Analysis Of The Rape Capital, By Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer tells of how a close friend of his wife and himself had been twice sexually assaulted by someone they knew. Shocked Jon Krakauer seeks to find out more about these occurrences and this leads him to Missoula, Montana, the titular town of the book and how it came to be known as “The Rape Capital” of the United States. He begins by explaining the importance of college football to this community and how the pride they took in the sport led to the veneration of star athletes. He recounts the stories of several women who experiences sexual assault, the two main women being Alison Huguet and Cecilia Washburn and how they were assaulted at the hands of athletes. Krakauer goes into detail on the accounts of the actual assaults and how each woman faced the decision to report their assaults even though they feared backlash and retraumatization and goes on to show how their fears came true. Using several stories Krakauer illustrates about how the town police are insensitive and dismissive to victims, partly due to prevalent rape myths and misconceptions that permeates throughout society even into the justice system. He shows how they mishandled cases choosing not to pursue charges or even telling the attacker that they committed no crime or did not wish to seem them in jail. It illustrates how …show more content…
He does this by focusing on one commonly looked over aspect of rape, that is is often perpetrated by someone the victim knows and that not all rape victims will respond in ways that we think they should have or we would have. In any circumstance institutions ranging from universities all the way to the justice system should reexamine the way that they handle these