The Effects Of Rape Culture

I want you look around the room for a minute. Do you see your classmates? According to statistics, on a college campus, one in four students will experience sexual assault. According to a 1998 National Violence Against Women Survey, nearly 18 million American women have been raped. 18 million. Rape and its culture have been affecting individuals all around the world, but today I will be focusing primarily on American women, but this does not mean that it only happens to women or only in America either. I have personally been surrounded by rape culture my whole life by having close relationships with victims of sexaul assault and by experiencing sexual assault myself. Rape is simply put as non consensual sex, and rape culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture, according to Marshall University’s Women’s Center. Rape culture and …show more content…
Some common effects are as follows: depression, anxiety, insomnia, lack of intimacy, fear of individuals, and even eating disorders. Dr. Feuereisen, a psychologist, said, "I see rape as a scar or wound that has just been cut open. When it opens, it is vulnerable. When it is sewn up it takes a long time for the flesh to heal. You can always feel the scar, always feel something. You will feel it less and less even though you know it is always there. But you will get over it." (Williams 103). As I have been around several rpae victims, I have seen many of them break down when they are reminded of their rape, but I can also testify that you think about it less and less with the more time that passes. Every single person feels different after being sexually assaulted and the duration of these lingering effects typically depends on the amount of support that the victim is