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. Regardless of whether one agrees with a culture or not, norms tell us to be accepting  of it and what it bring to the world. 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. In the midst in this craze based around social acceptance, the quality of cultures in being confused and people are so willing to accept a culture based around the exploitation of women. Children are growing up in a time where we are teaching young girls how to be extra careful and avoid rape instead of teaching boys not to be rapists.

When victims comes forward they are often brushed aside or condemned for being victims. Victims are shamed and their abusers go on living a normal life. When brought to face the justice system, rapists often roam free the very next day. Only 16% of rapists spend a night in jail. The victims may be severely traumatized by the event and their attackers are back on the streets. Due to the inconsistencies in the justice system rapists have no fear when it comes to punishment. Instead of being prosecuted, they are free to assault or abuse once again.

At Columbia University, Emma Sulkowicz was raped. Her rapist still goes to her school and roams campus freely along side of her and her peers. After reporting her assault she learned that two other young women reported that the same man raped and assaulted them in the past. However, the University found a way to dismiss each of the three cases. Students at the University filed a federal report saying that the “school is too lenient with alleged perpetrators and it discourages students from reporting assault.” So instead of being comfortable with reporting an assault, students feel uneasy. This encourages perpetrators to continue assaulting because there is no punishment for their actions.

Sources:

New source: http://time.com/98433/video-ivy-league-rape/

http://www.rccmsc.org/resources/get-the-facts.aspx