Rape schedule

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Rape schedule is a concept in feminist theory used to describe the notion that women are conditioned to place restrictions on and/or make alterations to their daily lifestyles and behaviours as a result of constant fear of sexual assault. These altered behaviours may occur consciously or unconsciously. [1]

Contents

Origin of concept

The term rape schedule was first used in 1984 in Dianne Herman's essay "Rape Culture", included in Women: A Feminist Perspective [2] (3rd. edition, Jo Freeman, Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1984) and Changing Our Power [3] (J.W. Cochran & D. Langton eds., 1988). It was later made popular by Jessica Valenti, through her book Full Frontal Feminism. [4]

The concept has since been cited and discussed by feminist scholars across disciplines, including criminologist Jody Miller, lawyer Catharine MacKinnon, and philosopher Susan Griffin. These individuals have speculated on the impact of rape schedule on women's freedom, access to rights, relationships with others, and self worth. [5] [6] [7]

Background

Statistical context

Statistical analysis based on victim reporting can be used to demonstrate the prevalence of sexual assault in the United States. According to the 2015 National Crime Victimization Survey, on average, 321,500 people aged 12 or older in the US are raped or assaulted each year. Among this population, women are more likely to be raped than men: 1 in 6 women will experience an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime, compared with 1 in 33 men. [8] 91% of victims of rape and sexual assault are female. [9]

These statistics are also influenced by sexuality:

have reported experiencing some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. [9]

Age also influences rates of sexual assault. For example, when compared with the overall national average for women, women aged 18–24 who are college students are three times as likely to be victims of sexual assault; women in the same age group that are not attending college are four times as likely to experience sexual assault. [10]

Rape is one of the most underreported crimes in America. [9]

Privilege

A privilege is a right or advantage granted to a specific population that is not allowed to others. [11] In a sociological model, privilege outlines the ways that these advantages are results of larger societal systems and demonstrative of social inequality. [12]

Examples of privilege can be found through the lenses of: [12]

These lenses of privilege can be applied in considering the use of rape schedule. For example, Jody Miller has explained that prostitutes cannot adhere to a rape schedule as it would leave them 'unable to work' – adhering to a rape schedule in this manner could be seen to be 'born of privilege'. [13]

Effects

Fear

Fear of sexual assault is a commonly shared sentiment among many individuals in today's society, especially women. [14] Rape schedule dictates that this fear often forces individuals to make alterations within their everyday life, shifting routines and limiting activity to conform with a level of invisibility that will provide protection. Examples of this behavior includes taking specific routes home, being indoors by specific hours of the night, avoiding going places alone, or dressing in a specific manner. [14] Here, fear functions as both a cause and effect.

Mental and emotional impact

In the 1970s, the term rape trauma syndrome was introduced by Ann Wolbert Burgess and Lynda Lytle Holmstrom. [15]

Rape can lead to mental health disorders, such as PTSD, and statistical evidence demonstrates this trend. According to Dean G. Kilpatrick, from the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, 31% of all rape victims develop some form of PTSD at some point in their lifetime and those who were victims of rape were "6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who had never been victims of crime". Victims were also three times more likely than those who had not been sexual assaulted to experience a major depressive episode, 13.4 times more likely to have two or more major alcohol problems, and 26 times more likely to have two or more serious drug abuse problems. [16]

Because of these severe incidents, women develop rape schedules to help them try to avoid the possibility of rape occurring in the future. As a result of these fear-based rape schedules, women can be left feeling powerless, which can have an extremely debilitating impact on women's self-worth. [17]

Vulnerability

Despite adherence to any form of rape schedule, women are not guaranteed safety from the threat of sexual assault. Despite precaution, they can still be left and feel vulnerable, a phenomenon largely experienced by women and less universally by men. [18]

In an informal survey mentioned by Mary Dickson in her article, "A Woman's Worst Nightmare", many men reported that they do not feel fear when walking down the street. A man stated "as a man, I'm afraid of very little." However, in that same survey, women listed numerous things they feared. One female responded, "I'm always afraid in a situation where there's somebody that could overpower me easily. I lock my doors, park in lighted areas, don't run in dark areas." [19] This informal survey suggests that especially in these particular situations, women feel a great deal more vulnerable than men.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network</span> American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helpline, and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice through victim services, public education, public policy, and consulting services.

Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence that includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, and the torture of the person in a sexual manner.

Acquaintance rape is rape that is perpetrated by a person who knows the victim. Examples of acquaintances include someone the victim is dating, a classmate, co-worker, employer, family member, spouse, counselor, therapist, religious official, or medical doctor. Acquaintance rape includes a subcategory of incidents labeled date rape that involves people who are in romantic or sexual relationships with each other. When a rape is perpetrated by a college student on another student, the term campus rape is sometimes used.

Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, regardless of the relationship to the victim. This includes forced engagement in sexual acts, attempted or completed acts and occurs without the consent of the victim. It occurs in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread, and is considered to be one of the most traumatic, pervasive, and most common human rights violations.

Pro-feminism refers to support of the cause of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement. The term is most often used in reference to men who actively support feminism and its efforts to bring about the political, economic, cultural, personal, and social equality of women with men. A number of pro-feminist men are involved in political activism, most often in the areas of gender equality, women's rights, and ending violence against women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rape culture</span> Society in which rape is pervasive and normalised

Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-shaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence, or some combination of these. It has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape and in conflict areas where war rape is used as psychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures.

Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between the two parties. Acquaintance rape also includes rapes in which the victim and perpetrator have been in a non-romantic, non-sexual relationship, for example as co-workers or neighbors.

Rape is a traumatic experience that affects the victim in a physical, psychological, and sociological way. Even though the effects and aftermath of rape differ among victims, individuals tend to suffer from similar issues found within these three categories. Long-term reactions may involve the development of coping mechanisms that will either benefit the victim, such as social support, or inhibit their recovery. Seeking support and professional resources may assist the victim in numerous ways.

Rape trauma syndrome (RTS) is the psychological trauma experienced by a rape survivor that includes disruptions to normal physical, emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal behavior. The theory was first described by nurse Ann Wolbert Burgess and sociologist Lynda Lytle Holmstrom in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military sexual trauma</span> U.S. legal term for sexual assault or harassment during military service

As defined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, military sexual trauma (MST) are experiences of sexual assault, or repeated threatening sexual harassment that occurred while a person was in the United States Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Valenti</span> American feminist author and blogger (born 1978)

Jessica Valenti is an American feminist writer. She was the co-founder of the blog Feministing, which she wrote for from 2004 to 2011. Valenti is the author of five books: Full Frontal Feminism (2007), He's a Stud, She's a Slut (2008), The Purity Myth (2009), Why Have Kids? (2012), and Sex Object: A Memoir (2016). She also co-edited the books Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape (2008), and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World (2020). Between 2014 and 2018, Valenti was a columnist for The Guardian. She currently runs the Abortion, Every Day newsletter on Substack. The Washington Post described her as "one of the most successful and visible feminists of her generation".

The anti-rape movement is a sociopolitical movement which is part of the movement seeking to combat violence against and the abuse of women.

Rape in the United States is defined by the United States Department of Justice as "Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." While definitions and terminology of rape vary by jurisdiction in the United States, the FBI revised its definition to eliminate a requirement that the crime involve an element of force.

Campus sexual assault is the sexual assault, including rape, of a student while attending an institution of higher learning, such as a college or university. The victims of such assaults are more likely to be female, but any gender can be victimized. Estimates of sexual assault, which vary based on definitions and methodology, generally find that somewhere between 19 and 27% of college women and 6–8% of college men are sexually assaulted during their time in college.

Unacknowledged rape is defined as a sexual experience that meets the legal definition of rape, but is not labeled as rape by the victim. Instead, the victim may label the experience as "bad sex", a "miscommunication", or a regrettable hook-up. This response is more frequently recognized among victims of acquaintance rape, date rape or marital rape.

Fourth-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began around 2012 and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women, the use of internet tools, and intersectionality. The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and the marginalization of women in society.

The feminist pathways perspective is a feminist perspective of criminology which suggests victimization throughout the life course is a key risk factor for women's entry into offending.

Rape myths are prejudicial, stereotyped, and false beliefs about sexual assaults, rapists, and rape victims. They often serve to excuse sexual aggression, create hostility toward victims, and bias criminal prosecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual assault of LGBT persons</span>

Sexual assault of LGBT people, also known as sexual and gender minorities (SGM), is a form of violence that occurs within the LGBT community. While sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence can occur in all forms of relationships, it is found that sexual minorities experience it at rates that are equal to or higher than their heterosexual counterparts. There is a lack of research on this specific problem for the LGBT population as a whole, but there does exist a substantial amount of research on college LGBT students who have experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carceral feminism</span> Forms of feminism that advocate for increased prison sentences

Carceral feminism is a critical term for types of feminism that advocate for enhancing and increasing prison sentences that deal with feminist and gender issues. The term criticises the belief that harsher and longer prison sentences will help work towards solving these issues. The phrase "carceral feminism" was coined by Elizabeth Bernstein, a feminist sociologist, in her 2007 article, "The Sexual Politics of the 'New Abolitionism'". Examining the contemporary anti-trafficking movement in the United States, Bernstein introduced the term to describe a type of feminist activism which casts all forms of sexual labor as sex trafficking. She sees this as a retrograde step, suggesting it erodes the rights of women in the sex industry, and takes the focus off other important feminist issues, and expands the neoliberal agenda.

References

  1. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2007). Full Frontal Feminism . Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. pp.  63–64. ISBN   9781580052016.
  2. ↑ Reprint of "The Rape Culture" from Women: A Feminist Perspective
  3. ↑ Changing Our Power 260 (J.W. Cochran & D. Langton eds., 1988)
  4. ↑ Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Seal Press, (2007). 63
  5. ↑ Catharine A MacKinnon, Sex Equality, Foundation Press (2007) 339
  6. ↑ Stephen R. Gold's review of: Sex, Power, Conflict: Evolutionary and Feminist Perspectives, Edited by David M. Buss and Neil M. Malamuth. Oxford University, Press, New York, 1996 as cited in 'Theories of Rape' http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/vaw00/theories_of_rape.html.
  7. ↑ "The Rape Culture" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics | RAINN". www.rainn.org.
  9. 1 2 3 "Statistics About Violence" (PDF). NSVRC. National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
  10. ↑ "Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics | RAINN". www.rainn.org. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "Definition of PRIVILEGE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  12. 1 2 "A Structural Definition Of Social Privilege | MSS Research". www.mssresearch.org. MSS Research. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  13. ↑ Jody Miller, "Researching Violence Against Street Prostitutes: Issues of Epistemology, Methodology, and Ethics" in Researching Sexual Violence Against Women: Methodological and Personal Perspectives (Martin D. Schwartz ed., 1997). 144, 150.
  14. 1 2 Fisher, Emmy. "Living Life By A Rape Schedule". Feminspire. Retrieved 2015-11-02.[ self-published source ]
  15. ↑ Bourke, Joanna (2010-06-30). "Sexual Violation and trauma in historical perspective". Arbor. 186 (743): 407–416. doi: 10.3989/arbor.2010.743n1205 .
  16. ↑ Kilpatrick, Dean G. "The Mental Health Impact of Rape". University of South Carolina. National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  17. ↑ Gold, Stephen R. "Review of: Sex, Power, Conflict: Evolutionary and Feminist Perspectives". Oxford University.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  18. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2007). Full Frontal Feminism . Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. pp.  67. ISBN   9781580052016.
  19. ↑ "A Woman's Worst Nightmare". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
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