When a person encourages, aids or abets rape as a human being, not only do they offend God and religion, they sin against their own conscience, strip themselves of their humanity, and they enable a cruel crime.
“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 in 3 women will experience sexual violence in their lifetime, with 7% of those women having experienced rape or attempted rape.”
Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent, where sexual violence against women is normalized due to prejudicial societal beliefs about gender and society. Rape culture is conserved through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, downplaying rape, and victim blaming.
The notion “rape culture” was developed by second-wave feminists, primarily in the United States beginning in 1960.
Rape is defined as unlawful sexual act, mostly involving sexual intercourse, against the will of the victim, through force or the threat of a force, or with an individual who is incapable of giving legal consent because of minor status, mental illness, mental deficiency intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception.
-According to the criminal code Act, any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent or with her consent if the consent is obtained by force, or by means of threat or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm, or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act is guilty of an offense which is called RAPE.
Rape culture is always rooted in patriarchal beliefs, power, control and the social environment that allows sexual violence to be normalized and justified, fueled by the persistent gender inequalities and attitudes about gender and sexuality in every society. In Nigeria, there is a life imprisonment penalty for people who commit rape, but are these laws truly being carried out? Are rapists rotting in jail and paying for their crimes like they should?? I THINK NOT! I think that more energy is channeled into other less alarming things like cross dressers and the likes.
Rape has been trivialized and normalized in this part of the world (Nigeria) that people are no longer afraid of committing the crime itself. You see parents asking their female children who are not even in the adolescent stage to cover up and wear “modest” outfits because their uncles are coming over. When a girl gets raped and cries on the internet for help, you see people commenting really insensitive things like “what was she wearing?” “Who send am go man house?” “Hookup girl” “girls of nowadays” you never find anyone asking why a man would take advantage of a woman when she clearly doesn’t consent? It is sickening! And even at times, when a woman consents, she might not even have consented willingly, instead she might have been compelled or forced to agree to the terms because of whatever tight situation she must have found herself in. In a situation where one of the options come with a consequence, I’m afraid it is no longer a choice.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF RAPE.
The effects of rape can include both the initial physical trauma as well as deep psychological trauma. Although rape victims commonly report injuries and issues with their reproductive health after the sexual assault, rape doesn’t always involve physical force. The most common and lasting effects of rape involve mental health concerns and diminished social confidence. Physical effects of rape can arise from both forced sexual assault and those not involving forcible submission, such as drug-assisted rape.
But both forced and other types of rape can have many other physical consequences:
Some of the psychological effects include:
– Post traumatic stress disorder.
– Flashbacks, Night terrors.
– paranoia, being unable to trust anyone.
– dissociative identity disorder
-Feelings of personal powerlessness – victims feel the rapist robbed them of control over their bodies.
When a person encourages, aids or abets rape as a human being, not only do they offend God and religion, they sin against their own conscience, strip themselves of their humanity, and they enable a cruel crime.
No girl should ever be shamed for speaking up. It shouldn’t always be about what he was wearing but WHY HE DID IT. Known rapists should be reported and arrested and made to pay for their crimes.
Following these rules, the society will be a better and safer place for our children.
