The Relentless Crime
“Every two minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted” (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network). Rape is a very common crime, happening to thousands of women and men nationwide. Although rape is a very common crime most cases go unreported to the authorities or are never spoken of. One would be surprised to learn that there are various types of rape, about four to be exact, each one leading to a bad outcome for the victims but most likely not for the perpetrator. Inflicting physical harm and psychological harm to another person is beyond cruel and one would imagine that the sentence for it would be many years in prison and maybe life, but the reality is that most rape perpetrators are let free or face few years in prison and medial fines. Rape is a brutal crime that leaves negative effects on its victim’s lives while leaving lenient consequences for the perpetrator, victims need to realize the true harm that has been caused and step forward to report the crime.
Rape, people generally believe that there is just one type of rape when in reality there are various types. About 73% percent of the time the victim knows their assailant (Bay Area Women Against Rape) In this case the type of rape would be acquaintance rape, the assailant can be anyone from their father to a family friend, or just anyone the victim is acquainted with. Other types of rape include drug facilitated rape and stranger rape which falls into three major categories; blitz sexual assault, contact sexual assault and home invasion sexual assault. According to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network drug facilitated rape is when the perpetrator uses alcohol or drugs so that the victim is incoherent and to compromise his or her ability to consent. The drugs or alcohol are also used to keep their victim from struggling and putting up a fight as well as minimizing the memory of the person. Contact sexual assault is when the perpetrator gains his or her victims trust before assaulting them (Rape, Abuse and Incest) For the most part once the assailant gains his or her victims trust they lure them to a private setting where they sexually assault their chosen innocent. Home invasion sexual assault as defined by Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, “When a stranger breaks into the victim's home to commit the assault.” The perpetrator picks their victim and stalks them, learns their routine until they feel it is best for them to break into their chosen victims home to sexually assault them. In the end rape is rape, no matter what type it is; the perpetrator must be punished.
Most people see rape as an unspeakable and horrid crime; the punishment for this crime isn’t so harsh though. Every state in the United States has their own laws for sexual assault crimes, most concluding that it’s a felony and give the perpetrator a fine of a few thousand dollars, perhaps a few years in prison but not always. For example in California the perpetrator can be punished with a formal probation, three to eight years in a California state prison, a fine of 10,000 dollars and a strike on their record; three strikes law (Shouse Law group). Whereas in Texas sexual assaults are a second-degree felony, the assailant can face two to twenty years in a state prison and maybe a 10,000-dollar fine (Find Law). Although rape is a punishable crime most victims do not report it to the authorities. In Cosmopolitans article Why Most Victims Don’t Report Rape; “…many survivors don’t want to believe that something as horrible as rape could have happened to them, so they deny that it was rape. Others are afraid they’ll be ostracized by their friends if they accuse a fellow student. And some aren’t sure that the attacker meant to harm them…” ("Why Most Victims Don’t"). Most victims are afraid of being shunned by those around them or are just in denial or too ashamed to admit what has happened to them so they believe it is best to keep to themselves the traumatic event.