Anti-rape movement

Origins Beginning in the late 1960s, violence against women became a salient topic of interest within the second-wave feminist movement. Through the anti-rape movement, an offshoot of the women's movement, the public was made aware of sexual violence as an important social problem deserving of attention. Sexual violence refers to both rape and sexual assault. As early as 1970, feminists began engaging in consciousness raising groups, which involved sharing personal experiences women have had with sexual violence with the wider public. In 1971, the New York Radical Feminists sponsored the first events specifically regarding sexual violence as a social problem, the first of which was a speak-out, used to attach personal stories with the cause. During the subsequent two years, feminist theorizing about rape continued. In 1975, Susan Brownmiller wrote one of the most influential pieces of literature about sexual assault of this period: Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. The psychological trauma from rape was generally ignored by medicinal and psychiatric professionals up until the 1950s and 1960s. In 1970 Sandra Sutherland and Donald J. Scherl published the first substantial study of the psychological effects of rape on its victims in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. The year 1972 marks an important milestone in the anti-rape movement due to the formation of two influential organizations: Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR) in Berkeley, California, and the Washington D.C. Rape Crisis Center. BAWAR started by first putting together packets of information concerning important safety information, such as suggestions to follow when hitchhiking, samples of the paper materials that they use (i.e., memos to hospitals or police departments requesting change, requests for donations), and medical pamphlets for survivors of rape. Also in 1972, the Washington D.C. Rape Crisis Center formed and began running the first telephone crisis line for victims of sexual violence to call, which has served as an example for future rape crisis centers. This center was the first rape crisis center within the United States. The national anti-rape movement was largely decentralized and spread across the United States. It was made-up of several main organizations which constituted "hubs" for the movement, like BAWAR and the Washington, D.C. Rape Crisis Center, which acted as crucial networking sites for the movement, as well as a wide array of less influential centers spread throughout the US. The National Organization for Women (NOW) started working on legislative reform at the national level during the mid-1970s. This organization was the first to initiate legislative reform, helping to lead all 50 states to change their laws in various ways within the decade. These reformed laws served to encourage those who have been raped to report these crimes and improved methods for prosecuting perpetrators of this violence. 2010s In 2011 Usha Vishwakarma helped found Red Brigade Trust in Lucknow, India, an organization that holds self-defense classes for women and helps spread awareness. In 2013, UNC Chapel Hill students Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino filed a complaint against the university with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, based on Title IX. The Department of Education, as a result, launched an investigation into how the university handled sexual assault cases. In September 2014 Emma Sulkowicz, a senior visual arts student at Columbia University, began protesting what they describe as the university's mishandling of a complaint against a fellow student who allegedly raped them by carrying their dorm room mattress with them every day. The protest was a performance art piece for their senior thesis entitled Carry That Weight. The performance ended with Sulkowicz's graduation. Sulkowicz's protest was reported by major news outlets including New York Magazine, which featured a portrait of Sulkowicz with their mattress on the cover of its Sept. 22 issue. In the cover article, Vanessa Grigoriadis described Sulkowicz as "the poster girl for the anti-rape movement". Sulkowicz inspired the formation of Carrying the Weight Together, "a coalition of college students and activists who are working to support survivors of sexual and domestic violence". The group organized the Carry That Weight Day of Action, which involved 130 anti-sexual violence demonstrations held across the United States. In October 2017, following allegations of sexual assault against film producer Harvey Weinstein, the Me Too movement began to spread virally on social media after a Tweet by actress Alyssa Milano. The movement is a demonstration of solidarity and awareness among survivors of sexual assault. == Legislation ==

Common law Rape, under common law, was initially defined as "the unlawful carnal knowledge of another person, and the elements of force and resistance were determinative." The common law definition of rape was used for many years and it was interpreted in different ways by each state. Under common law, it was often the case that in rape trials, the victim felt that they were the one on trial due to the deep interrogation into their background. It was also part of the law that a husband could not be accused of raping his wife based on marital exemption. According to common law, it was required that the claimant could prove that they resisted, that the complaint was prompt, and proof that they did not consent. The Doctrine of Prompt Complaint was actually considered one of the top three criteria for convicting a defendant of rape according to jurors. In New York in 1971, one of the strictest states on rape claims, their law forced victims to provide evidence for force, penetration, and identity of the perpetrator all before the case could even go to trial. These harsh guidelines and requirements made women feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods, in their own homes, and out on the streets. It was groups such as the Women for a Free Future that spoke out for law reforms to protect women and their rights. The new federal definition of rape is defined as, "non-consensual sexual intercourse 'by force, threat, or intimidation.'" Federal law has divided rape into two categories: the common law rape of an adult and statutory rape which is assaulting a minor. According to federal law, the marital exemption does not exist. In the Middle East, the Campaign Against Lebanese Rape Law - Article 522 was launched in December 2016 in order to abolish the article that permitted Lebanese rapists to escape prosecution if they married the victim. Concerns Lawmakers and the public alike had some initial concerns about changing rape laws. One of the biggest fears was that by changing the law, more accusations would arise and that wrongful convictions would be made. Another concern was that by providing women with more control during the trial, they might become overwhelmed in the process and end up dropping the case even though a conviction may have been possible. As of now, evidence has shown that there has only been a slight increase in the number of accusations, but for the most part, the probability of coming to a conviction has remained relatively stable. One of the biggest changes is that the penalties are harsher now than they have been historically. == Rape crisis centers ==

The anti-rape movement sets up rape crisis centers which seek to influence in their respective communities. These centers seek to connect with all groups of people and make their services accessible to the public and to particular minority groups who may have an increased risk of experiencing difficulty in accessing medical and other basic needs. Education Rape crisis centres offer education and outreach programs and workshops to the public, largely to prevent sexual assault from occurring. They cater their programs and workshops towards schools, community organizations, churches, and clubs, and increase awareness of the commonality of sexual assault, how to recognize it, which assertive steps to take in order to reduce the risk of experiencing it, and knowing about local resources and options in the event that one experiences sexual assault. Educational outreach programs are designed for specific age groups ranging from children to adults. Educational programs with the goal of preventing sexual violence through education and awareness can be introduced to children at an early age. Kindergarten to second grade aged children are taught to identify 'good' and 'bad' forms of touch, and how to respond to unwanted forms of touch. Older elementary school-aged children are presented with strategies of how to say "no" to inappropriate conduct. Middle and high school-aged students learn through video and discuss how to distinguish healthy relationships from harmful ones, and what constitutes sexual harassment, even within a relationship. High school students learn the definition of consent while examining different kinds of rape: stranger rape, date/acquaintance rape, and statutory rape. Many centers have a program related to substance abuse or date rape drugs. These groups may also examine emotional and psychological issues that can arise with the experience of sexual violence. Emotional and psychological focal points include fear, self-doubt, guilt, anger, shame, self-blame, or denial. Special events unique to their respective communities are hosted by rape crisis centers nationwide. Creativity and the arts are used as an effective method of local advocacy and awareness through these diverse events. The rape crisis center in Santa Barbara, California, hosts a radio show six times a year to openly discuss issues concerning sexual and domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of oppression. The Orange County Rape Crisis Center has developed a conference in Spanish called "Speaking the Forbidden: A Conference about Sexual Health, Mental Health, and Human Rights". Cleveland County Rape Crisis Center in Ohio hosts "'Girls Kick Butt': An Empowerment Conference Model for Adolescent Girls". "Girls Kick Butt" teaches empowerment by guiding girls and young women to choose healthy behaviors. Participants learn how to lessen the chance of sexual assault, and engage in activities that encourage building self-esteem. One myth that rape crisis centers work against is that rape and sexual violence is solely a women's issue. In response to a societal mentality that rape revolved around female victims, organizations such as rape crisis centers established programs that focused on the dynamic that males were the ones overwhelmingly committing the crime of rape. Such groups seek to change the male mentality into one that acknowledges their power to stop rape. One subgroup that works through some rape crisis centers is the organization "Men Can Stop Rape", which targets young men in reforming their ideas about masculinity, strength, and violence. Men are empowered by their dedication to a non-violent lifestyle as an ally to women. The organization has made extensive use of posters and other social marketing tools. "Men Can Stop Rape" is a nonprofit organization from Washington, D.C. The organization uses their theme "My Strength is Not for Hurting" to promote their Rape Prevention Education program, which emphasizes building healthy relationships. One in Four has chapters of its organization on college campuses and military bases across the United States and focuses its approach on building survivor empathy and bystander intervention. Rape crisis centers seek to ensure the best care for their patients by striving to be inclusive in their outreach programs to all groups of people. Centers acknowledge how sexual assault might be experienced by different people and different groups of people. Men, members of the LGBT community, sex workers, the homeless, Latinas, low-income people, people who are physically disabled, and non-native English speakers can attend groups specific to their needs through many crisis centers. Although the last few decades have seen a rise in awareness concerning these issues of sexual violence, some anti-rape programs are facing cuts, and anti-rape advocates worry that a movement that had much steam is in danger of losing preeminence in the public eye. == Societal criticism by the anti-rape movement in America ==

Because feminists and anti-rape advocates have varying perspectives on rape, they also have different views on the main challenges and opposition facing the anti-rape movement. While radical feminist views are often attacked (by non-feminists and equity feminists among many others) a more accepted theme in feminist and anti-rape literature is that of the prevalence of "rape culture". This concept is phrased by Marilyn French, who wrote, "The media treat male assaults on women like rape, beating, and murder of wives and female lovers, or male incest with children, as individual aberrations...obscuring the fact that all male violence toward women is part of a concerted campaign." Other feminists and anti-rape advocates take a different approach to what constitutes "rape culture", focusing less on ideas like French's "concerted campaign" in which all males are complicit and more on what they see as institutional problems in American society. They point out sociocultural conditioning from childhood on that rears boys to be susceptible to becoming rapists and girls to accept victimization. These problems include the theological and social beliefs of the Christian Right (and other conservative religious groups), the handling of rape victims by police, by the medical industry, by the courts and judges, and the problem of the acceptance of pornography and attitudes to women in American society. Criticisms of the police Many feminists and anti-rape advocates see a systemic problem with the way rape is handled immediately after it is reported to police. Advocates in Rape Crisis Centers report that very often police are the first hurdle many rape victims have to deal with right after a sexual assault occurs. The Ann Arbor Women's Center, a particularly active advocacy center founded in 1971, sees the societal problems that shape males in American culture as manifesting themselves hideously when rape victims report to often all-male police forces, writing in Freedom from Rape that: Police officers, by and large, are male. Their views, like those of other men, have been shaped by the society in which they live. It is quite possible that a policeman was raised in a typical American home, he developed a value system that typifies women as gentle, quiet, and sweet. He probably believes that women would do best to stay at home in the evening unless accompanied by a husband or proper escort. In Freedom from Rape, the Ann Arbor Women's Center goes on to argue that such prejudiced police officers (conscious or such prejudice or not) make value judgments about women who report the rape as occurring under circumstances that could be judged by some as morally dubious or practically imprudent (i.e., leaving a bar alone late at night or walking home alone at night). If the woman comes across as "outspoken, independent, and/or 'promiscuous'" she may be judged as a "that kind" of girl who was, in reality, "asking" to be raped. Many feminists also feel that policemen (indeed most men) fail to recognize what they see as a basic truth about rape – that it is about power and not sex, "an act of terror", not of lust. In Gager and Schurr's study, they argue that some (though definitely not all) police show "rape victims the same inhumanity shown by the rapists themselves." While feminists and rape crisis center workers acknowledge the honorable work some police officers do to combat rapists and be advocates for victims, they also argue that there are some categorical problems with the way law enforcement officers conceive of rape and deal with rape victims. While the Gager and Schurr study was conducted in the 1970s, current anti-rape sentiment (2007) still insists there are deep problems with the way police and courts handle rape victims and rape accusations. "Rape Victims Failed by Police and Courts" Criticism of the legal system There are many problems that feminists and rape crisis center workers have identified regarding the treatment of rape victims once the situation gets past the police and into court. Patricia Yancey Martin, in her book Rape Work: Victims, Gender, and Emotions in Organization and Community Context identifies many of these dilemmas, working to prove the thesis that "Police, prosecutors, and judges collaborate with rapists and their defenders." Martin bases her thesis on a 1993 book by former rape prosecutor Alice Vachss, who explains how her experiences led her to believe that, for a multitude of reasons, "prosecutors and judges 'collaborate' with defense attorneys and rapists to let rapists off the hook." Vachss laments that far too often rape crisis become more of a "chess match" between competing lawyers (or the state) than any attempt to provide justice or healing for the victim. The question which should be asked is "Did the man use force to have sex with the woman (or girl) against her will?" By the very nature of the American legal system, good cases with strong evidence have to be built in order for prosecuting attorneys to pursue them. While this may protect many innocent individuals accused of other crimes, very often it can shelter rapists, since courts are apt to err on the side of acquittal in a "his word versus hers" situation. In the opinion of many feminists and rape crisis center workers, courts and legal authorities unfairly portray rape victims as emotionally unstable, morally dubious, unpredictable, and erratic. Instead of assuming the victim is telling the truth and seeking healing and justice, rape victims are often attacked for their background (i.e., being prostitutes, heavy drinkers, or often sexually active) and assumed to be "probable liars". Advocates for rape victims point out that no matter what a woman's sexual history is, no one asks to be raped, and no one's choices, whatever their moral worth, destroy the necessity of their consent to engage in any sexual acts. == See also ==