Sexual Abuse 2 Essay, Research Paper

Sexual abuse plagues people of all shapes, sizes, ethnicity?s, and backgrounds. It can include anything from making a sexual reference, to someone feeling uncomfortable and even rape. In this project, we will break down the different types of sexual abuse and explain why they occur all over the world, every single day.

First it is best to define the most violent kind of sexual abuse, which is rape. Rape is the forceful or non-forceful attempt or action of a sexual act done to a person, without their consent. Rape is a non-consensual penile penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth. Rape can also be described as sexual intercourse with a person, without their permission. Rape is accomplished by use of force by the assailant. Force can consist of many different things. It may refer to the use of verbal coercion, in order to coax the victim into sexual acts. It could also refer to actual physical restraint, in which the victim is restrained and unable to resist. Other examples of force are intimidation by verbal and physical threats, and in some cases, actual physical violence. These acts of force make it very difficult to a victim to resist sexual abuse such as rape.

There are many myths that try to justify rape as a normal sexual act. One myth is that rape is actually just sex. In fact, rape is a life-threatening act of violence. The rapist is never expressing a love or sexual desire; instead a need to feel powerful and dominating in a sexual context, is displayed. Another myth or stereotype about rape, is that most rapes occur on the street, by strangers or by drunken or out of control men. The fact is that fifty percent of rapes occur in the home. About eighty percent of the adult women that are raped are done so by close family or friends, not by strangers. Rapists can be anyone, from doctors, teachers, and bosses, to a partner, a friend, or even a date.

Sexual assault is one of the most serious and fastest growing crimes that face the world today. The National Victim Center reports that over seven hundred thousand women are raped or sexually assaulted annually. Sixty one percent of these rapes occur with women under the age of eighteen. Five percent of sexual assaults are inflicted upon males. Usually this statistic is not recognized and more often overlooked, because many people generalize that males are usually the abusers, and even if they weren?t, many males don?t even report their incidents. According to Keith Lewandowski, ?Rape can be justified in many ways.? For instance, ?After dating or spending money on a girl, or the girl is sexually experienced, one would expect sex.? In fact, no rape or sexual abuse can be justified. The act of rape is immoral and does not respect another person?s personal integrity.

Drugs and alcohol can play a large role in the occurrences of rapes and sexual abuses. As statistics show, seventy three percent of the abusers involved in rapes, and fifty three percent of the victims, had used drugs or alcohol to stimulate their minds, before the assault occurred. These acts of drug use help to cause the victims to be disoriented and it prevents them from resisting.

There are many effects of an act of rape or sexual assault. The psychological effects can include post-traumatic stress syndrome, and rape trauma syndrome, which can be identified by constant fear and being timid, helplessness, guilt, humiliation and depression, anger, and also embarrassment, among many other things. Victims of rape also tend to shy away from intimate relationships for fear of a reoccurrence of their traumatic experiences. There are also physical effects of these immoral acts. A victim may experience sexual dysfunction, a contraction of a Sexually Transmitted Disease (such as Aids and Herpes), and other obvious effects such as bleeding, abrasions, cuts, and death, if the assault is severe enough.

There are many support programs, clubs, and treatment centers for rape survivors. These are places where victims can openly discuss their traumatic experiences and try to get over them as a group. A few support programs in Massachusetts are the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition and the Rape Crisis Center in Central Mass. There are thousands of centers around the country to help these unfortunate victims of another person?s immorality that helps these people to cope with the burden of rape trauma.

Another version of Sexual Abuse, is Sexual harassment. Sexual Harassment is a form of unlawful sex discrimination. According to the law, sexual harassment is unwanted verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature that happens while working or in an educational setting. This behavior is illegal if it creates an environment that is hostile or intimidating, or if it interferes with a person?s work or school performance. Many countries, like the United States, also recognize this act as being distracting, and harmful, and they also have laws prohibiting these acts.

Sexual harassment often has harmful effects on the victim?s performance at work or school, also like those of rape and sexual assault. Both the quantity and the quality of work may suffer, as well as the employees or student?s attitude, attendance, and ability to work with other people, for they experience a lack of comfort. Harassment can also harm the victim?s psychological and physical health. One study found ninety six percent of sexual harassment victims suffer from emotional distress, and thirty five percent of the victims experience physical problems. Typical symptoms include anger, fear, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, depression, guilt, humiliation, embarrassment, nausea, fatigue, headaches, and weight gain or loss. Men, like in rape cases, also are victims of sexual harassment, although studies show that women are more likely to experience this.

These are only a few types of sexual abuse that are very present in our world today. Most of these crimes are results of desires and lack of morals, experienced by a number of people. These people do not recognize everyone?s God given rights to be treated with respect and dignity. Because of these disregards for morals, innocent people can often find themselves falling victim to such occurrences. Hopefully, in the future, people will start to recognize and respect others as human beings, and the numbers of sexual abuse crimes will fall.

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