Sexual Violence
Rape is an act of sexual violence against women that causes them extreme physical and psychological suffering. For a woman that is a victim of rape, it might be difficult for her live her life in a normal way before the rape. Her relationships and perceptions of other people are compromised after the ordeal. She often develops different ways of viewing people and might even end up in constant fear of others. Despite these being personal problems, there are various social implications of rape that make it a social problem (World Health Organization 2013).
Rape transformed into a social problem when it started having negative consequences for large numbers of people. In the contemporary society, most women become victims of rape or attempted rape at some time in their lives. According to Kahan (2010), for a behavior or condition to be considered a social problem, there must be a perception to address it. In this line, rape is a problem that raises considerable concerns in the society and builds the need for the society to address it.Our culture negatively contributes the threat women face by using negative and disturbing words against them. Most Americans do not care on the type of language they use on women.
For instance, when a woman is called a “bitch,” she feels dehumanized, and she sees herself as less than human and hence, worthy of being raped. The sociological perspectives merely argue that the specific behaviors and thoughts exhibited by individuals are as a result of social rather than biological forces (Abbott, Tyler, & Wallace, 2006). For this reason, according to sociologists, the problem of rape is largely caused by social forces. In accordance to the conflict theory, the main cause of rape can be traced back to the childhood of the rapist. The conflict theory explains that rapists result from a lack of fruitful relationships with others his age and a strong nurturing family life (Mardorossian, 2014). According to the theory, these circumstances significantly help to shape a person’s future tendencies to perform rape.
References
World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. World Health Organization.
Kahan, D. M. (2010). Culture, Cognition, and Consent: Who Perceives What, and Why, in Acquaintance-Rape Cases. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 729-813.
Abbott, P., Tyler, M., & Wallace, C. (2006). An introduction to sociology: Feminist perspectives. Routledge.Mardorossian, C. M. (2014). Toward a new feminist theory of rape. …
