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Rape is a pervasive and serious social problem, brought to greater attention with the second-wave women's movement of the 1960-70s. The connection between rape and gender inequality is one of control. Rape, and the fear it produces, is a mechanism of social control that men in a patriarchal society use to maintain gender stratification. This type of social control occurs when women restrict their movements and behaviors due to the threat of rape. For example, women may be restricted from working late into the evening in fear of not getting home safely after dark. If a woman does not take responsibility for protecting herself by restricting her actions, and an assault does occur, she is made to feel responsible for the assault because she took such a risk. In a male-dominated society, rape both reflects the low valuation of women and contributes to their subordination in the sexual stratification system. Research shows that the lower the status of women relative to men, the higher the rape rate.

At present, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) legally defines rape as gaining carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. This definition only takes into account heterosexual rape of an adult woman. However, some states now define rape in sex-neutral terms to include sexual assault on a male victim, usually by another male. Some states have laws that distinguish among various degrees of sexual assault, each carrying a different penalty according to the seriousness of the offense. Although we know that men and children are also victims of rape, the most common form of this crime is rapes perpetrated by men with women victims.

Most rapes occur between persons who know one another. Women are most frequently raped by their husbands, ex-husbands, current or past boyfriends, relatives, and acquaintances. Stranger rapes do occur, but they only account for approximately 20 percent of all rapes. Rapists and victims tend to be of the same race and age group. Additionally, most rapists are "normal" in personality, appearance, intelligence, behavior, and sexual drive.

Since the vast majority of victims know their attacker, the main legal issue is not identity of the rapist but rather that of consent. Did the victim consent, or agree, to have sex with her attacker? Unfortunately, the courts often adjudicate rape cases from the standpoint of the accused, not the victim. Feminists object that the legal question in rape is not about the man using force to have sex with the woman (girl) against her will, but rather whether the man had reason to believe (or convincingly say he believed) the woman (girl) consented to have sex. Given this standard, defense attorneys routinely allege that victims led rapists to believe they consented. Whether a woman actually consented is less critical than the "acceptability" of a defendant's claim that he believed she did. Given this dynamic, many contend that such legal collaboration lets rapists off the hook and fosters a "second assault" of rape victims.

Among the many solutions offered to prevent rape, or serious injury if rape is imminent, women learn never to walk unaccompanied at night, to stay out of certain neighborhoods, to take self-defense courses, and to carry mace or use keys as weapons, to name a few suggestions. They hear conflicting messages about how much physical force a "would-be" victim should use. Local police departments tell women to submit if rape is imminent to avoid further injury or death. At the same time, many courts demand evidence of resistance before defining the offense as rape.

One common theme to these solutions is that women in some way need to alter their own behavior in order to avoid rape. Another commonality is their assumption of stranger rape, which completely ignores the vast amount of acquaintance rape. In any case, all of these solutions define rape as a woman's problem and neglect to confront the behavior of the assailants, namely men.

One solution that focuses on both women and men is education about rape, and research suggests that a feminist education program can counter the effects of gender-based socialization and definitions of rape that are shaped in the context of sexual inequality. Ideally these educational programs would start in high school and continue at the college level.

A more far-reaching solution to the social problem of sexual assault is to continue to work toward gender equality. Only true gender equality will dismantle the mechanism of rape as a form of social control.

Bibliography:

1) Brownmiller, Susan. 1993. Against Our Will. New York: Ballantine.

2) Herman, Dianne F. 1984. "The Rape Culture." Women: A Feminist Perspective. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

3) Martin, Patricia Yancey. 2005. Rape Work: Victims, Gender, and Emotions in Organization and Community Context. New York: Routledge.

4) Scully, Diana. 1990. Understanding Sexual Violence: A Study of Convicted Rapists. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

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