PAGE TWO
MARS HILL COLLEGE HILLTOP
FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1976
RAPE - WHO IS THE
VICTIM? - PART II
by Cheryl Thomas
RAPE: It's an ob
scure crime that
would never happen to
you...wrong. Here is
what one sex crimes
cop said, taken from
the book The Charge
Is Rape by Gerald
Cestor, "Whenever we
investigate a rape,
we turn up as many as
half a dozen other
rapes in the same
neighborhood, that
were never reported."
Statistics show that
no more than 2% of
all rapes are repor
ted each year. What
unmarried girl over
16 would want to re
port a rape when she
is treated as if she
had provoked the as
sault, the defense
makes her look like a
whore, and the courts
often let the rapist
walk away on a techni
cality?
RAPE is happening
all around us every
day of the year.There
are hundreds of rapes
daily all over the
United States and
less than 5% of those
rapists are convicted.
Among those raped,
black women are the
most likely victims
assaulted by black
men. A black or white
woman has most to
fear from a man of
her own race. The
chances of a white
woman being raped by
a black man are as
low as 10.5% while
those raped by their
own race rises to 30%.
These statistics are
based on a random
sample of cases from
17 cities studied by
the National Commis
sion on the Causes of
Prevention of Vio
lence . Another in
teresting conclusion
from this study is
that in most cities,
such as Washington,
D.C., almost two
thirds of the total
number of victims
were attacked by per
sons with whom they
were acquainted. Ad
ding to the serious
ness of a court trial,
the question of a
previous relationship
becomes an impossible
issue. This issue
concerns the suspi
cion of "victim-pre
cipitated rape". This
is defined as a situ
ation in which a wo
man inserts herself
into a sexually-
charged atmosphere ,
the man misunder
stands her and res
ponds with forcible
intercourse, RAPE.
Let's look at the
situation a little
closer. How often
has a woman gone out
with a good-looking
guy who seemed really
nice at the time, but
on the first day took
her to a deserted
place? He might have
proceeded to make un
reasonable advances
(when he just wanted
to "talk") that she
did not want at that
time and she insisted
that he take her home.
At this point, he has
her where he wants
her; she is totally
vulnerable and he can
oblidge her request
or force her to have
sexual intercourse.
When this happens, he
has raped her. She
can take her charge
to the police or keep
quiet. If she de
cides to press char
ges, she has to con
vince the authorities
that she did not se
duce him. The odds
are that he will say
she seduced him in
every way possible,he
could find no way to
resist and that later
she regretted what
she had done and had
cried rape. I am not
saying that this does
not happen, it does
although not as often
as we are made to
think. At any rate,
since a lot of men
believe this is what
happens, the judge
will probably believe
him. After the wo
man's reputation is
shot and the rapist
is made to look like
a poor vulnerable man.
Another rapist has
walked out into the
neighborhood to rape
another unsuspecting
victim, which is
exactly what will hap
pen if a woman keeps
quiet. '
What about the o-
ther side of rape?
Why does RAPE occur?
In our society, the
male figure is domi
nant and the attrac
tive males are most
favorably looked u-
pon by women. Females
traditionally, look
up to men, are the
passive individuals;
these are "hunted"
most by males. With
these situations in
mind, is it any won-
,der why a guy on a
date might get angry
when he can't get
what he wants?
Many People be
lieve that the woman
involved in an as
sault is responsible
for the rape because
she seduced the male
in some manner. Women
don't really have to
do much more than
wear a dress to a-
rouse a man. How ma
ny times does an at
tractive woman walk
down the street and
escape wolf calls?
When a women is at
tacked, she is faced
with the question of
whether or not she
should resist. The
most important thing
on her mind is that
she wants to walk a-
way from the assault
alive. The more a wo
man resists increases
the chances of the
man getting -scared
and "shutting her up"
for good. On the o^
ther hand, if the wo
man does not resist
and is not physical
ly abused, the case
may never get to
court. All of these
■ The HILLTOP
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Mailing ad
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^ear.
points create a vi
cious circle around
the subject of rape.
With all of this in
mind, I often wonder
why so many people
say, "a man couldn't
rape a woman if she
fought him off".
RAPE is definitely
an ugly crime and it
can happen to any wo
man at any time.Rapes
have been reported on
a female as young as
9 months and as.old
as 90 years. Rape
can happen to one's
friend, wife, daugh
ter, or lover. RAPE
is not only an issue
in the femenist move
ment. All women need
to work for its con
trol. There is a
Rape Crisis Center
continued on p. 6
FRIDj
Dear Editor:
(Dear Editoress?)
I would like to
bring before you, and
the newspaper-reading
audience, a problem
that some of us have
recognized and a few
have even chosen to
discuss in days past.
The two—fold problem
is this: It seems
that some of the
requirements of the
girls on campus treat
the guys in a sterile
cold manner if the
guys don't meet the
girl's mental "lists""
of active prospects
for serious dating.
The guys, on the
other hand, ate slow
and even reluctant to
ask the girls out for
plain - and - simple
friendly dates; the
kind that are for the
sake of enjoyable,fun
company.
As both head and
tail are essential
to the coin, so are
both of the facets of
this issue equally
important. In this
note to you,Dear Edi-"
tor, I am merely in
tending to activate
among our fellow stu
dents on campus an
awareness and a con
cern to do something
about the presently
prevailing guy/girl
relationships.
Signed,
A Concerned Student
vol. XLX, number 12 was put together
by the following people:
>ecky stone
.Susan shlrley
.John Campbell
janice taylor
debbie clary
beverly hollar
jim walker
scotty miller
regina joseph
jeanne goin
ellen peterson
Me
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