Sociological Imagination
A Rape on Campus-Jon Reaman
Issues Discussed in the Article
Rape is an obvious issue discussed in this article, it has become apparent that it is extremely popular to rape if you are in a frat. The problem associating rape in UVA is that its easy to get away with. Many are too afraid to talk about their sexual assault and the resources are limited. UVA doesn’t publish their rape results making it harder to arrest to punish the men who raped. The social worries of young college students also prevents rape victims from expressing past abuse. The peer pressure from other friends takes a heavy toll on students; no one wants to be the “girl who cried rape”.
Lack of Support for Victims
When Jackie was raped she didn't tell anyone except her three best friends, not even her parents. Once her best friends treated her non empathatically she was scared to tell anyone else. Jackie was raped four weeks in the school year and it was untill the second semester before she told a school official. Because of the abuse Jackie was traumatized, she was on medication and was still severely depressed and frightened. Jackies grades were so bad that she had a meeting with the dean and her mother. Once the dean found out about the rape, she sent Jackie to the head of the sexual misconduct board. Jackie should of been at the sexual misconduct board the next day after her rape.
Social Price
When Jackie was raped, her friends rushed to pick her up and help. One friend suggested taking her to a hospital. The one thought that prevented a visit to the hospital was an affect on her reputation. Her friends feared taking Jackie to the hospital would ruin her reputation in college. The friends argued over the social price of the situation, the girl in the group mentioned how reporting this would affect their chances of getting into a frat party ever again. A problem with rape in our society is how it is viewed as the victims fault, making it seem like it was the girl who was abvusive or sexual.
Empathy
Many Choose to look at the situation with the empathy towards the accused. So many want to think the best of the situation they are ignorant to the fact that rape is an issue. To many, accusing of rape is a girls way to get back at a guy for treating her unfairly. Society needs to accept the fact that rape is an actual issue, and the people that are being hurt the most have no outlet. The victims have no way to share their pain or fear, because of the toll it will take on their reputation.