Causes of Sexual Assault

What is the actual reason one may be sexually assaulted? The definition of sexual assault is an involuntary sexual act in which a person is coerced or physically forced to engage against their will or any non consensual sexual touching of a person. The topic of sexual assault is a harsh topic to fall upon. One’s thought of sexual assault is always about if the victim was wearing something too provocative would they have gotten harassed if they had on clothes that didn’t show as much skin. What are the actual causes of sexual assault, if the way someone is dressed isn’t the case? The idea of sexual assault occurring because of the way one is dressed in an outdated statement. The belief of that is outrageous and this topic has to be investigated on a little more. One personally may think that the act of someone sexually assaulting another person is a mental thing happening within themselves. Sexual assault can happen because the perpetrator is either intoxicated and is a little more aggressive when intoxicated. One may think the perpetrator could have sexually assaulted because of pass experiences and may want to inflict their pain on others or they may have a mental health disorder and may not know how to express themselves. Another question wonders about the intoxication of the perpetrator, if they are both intoxicated at the time, would that make it consensual sex? There are many questions that may wonder the minds of people about sexual assault and rape. What was the perpetrator thinking? What may cause someone to take away someone’s dignity? Let’s begin with the mind of the perpetrator.

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If a female were to get raped no one can say it was her fault. What did she specifically do to get raped? Be herself? According to research, “1 out of every 6 women has been the victim of an attempted or completed assault throughout their lifetime”(rainn.com, page 2). Many say that because a female was wearing clothes that showed too much skin that she was the reason for her rape. Most cases of sexual assaults happen because the perpetrator may have done some time in jail. According to Rainn.com, “out of every 1,000 suspected rape perpetrators referred to prosecutors, 370 have at least one prior felony of conviction, including 100 who have 5 or more” (page 3). Basically a perpetrator of rape may have been convicted before. This has to do a lot with aggression. Because so many inmates are in jail without a female partner, many male inmates become raped while serving time. If a person were to get convicted of a crime and had to serve time, by the end of their sentence they might have gotten raped or had been the rapist. After an inmate gets out they may have that same mindset and may go after their next victim. A person who was convicted might have more aggression so it would be harder for the victim to prevent it from happening. Aggression has a lot to do with sexual assault because one may not know the harm they are doing to the victim. The most aggressive a person can get is when they are under the influence.

Many women are raped because the perpetrator may be intoxicated or a really heavy drinker. This causes the perpetrator to be more aggressive. Many stories heard about sexual assault involve intoxicated male perpetrators and female victims.

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This is an example as to why all sexual assaults are not caused by the way a woman dresses.Alcohol consumption and aggressiveness plays a big part as to why one is assaulted sexually” (page 9). Alcohol consumption is linked to sexual desire, sexual performance, risk taking and aggression. MANY MEN CANNOT CONTROL THE AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL CONSUMED! Studies have shown that perpetrators who committed an alcohol involved sexual assault were the heaviest drinkers both in general and potential sexual situations with women. Alcohol consumption influences the circumstances under which some men are most likely to commit sexual assault, but not influence who will become a perpetrator in the first place. Some men may act on their sexual arousal when intoxicated by pushing a woman for sex regardless of her response. If a woman were to refuse, it won’t take much to trigger an aggressive response for some. The more alcohol one may consume, the more one may be aggressive according to an experiment given on 113 male college students. The question that if both the female and male are intoxicated would that make it consensual sex? If sexual assault a crime committed when one is forced to have sex and consent is when both parties agree to have sex then how may one know if both parties agreed to have sex if both are intoxicated. If a person is impaired so they cannot understand the fact, nature, or extent of the sexual situation then there is no consent. Meaning that if both parties are intoxicated and don’t know what’s going on then there is no consent. Having sex with someone of no consent is called alcohol facilitated rape and it is a crime. So therefore, if both parties are intoxicated and are both impaired because of the alcohol then there is no consent and they can be charged with alcohol facilitated rape.

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The myth that somehow provocative clothing invites predatory behavior will forever be what it is, a myth. According to feminist author Susan Brownmiller, she thinks that “men keep all women at a state of fear when it comes to rape” (page 1). Because of this statement many women may try to change the way they dress because they believe a man might get sexually aroused and it may turn into sexual violence, but this may not be the case. Brownmiller states that “man’s basic weapon of force against women is the principle agent of her fear and his will.” As a result to this statement Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer see rape as “one kind of sexual strategy that men developed with a goal of reproduction” (page 3). This statement makes no sense. A man rapes

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