Consent is still Sexy

From a young age parents tell their children to keep an open mind and embrace different cultures. They teach us to be courteous and mindful of different backgrounds and traditions. But would one teach their child to embrace the idea of assaulting women? Do we accept assault simply because it’s embraced in one’s culture? A brand new culture has been introduced to society today. A culture that doesn’t rely on different food or a person’s origin. Rape culture is when society blames victims of sexual assault and normalize male sexual violence. Do we want to raise our children to believe that women shouldn’t be victims rather than teaching them not to victimize women?

Rape culture exists because men define rape. As a society we let the group of people responsible for majority of rapes define what constitutes it. Men defining rape dates all the way back about 1780 B.C. to the Code of Hammurabi. The law stated that if a virgin were raped it was considered property damage to her father. If a married woman were raped she was an adulteress and was thrown in the river. Since then it hasn’t improved too much. In 1814, Dr. Samuel Farr stated that if a woman didn’t squirm a lot during her attack, it wasn’t rape. His reasoning, “you can’t thread a moving needle.” Flash forward to 2012, the FBI gave a newer definition. “The new, expanded definition includes other forms of sexual assault, other genders, and instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, including due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or because of age.”

The inconsistencies of defining rape has led to injustice to the victims. Only 16% of rapists spend a night in jail. The victims may be severely traumatized by the event and their attacker is most likely going to roam free the very next day. Due to the inconsistencies rapists have no fear when it comes to punishment. Instead of being prosecuted, they are free to assault or abuse once again.