ACQUAINTANCE RAPE
Acquaintance rape or date rape (as it is also related to) is a sexual assault or rape by someone who the victim knows. Acquaintances can include persons related to the victim, a workmate, classmate, religious leader-virtually anyone who is already known by the victim. Acquaintance rape is used interchangeably with date rape because it can also include someone the victim is romantically or sexually involved with. Acquaintance rape crosses all racial, age, economic, and social lines.
When pinpointing a date of origin for the term Acquaintance rape one has to begin with the studies involving acquaintance rape which began back in the 1950s. This study, which examined police files from 1958 and 1960, showed that half of all those accused of rape were men who knew the women. Diana Russell, an author, first used the term in print in 1978. Then, in 1988, Robin Warsaw published the first book on acquaintance rape called, I Never Called It Rape.
Acquaintance rape is prevalent in many societies including the United States but it is different in different cultures. In Ethiopia, for example, nearly “all sexual violence is perpetrated by the husband or boyfriend of the victim”, according to a 2005 study done by the World Health Organization. In Johannesburg, South Africa, a 1992 study revealed that nearly 80% of rapes by adult women were by strangers. In India, Acquaintance rape is called custodial rape, meaning the man has a higher status than the woman he raped. In the US acquaintance rape usually takes the form of date rape or even gang rape. So, acquaintance rape takes different forms in different cultures.
Just like with the prevalence of acquaintance rape, the reasons WHY perpetrators commit this act is just as varied. Researchers, however, say that there are common characteristics that acquaintance rapists share. These include being able to enjoy sex while the victim is intoxicated, crying, pleading, or even unconscious! Another study found that some common family backgrounds of perpetrators include having fathers who were emotionally and physically distant, extreme hostility towards women and a strong desire to control women, and also have “hyper masculine attitudes”. Still researchers say the primary motivation is sexual gratification and seduction.
The peak age for being a victim of acquaintance rape is late teens to early twenties. The effects of acquaintance rape of date rape in most cases are lifelong. Emotional, psychological effects can impair future romantic and non-romantic relationships. Self-loathing, low self-esteem, depression, unwanted pregnancy, and even suicide are the result of acquaintance rape. However the majority of victims of acquaintance rape do not sustain injuries at all, other than penetration.
One reason for the severe psychological effects of acquaintance rape is due to lack of response from the proper authorities after victims report such violence. Some victims even refuse to come forward due to pre-perceived views as to how they will be viewed by others and even because they feel they will not be believed but called liars. Some researchers have found that jurors are less likely to convict in acquaintance rape/date rape cases than they would if it were a “stranger rape” case. In other cases, even with the overwhelming amount of physical evidence, jurors have been influenced by whether or not the woman used birth control, had pre-marital sex, was scantily dressed or even whether she had engaged in drug and/or alcohol use. In these cases greater responsibility has been placed on the woman for her actions and less on the man and therefore he receives little if any punishment.
There is however hope for victims of acquaintance rape/date rape. As better awareness is brought to this issue more can be done for victims in terms of counseling and treatment both short term and long term. Title IX legislation makes it clear: “The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students’ right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime.” This will hopefully have a huge impact on college campuses across the nation in bringing not only sexual violence awareness but also spearheading prevention.
There is an anti-rape movement gaining momentum, especially with recent sexual assault cases around the nation. This movement originally came out in the 1960s/1970s along with the second wave feminism. It has grown over the years and not its goals include fighting sexual violence against women, changing attitudes of victim blaming, and also discouraging women from blaming themselves. Its focus is outreach and support and working towards building a society in which rape (of any kind) doesn’t exist.
Parrot, Andrea (1998). Coping With Date Rape and Acquaintance Rape. Rosen Publishing Group. p. 30. ISBN 0823928616.
Chancellor, Arthur S. (2012). Investigating Sexual Assault Cases (Jones & Bartlett Learning Guides to Law Enforcement Investigation). Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 167. ISBN 144964869X.
Warshaw, Robin (1994). I Never Called It Rape (Harper Perennial ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-06-092572-7.
Reeves Sanday, Peggy (1997). A Woman Scorned: Acquaintance Rape on Trial. University of California Press. pp. 186–194. ISBN 0520210921
“WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women: Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses” (PDF). World Health Organization. 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
Kumbhare, Arun R. (2009). Women of India: Their Status Since the Vedic Times. iUniverse. p. 136. ISBN 144015600X.
Violence Against Women in South Africa: State Responses to Domestic Violence and Rape. Human Rights Watch. 1995. p. 53. ISBN 1564321622.
Chancellor, Arthur S. (2012). Investigating Sexual Assault Cases (Jones & Bartlett Learning Guides to Law Enforcement Investigation). Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 167. ISBN 144964869X. Flowers, R. Barri (2000). Domestic Crimes, Family Violence and Child Abuse: A Study of Contemporary American Society. McFarland & Company. p. 85. ISBN 0786408235.
Eriksson, Maria (2011). Defining Rape: Emerging Obligations for States under International Law? (The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Human Rights Library). Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 157–158, 166. ISBN 9004202633.
Ward, Colleen (1995). Attitudes toward Rape: Feminist and Social Psychological Perspectives (Gender and Psychology series). SAGE Publications. ISBN 0803985940