Violent sex: Acquaintance gang rape in Campus
There have been concerns about the issue of gang rape in colleges and campuses. Even though these learning institutions are supposed to be places of high integrity, gang rapes are a common occurrence that baffles the college administrations. Most reported cases have occurred in schools that have fraternities. Some of these incidents occur in residential halls. The attacks mostly include more than one person on a victim who either knows one of the assailants or non at all.
All the cases that have always been reported involve a single female against two or more males. In other words, it is the females who quite often become the victim of gang rape. More female college students are at risk of gang rapes than any other female population. Studies have revealed the severity and scope of this problem, even though there has not been any clear explanation as to why a group of men would opt to rape a female, especially in the institutions of higher learning.
However, the majority of gang rape incidents go unreported, and this may subject the authorities to believe that it is not a serious problem at all. This has encouraged the practice to go on since the students who find it an enjoyable practice come to feel that it is tolerable too. The college and campus authorities ought to be enlightened on the problem of fraternity and acquaintance gang rape in their colleges. The typical situation runs in the form of students holding a fraternity party; a young woman gets drunk, forgets herself then a group of men takes advantage of her.
Quite often than not, the woman is persuaded by one or two men who have seen the possibility of going away with her. The victim is always unaware of the man’s or men’s plot, and since she is intoxicated, she is not in a position to make a clear judgment. She goes with the man or men, and by the time she realizes their intention, she is either too scared to resist or too confused to escape.
The brothers, who may be as many as eleven, do their thing than live. She may protest before the actual rape takes place, but her protests are ignored. The victim, in most cases, cannot remember her assailants afterward, and this may make her not report the incident. However, the issue may not escape the ears of the campus or college administrations. They are more likely to hear it through the campus grapevine than through direct reports. The effects on the victim in most cases are too much to bear, and this may lead to her leaving school.
The men involved, however, may not consider their actions as constituting gang rape. (Ehrhart, Julie K. and Sandler, Bernice Resnick) For them, this may just pass as sex with a willing drunk lady. The fact that the woman is intoxicated, according to the men involved, is a clear indication that the woman needed group sex. Her protests are ignored because it is a common position among men that women say no to mean yes. To them, gang rape is a spicy part of the party; hence is not viewed as a crime at all. This phenomenon of gang rape is not new in learning institutions. In the past, the women involved were viewed with some form of contempt, even called names like nymphomaniacs. The argument among the student population is that she was at a place where she ought not to be.
Due to this attitude of blaming the victim, some institutions have ignored the problem and instead have used it as a warning against other female students who are most likely to indulge. In the normal social setting, such behaviors are a serious criminal offense and can land someone up to life imprisonment. In academic institutions, it is, however, viewed as a private relationship.
Even when reported, the institutions do not know how to handle them. Because sometimes there may be too much concern about the institution’s image, the authorities choose to ignore the situation. The campuses and colleges also lack formal procedures and policies on how they can deal with acquaintance gang rape. Even when the people involved are identified, the authorities can either suspend them or be asked to go for counseling. The entire fraternity may also be banned from holding parties for a given period of time. In other words, they are either subjected to not a very severe punishment to no punishment at all. This impacts negatively on the victim because she may feel like the institution accepts such practices as part of the system. (Decker, Wright, Redfern, Smith131)
Acquaintance gang rape is more traumatizing than any other sexual assault. The victims’s esteem, sense of purity, and her entire well being are lowered to the point of extinction. In the situation where she knows the people involved, she may express shame and disbelief or upset to the point that she may deny such a thing happening. In most cases, a victim of acquaintance gang rape often finds that no one understands what happened to her or how she feels about it. She is unlikely to be sympathized with because many people may hold the view that she is solely responsible for her situation.
Could insecurity and competition among men be the main reason why they engage in gang rape? Research has shown that men who join fraternities do not possess concrete personal identity and, in most circumstances, feel they are not in control of their lives. They hold the view that it’s either fate or chance which determines the course of their lives. This belief makes them not to feel responsible for their behavior. They are, in most cases, interested in dominating others, and in order to gain recognition, they opt for certain modes of practices that many students may not have the guts to indulge in.
Most of the gang rapes are preplanned. Some college reports indicate that a few fraternities have deliberately planned gang rapes as part of the day’s activity. Men in certain group situations behave in ways that may conflict with their individual principles. A man’s attitude in a gang rape situation may be influenced by the desire to prove a point to his peers rather than the hatred he has for the victim. According to Claire Walsh, men do not rape as a way to do a favor for oneself but they do it for other men. If a man in the gang does not participate, his sexual competency may be put into question. (Walsh2008) Some people have even thought of gang rape as a demonstration of man’s power over women. In other words, it is a way of showing male dominance. It is viewed not as a means of achieving anything but as an end in itself.
Females and Residential Burglary
Even though it is men who are known to be engaged in residential burglary, some cases of female involvement have been spotted. However, the circumstance that drive men and those that drive women are different. Most women who have engaged in residential burglary do not have any personal motivation towards the crime. Some have been introduced to the crime by their boyfriends, while others engage in it in order to support their kids. There are cases where the female offenders have been unwillingly forced to participate even though they had no motive of committing the crime. Due to the fear of being punished or even losing their boyfriends, these women have always participated in these crimes against their will.
There are very rare cases of women deliberately hoping to engage in residential burglary. Women are always very sensitive on how the society and, in particular their family perceives them. This may subject an offender to desist from this crime for fear of being caught and the subsequent picture that her family members will form towards her.
Some of the residential burglary cases which were investigated by Mullins and Wright illustrate a clear aspect of gender. The ability and means of selecting targets are structured by gender. (Mullins and Wright) Their study illustrates that finding a possible target for males entirely depend upon the use of female associates. According to this finding, females are able to scout homes for their male counterparts through sex or the appearance of sexual availability.
However, for female offenders, they so much capitalize on their femininity and sexuality to exploit opportunities that are available. In other words, female offenders may lure an unsuspecting individual sexually into allowing her to access his home so she may raid it when the opportunity presents itself. The actual crimes of residential burglary are often committed by men, but in the circumstances that involve females, there is always some form of division of labor. (Omari2007)The main reasons that female offenders have stated for entering burglarized homes include their expertise in finding valuable things like jewels or their ability to slip through tiny openings. Otherwise, they are not entirely involved with the entire operation. It follows then that this form of crime is a specialty for men.
It is not only crime which is gendered. The aspect of gender extends further in the institutions and structure of the society and anybody can testify to this. However, it is the females who are always disadvantaged because, more often than not, they fall victims to cruel treatments by their male counterparts.
Reference
Decker, Scott; Wright, Richard; Redfern, Allison; Smith, Dietrich. A Woman’s Place is in the Home: Females and Residential Burglary. 2008 pp.121-142
Ehrhart, Julie K. and Sandler, Bernice Resnick. Campus Gang Rape: Party Games? Web.
Fredrickson, Alexandra. (2007) Gender, Social Networks, and Residential Burglary. Web.
Mullins, Christopher and Wright Richard (2008) Criminology. Web.
Omari, Joel (2007) Women and Crime: Institutional Analysis. Nairobi Press. Nairobi.
Walsh, Claire. (2008) Building Knowledge for a Changing Climate.