According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S. every two minutes, which adds up to about 213,000 victims every year. Although the numbers are slowly decreasing, it is arguable that progress would be swifter if not for a society that facilitates sexual abuse, that is, a rape culture. Part of rape culture is the tendency for society to blame rape victims instead of rapists and to offer “prevention strategies” for the victims, implying that it is their responsibility and rapists are some sort of inevitable constant akin to earthquakes. In response to ten sexual assault cases that have taken place at South Park Slope in Brooklyn since March of 2011, NYPD police officers have been telling women to not wear shorts or skirts, as though wearing long pants will magically fend off a rapist whose main motive is power. When Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused (and eventually acquitted) of raping a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, many people dismissed the case as conspiracy and painted Diallo as a liar. In Texas, a cheerleader sued her school when she was kicked off the team for refusing to cheer for her alleged rapist and was forced to pay $35,000 in legal fees. So what does the law say about rape? The FBI’s definition of “rape” since 1927 (and only recently revised) is “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will”. Moreover, the average sentence for rape in the U.S. is 11.8 years (the average time served is 5.4 years and 2.9 years for sexual assault) whereas possession of marijuana can land a person a life sentence (average time served is 3.5 years). What are the reasons for these attitudes? There may be many, but perhaps a main one, besides insidious sexism, is the “just-world phenomenon”, i.e. the psychological tendency to believe that the world is just, that people deserve what they get and get what they deserve. Perhaps it is simply another form of denial. Therefore, one might say that the tendency is in our nature so we can’t change it. But as many psychologists know, mental states can be changed. In any event, if there is to be fundamental change in culture, there must be a fundamental change in attitudes and behaviors.
