The Culture of Rape

A few weeks ago a 17-month old child was raped in Boston. I wonder what her sexual history was? I wonder what time of day it was, and whether she had on those short, bottom-hugging panties with ruffles that are so sexy on girls that age? I wonder whether she looked at the man with her cute inviting smile? Whether she misled and excited him with her visceral shrieks of pain? Or was that joy?

When I expressed my views to the male friend who was recounting the event to me, he looked at me as if I had gone mad. He didn't think it was something to joke about--nor do I. I wasn't joking, simply repeating the oft-heard responses to the crime of rape. On the day that this innocent child was victimized, and her future torn forcefully and mercilessly from her, more than 469 other women and girls were also raped. They are also innocent victims. They do not deserve to be asked about their sexual histories, or what clothes they were wearing. They ought not be obliged to prove their innocence. We ought not withhold our outcry of rage because they are older, more sexually experienced, friends with or past lovers of their victimizers.

It would be easy to view this 17-month old's rape as an isolated incident, with few implications beyond the horrifying scope of child abuse. Most of us will undoubtedly forget about this child's rape as we have forgotten about the brutal rape of an octogenarian grandmother last year in New York. I also want to forget. I want to forget the faces of my female peers who blame themselves after being "date raped," who would rather suffer the psychological and emotional consequences than be put on trial. But I can't forget the puffed eyes, or the anguished stories too many of us have heard or read.

The statistics speak for themselves. A 1995 study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that annually more than 500,000 women over age 12 reported being raped or sexually assaulted. Another survey by the same department found that in several states including Pennsylvania and Michigan, rapes of girls under age 12 constituted 25 percent or more of their total rape cases. One conservative figure from this report estimated that in 1992 17,000 girls under age 12 were raped. Both studies testified that in about three-fourths of all cases the offender was known to the victim. And although most studies are done on women, it is estimated that one in seven boys will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18.

Only the most brutal of these crimes are reported on local or national news, while the perennial sexual violence assaulting women is ignored. It is true that many states, including Massachusetts, have lately adapted stricter laws to deal with the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. Today, California has even decided to chemically castrate the offenders. While rape reform laws are needed, this is a far cry from what must be done if we are to transform a culture that fosters and condones sexual violence against women. As Emilie Buchwald comments in Transforming a Rape Culture, "Editorial responses call for more severe punishments for rapists, for longer prison sentences, even for the death penalty...[but] programs for offenders are merely holding actions to deal with today's violent men.... Until we identify and confront the issues that lead to sexual violence, we will need more prisons."

The components contributing to this rape culture are present from childhood. Whether it is the physical violence we may witness in our homes, see on television, sing along to in our popular rock and rap songs, the message is clear--violence as a form of communication is natural, praise-worthy and masculine. Throughout our adolescence and notably in our schools, the voices of women are silenced, and men are taught that they are entitled to power and the validation of their opinions. But the perpetrators are not men. Rather, the responsible party is the system to which both women and men ascribe. And lest we forget, men are also victims of this rape culture. While women are increasingly empowered to report rapes and sexual assaults (according to the National Women's Study, 16 percent of rapes are reported), boys and men who are abused are rarely comfortable enough to report sexual abuse.

We cannot afford to continue without making concrete attempts to change the course of rape and sexual assault. As Harvard students, we are removed from many of the harsh realities facing the average citizen, but this is one area where we are no less affected. Last year a Harvard student was sexually assaulted on Memorial Drive, and this semester alone several incidents of sexual assault have been reported in Cambridge. While the number of cases of "date rape" are unknown, based on national statistics it undoubtedly occurs here. The Harvard administration does not make available records on the number of rapes and sexual assaults--because it does not keep such records. We ought to demand that this information be kept, and be accessible to students and parents. The Dean's office also replaced the mandatory information sessions for first-years on sexual harassment, sexual orientation, and eating disorders with a by-request-only program. These meetings, hosted by the peer-counseling groups on campus, served to start discussions in entryways about these important topics and made known the resources available for students dealing with these issues. If first-years must attend a 15-minute police informational on bicycle theft, they ought to be mandated to attend sessions on issues they or their friends will undoubtedly grapple with. This is one area where first-years ought not have a choice--the Dean's office should make these sessions mandatory again. Our administration must spend more time not only vocalizing the school's official policy, but taking steps to create an environment absent of sexual assault and rape.

The 17-month-old baby girl was victimized not only by her 33-year-old assailant, but also by a rape culture we all created. Let's begin to take definitive steps to ensure that our children and friends do not become the next victims.

Alex-Handrah Aime is a junior living in Cabot House.