Rape

1-2-3-4 Feminists Don't Want Another War by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.
more War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.

Patriarchy, war, rape as the “spoils” of war, and the taking of women and children as slaves in the wake of war arose together.  Recent blogs on Feminism and Religion have addressed the war on women—from the rape culture, to Humane Vitae, to the Catholic Church’s and other church’s  attempts to remove birth control from health care, to the tolerance of sexist hate speech in the culture at large. While the issue of Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a slut is being focused on in the press, the drums of war are being sounded again in the Middle East:  the US is considering bombing Iran or supporting Israel if it decides to do so.  Feminists must stand together against war and the harm it does to women, children, and all living things.

Get Your Laws off my Body! by Elise Edwards

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project.

After considering Virginia’s Transvaginal Utrasound Bill in light of the womanist critique, I wonder if... more After considering Virginia’s Transvaginal Utrasound Bill in light of the womanist critique, I wonder if religiously-motivated lawmakers considered that they alone do not have access to God’s intentions, but that the divine spirit is operative in a pregnant woman as well, would they be so willing to negate her moral agency?

On Tuesday, the senate in Virginia approved a law that would require women to get an external ultrasound before an abortion.  This is a scaled-back version of an original bill that mandated transvaginal ultrasounds prior to abortions. According to this Washington Post article, opponents like Sen. Janet D. Howell describe the measure as “state rape,” since it is the state, not the woman and her doctor who decides that she must undergo this procedure  requiring the insertion of a probe into the vagina.  Although proponents of the bill say that it is designed to give women more information about a fetus’ gestational age and development, most would agree that it is ultimately intended to discourage the women from having an abortion.

Women being “Raped too much?”: Fox News, Liz Trotta, and Rape Culture by Gina Messina-Dysert

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

I may be a bit late to the conversation, but it is impossible for me not to comment on the infuriating statements made... more I may be a bit late to the conversation, but it is impossible for me not to comment on the infuriating statements made by Liz Trotta on Fox News about the staggering 64% increase in sexual assaults against women in the military since 2006.  Responding to reports from the Pentagon about women serving in combat, Trotta complained that money is being wasted on women in the military who are “raped too much.”  The statements by the Fox News pundit well demonstrate the existence of rape culture within our society and the continued problem of victim blaming and double victimization experienced by women who have been raped.

Hagar: A Portrait of a Victim of Domestic Violence and Rape by Michele Stopera Freyhauf

by Feminism and Religion

Originally posted on the Feminism and Religion Project

This week Twitter has been a flurry with information for victims of  domestic violence and rape.  This... more This week Twitter has been a flurry with information for victims of  domestic violence and rape.  This ranges from the U.S. redefinition of rape to include men to Nigeria’s first anti-rape toll free hotline for women.  There is even a male movement to stand against rape.  This problem is an ongoing issue, one that shows no sign of diminishing or going away.  According to Amnesty International, one in three women worldwide have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused and their abuser is normally someone they know.  As I contemplate this very difficult issue, I am reminded of the Biblical Hagar in Genesis 16. The story of Hagar and Sarai is abundant

Men Can Stop Rape (http://www.mencanstoprape.org/)

in ethical situations that draw in the reader and presents complex issues that can be very troublesome.  If you take the text hermeneutically, through an ideological examination in its English translation, we have an Egyptian woman, who is also referred to as slave or concubine, forced to engage into sex with her owner’s husband for producing an heir.  Here the abuser is a woman with a docile and obedient husband portrayed by Abram.  What can we  glean from such a story for today’s battered women?  Hope or horrific defeat?

CYCLE OF BLAME OR JUST WORLD.: Effects of Legal Verdicts on Gender Patterns in Rape-Myth Acceptance and Victim Empathy

by H. Colleen Sinclair

‘And it was something we didn’t talk about': Rape of Jewish Women during the Holocaust

by Helene Sinnreich

Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History, Vol.14, No.2, Autumn 2008, pp.1–22

Framing Megan Williams: Discourses of Race, Class, and Gender in TV News Coverage of Racialized Rape

by Sarah J. Jackson

This study examines mainstream television news coverage of the kidnapping and rape of Megan Williams in late 2007 and... more This study examines mainstream television news coverage of the kidnapping and rape of Megan Williams in late 2007 and coverage of Williams' recantation in 2009. The publicity of this case provides a unique opportunity to scrutinize the under-examined topics of news coverage of white-on-black rape and white female perpetration. Feminist and critical media studies perspectives are called upon to provide an understanding of hegemonic discourses of gendered violence in media discourse. The intersection of race and class with such discourse is examined. Content and discourse analysis methods allow a critical examination of coverage of the Williams' story on four of the most watched television news sources in America. Results reveal disturbing trends in the framing of white-on-black perpetration. Additionally, stark differences in ideological constructions of rape and race are found among the news outlets examined, suggesting that some news sources do more to reproduce raced and gendered discourses of privilege than others.

Do scientific theories affect men's evaluations of sex crimes?

by Ilan Dar-Nimrod

Dar-Nimrod, I., Heine, S. J., Cheung, B. Y., & Schaller, M. (2011). Do scientific theories affect men's evaluations of sex crimes? Aggressive Behavior, 37(5), 440-449.

"Globalized Philomels: State Patriarchy, Transnational Capital, and the Femicides on the US-Mexican Border in Roberto Bolaño’s 2666" South Atlantic Review: The Journal of the Modern Language Association 75.4 (Fall 2010): 51-72.

by Laura Barberan Reinares

South Atlantic Review: The Journal of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association 75.4 (Fall 2010): 51-72.

“Lucretia and the Medieval Canonists”, Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law 19 (1989) 13-31

by Wolfgang P. Mueller

Foubert, J.D. & Masin, R. (in press). Effects of The Men’s Program on U.S. army soldiers’ intentions to commit and willingness to intervene to prevent rape: A pretest posttest study. Violence and Victims

by John Foubert

Non-commissioned male officers in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany were trained to present a one-hour rape... more Non-commissioned male officers in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany were trained to present a one-hour rape prevention workshop, The Men’s Program, to 237 enlisted male soldiers. A comparison group of 244 male soldiers received a briefing focused on reducing the individual’s risk for experiencing sexual assault, discussion of myths and facts about sexual assault, and how to avoid being accused of sexual assault. Participants in The Men’s Program experienced significant change in the predicted direction for bystander willingness to help, bystander efficacy, rape myth acceptance, likelihood of raping, and likelihood of committing sexual assault with low to medium effect sizes. Comparison group participants experienced no effect on these variables except for a significant decline in rape myth acceptance with a very low effect size. Between-group differences pointed to the efficacy of The Men’s Program. Implications of these results for rape prevention programming in the military are discussed.

Beyond Fear: Peritraumatic responses and their impact on PTSD and depression in recent crime victims.

by Debra Kaysen

Peritraumatic responses and their relationship to perceptions of threat in female crime victims

by Debra Kaysen

Cognitive mediation of childhood maltreatment and adult depression in recent crime victims*

by Debra Kaysen

The relation between interpersonal violence and substance use among a sample of university students: Examination of the role of victim and perpetrator substance …

by Debra Kaysen

Alcohol use, problems, and the course of posttraumatic stress disorder: A prospective study of female crime victims

by Debra Kaysen

Incapacitated rape and alcohol use in White and Asian American college women

by Debra Kaysen

Alcohol-involved Assault: Associations with posttrauma alcohol use, consequences, and expectancies

by Debra Kaysen

Incapacitated rape and alcohol use: a prospective analysis.

by Debra Kaysen

This study examined timing of alcohol-related sexual assaults (incapacitated rape) in relation to both alcohol... more This study examined timing of alcohol-related sexual assaults (incapacitated rape) in relation to both alcohol consumption and alcohol-related negative consequences. The sample was drawn from a randomly selected pool of college students across three campuses (n=1238) followed over a three year time period. 91% of students never experienced an incapacitated rape, 2% reported an incapacitated rape prior to the first assessment point (n=30), and 6% reported one over the course of the study (n=76). Results indicated that incapacitated rape was associated with higher alcohol use and more negative consequences in the years prior to the assault. Incapacitated rape was also associated with higher alcohol use and more negative consequences during the year in which the rape took place and subsequent years, with highest rates measured for the year of the rape. These results suggest alcohol use can function as both risk factor and consequence of sexual victimization.

Alcohol-involved Assault and the Course of PTSD in Female Crime Victims

by Debra Kaysen

Kaysen, D., Lindgren, K. *, Lee, C., Lewis, M., Fossos, N. * & Atkins, D., (2010). Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23 (4), 523-527.

Although alcohol use has been associated with increased risk of victimization, little is known about how victim... more Although alcohol use has been associated with increased risk of victimization, little is known about how victim substance use at the time of assault may affect posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom development. The present study is a longitudinal examination of substance use on PTSD symptom severity and course. A community sample of female (n = 60) crime victims were assessed within five weeks of sexual or physical assault with three and six months post-assault follow-ups. Twenty-three participants had consumed alcohol or alcohol/drugs prior to the assault (38%) and 37 had consumed neither alcohol nor drugs. Analyses were conducted using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Participants who had consumed alcohol had lower initial intrusive symptoms but their symptoms improved less over time.