Rape in the United States and India

One in five women worldwide might be a victim of rape or got raped in her lifetime (The United Nations, n.d.). According to Rape Gordon & Riger (1989), women fear rape more than any other crime, numerus number of women and girls worldwide suffer from sexual violence and rape. The word rape came from a Latin word “rapere”, which means to steal, seize, or carry away (Polly, 2006). Rape has always been linked to violence, it is a type of sexual assault using violence or the threat of it to force sexual intercourse or other types of sexual penetration perpetrated upon a persons will, it does not discriminate against age, race, ethnicity, or gender so males are not excluded but it is usually a women. However, the definitions of rape vary and the definition has changed frequently over the past 30 years, mostly after the feminist movement (Chasteen, 2001). Ever since the colonial period, the way sexual assault and women’s sexuality is seen have changed dramatically. Back then, women or girls held the reputation of their families, as they were seen as the center of the family and were valued and respected for their sexual purity. If a woman had sex outside of marriage, willing to or even against her will, she was seen and a fallen woman that brought shame and was often blamed for her own victimization because sexual intercourse was acceptable only within marriage (Patrica & John, 1992). With the 1960’s feminist movement people have been trying to change that perspective. Rape has been around for a long time and it happens everywhere around the globe, it is a major social issue and crime of violence that often leaves the victims life shattered. In this essay I’ll be comparing rape in two major countries, which are India and the United States of America. I chose these two countries because I wanted to compare rape in a developed and a developing country and see the differences, and what amazed me while doing my research that most countries immersed in this crime are developed countries. People will usually assume that this problem will mostly accrue in poor and not so devolved countries, but shockingly it is the total opposite. In India Rape and violence against women are huge problems that have been going on for uncountable years and it seems worse in India than in any other country. But it is actually not, India only ranks third for the number of rapes reported each year, while The United States ranks first (Sally, n.d.). The Unites States is not the only developed country with high rape rates, Sweden, France, Canada, UK and Germany are in it too (Ejaz, n.d.). So how is rape a social problem in these two countries? According to Oxford bibliographies, a social problem is any condition that disrupt or damage the society and affects a significant number of people in ways considered undesirable about which it is felt something can be done through collective social action. I think that rape meets all of the conditions that are mentioned in the definition. Rape affects many lives directly and indirectly, and there are various reasons and structural factors that cause this problem in each country. On the other side, efforts were made to reduce and eliminate the social problem in each country as well.

The super power of the world is at the first position in the race of rapes. Males are majorly the rapist holding a proportion of 99%. Out of all the victims, 91% are females while 9% are males. The U.S Bureau of Justice Statistics states that 91% of rape victims are female and 9% are male, and nearly 99% of rapists are male. 1 in 6 U.S. women and 1 in 33 U.S. men has experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). More than a quarter of college-age women report having experienced a rape or rape attempt since age 14. Additionally, an estimated 43.9% of women and 23.4% of men experienced other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes. Many victims of sexual abuse were victimized at a young age, about 79% were first raped before age 25, and 40% before age 18 (Jessica, 2014). After all, only 16% of the total cases are reported. Outdoor rape is not common in USA rather most of the rape cases takes place inside homes. According to RAIIN, Every 107 seconds, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. There is an average of 293,000 victims (age 12 or older) of sexual assault each year. 68% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. 98% of rapists will never spend a day in jail.