Chapter Fourteen The Victimization of Women
The Victimization of Women
Violence against women is a global and political issue
Feminists assert that rape is one of the ways in which men exercise power and control
over women
Rape
Definition
Rape: nonconsenting oral, anal, or vaginal penetration obtained by force, by threat of
bodily harm, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent
Prevalence Statistics
In 2003: 93,400 reported cases of rape in US
28% of women college students experienced rape
Forcible rape is one of the most underreported crimes
1 in 5 stranger rapes & 1 in 50 acquaintance rapes are reported to the police
Gendered crime
99% of people arrested for rape are men
Lifetime chance of rape: 15-25% for women vs. 2% for men
The Impact of Rape
Psychological reactions
Anxiety, depression, suicide ideation & attempts
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): long-term psychological distress
suffered by someone who has experienced a terrifying, uncontrollable event
Many women show significant recovery within 1 year
Self-blame experienced by some, linked to worse outcomes
Black women more likely to believe Jezebel stereotype following rape
Physical reactions
Physical injuries from assault (e.g., cuts, bruises, head injuries, broken bones)
Damage to throat, rectum in some cases
Sexually transmitted diseases
Pregnancy (5% of cases)
Long-term physical effects
Worse general health, chronic pelvic pain, menstrual disturbances,
headache & other pain syndromes, intestinal disorders, and sexual
disorders
Half of college-age women do not label the experience of forced, nonconsensual sex
rape
Rape scripts of acknowledged and unacknowledged victims
Most women experience fear of rape, if not rape itself
Fear of rape restricts activities
Date Rape
40% of rapes involved a boyfriend/date
Date rape can result from male-female miscommunication
Particularly difficult to resist because there is sense of little potential threat during a
date
Alcohol consumption contributes to vulnerability
Social context of dating and the fear of embarrassment and rejection are barriers to
women’s successful resistance to date rape
Rapists
No typical rapist profile
4 factors predispose men to rape women
Violent home environment
Delinquency
Sexual promiscuity
Hostile masculine personality
Marital Rape
In many states, rape laws exclude the possibility of marital rape
Assumption that sex in marriage is husband’s right
Hale doctrine
7-14% of women experience forced sex in marriage
Marital rape linked to other marital violence
Husband who batters will also rape
Causes of Rape
Theoretical views
Victim-precipitated
Psychopathology of rapists
Feminist
Social disorganization
Data indicate that many factors contribute to rape
Cultural values (e.g., acceptance of rape myth)
Sexual scripts (e.g., male as sexual aggressor)
Early family influences of rapist (e.g., history of sexual abuse)
Peer group influences (e.g., initiation rituals)
Characteristics of the situation (e.g., war)
Characteristics of the victim (e.g., prior victimization, active resistance)
Miscommunication (e.g., men misread women’s friendliness)
Sex and power motives (e.g., expression of dominance)
Preventing Rape
Strategies fall into 3 categories
Avoiding situations with high risk of rape
Know some self-defense techniques if a rape is actually attempted
Changing the culture that contributes to rape
Guidelines for avoiding date rape
Set sexual limits
Decide early if you want to have sex
Don’t give mixed messages—be clear
Be forceful and firm
Don’t do anything you don’t want to do just to avoid a scene/ unpleasantness
Be aware that alcohol and other drugs are often associated with date rape
Trust your gut-level feelings
Be careful when you invite your date home or are invited to date’s home
Preventing Rape
Rape prevention programs
Awareness-based programs
Empathy-based programs
Social norms-based programs
Skills-based programs
Bystander intervention programs
Treating Victims
Women have different responses to rape
Cognitive-behavioral methods of treatment
Stress inoculation therapy
Exposure therapy
Treating Rapists
Risk-need-responsivity
Recidivism rates
11% for treated offenders vs. 19% for untreated offenders
Biomedical treatments & behavioral therapies
An Alternative: Restorative Justice
Repairing harm and empowering victims
Intimate Partner Violence
Some Statistics:
Women are more likely to be attacked, raped, injured, or killed by current or former
male partners than by any other type of assailant
588,000 women beaten by intimates each year in US
85% of victims of domestic violence are women
1,600 murders committed by intimate each year in US
¾ of these victims are women
33% of murders of women committed by an intimate
Internationally, 15-71% of women report being physically harmed by an intimate
partner at some point in their lives
The Batterer: Psychological Aspects
No profile of “typical” batterer
Characteristics of the batterer are better predictors of violence than are characteristics
of the victim
Violent husbands are more likely to have insecure or disorganized attachment style,
be preoccupied with their wives, have traditional gender-role attitudes
Three types of batterers
Family-only
Dysphoric-borderline
Generally violent-antisocial
Impact of Battering on the Woman
Episodes often involve a combination of assault, verbal abuse, rape, and threats
Physical injuries
Bruises, cuts, black yes, concussions, broken legs or back, miscarriages, joint
damage, hearing or vision loss, and death
Psychological effects
Denial, shock, withdrawal, confusion, numbing, fear, depression, suicide
attempts, chronic fatigue, tension, startle reactions, disturbed sleeping &
eating patterns, nightmares
Long-term effects: emotional numbing, extreme passivity, helplessness
Battered Women Syndrome or PTSD?
Why do women stay?
Hope that the husband will reform
Having no other place to go
Fear that there will be reprisals
Concern about the children
Lack of support from family or friends
Economic dependence
Impact on the children
Man who batters his wife will likely abuse his children
Witnessing domestic violence
PTSD, aggressive behavior, poorer academic functioning
Intergenerational transmission of intimate partner violence
Theories of the Causes of Woman-Battering
Psychological theories
Sociological theory
Society condones family violence
Gender-role socialization
Feminist perspective
Woman-battering is both a cause and effect of the inequality of power
between men and women
What Can Be Done?
Refuge houses
Cognitive trauma therapy
Crisis hotlines
Counseling for batterer, victim, and children
Self-defense training
Legal and police reform
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
No-drop policies
Reforms in gender roles, socialization, education
Sexual Harassment
EEOC Definition:
Harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Section 703 of Title VII. Unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a
sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when
Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of an individual’s employment
Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the
basis for employment decisions affecting such individuals, or
Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an
individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or
offensive working environment
Quid pro quo versus hostile environment
Sexual Harassment at Work
Takes many forms
Experienced by 58% of women
Same-gender harassment more common among men
Linked to anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, nausea, headaches, and PTSD
Sexual Harassment in Education
26% of male professors admitted to having had a sexual encounter or sexual
relationship with a student
55% of female college students have been harassed in some way by faculty or other
students
Ranging from insults, come-ons to sexual assault
Women report dropping courses, changing majors, or dropping out of higher
education as a result of sexual harassments
Depression, PTSD can result
Harassers
Pryor’s person x situation model of sexual harassment
Some men are more likely to sexually harass
In a situation conducive to harassment, they harass
Organizational norms play a large role in creating situations conducive to
harassment
Feminist Analysis
Activity is usually initiated by powerful male
But traditional thinking blames the victim
Issues of power and control
Harassment functions as a form of social control
Victim of harassment experiences lack of control over life
In Conclusion
Four situations in which women and girls are victimized: rape, intimate partner violence,
sexual harassment, and child sexual abuse
All have in common:
Reticence of victims to report occurrences
Victim blaming
Male expressions of power and dominance over women
Rape victim vs. rape survivor
Possibility of posttraumatic growth