likely to side with the perpetrator of rape indicates how serious this issue is hence the need to change the way males perceive rape victims. Blaming females as individuals who fuel their own rape is an unfounded truth and thus spreads the possibility of increasing the rape cases as a male may be induced to force himself on a woman because of the way she has dressed, which is a crime.

At the same time, the existing culture which holds patriarchy and dominance needs to be discredited in the 21^st century. For long, women have been treated as subtle individuals who come second after men. Although there are significant strides that have been made in ensuring that there is equality among the different genders, it is undoubted that women continue to be seen as lesser beings. The fact that they are viewed as inferior makes them be easy targets for sexual assaults, and thus males need to be educated on the importance of treating the females as their equals. The feminist approach in finding solutions to rape in this case is well applicable as by empowering the women and letting men understand the strength that females have, it will reduce the need to show dominance over these women. As earlier mentioned, rape tends to be aggravated by the need to show dominance on the females or as a result of viewing them as objects.  Therefore, handling this problem at hand is vital in ensuring that the incidences of rape are reduced to a great extent.

In a nutshell, sexual assault is an inexcusable criminal offense and an act of violence that society should not tolerate. However, despite the gravity of the crime, lots of victims have remained silent so as to avoid being blamed by society, which tends to side with the perpetrator as opposed to the victim.  Ensuring that rape is treated with the seriousness it deserves, as well as ensuring that there is a mind change among the young males, can help in reducing cases of rape. Empowering females and ensuring that males view women as their equals are important in ensuring that women are not viewed as lesser beings hence the target of attacks.