Sex is such a touchy topic amongst people in today's society, not to mention the details of the act itself. Many people are not even properly educated on the topic or anything to do with it such as how to properly protect themselves or what it means to have "consent." I have determined that my research topic will be about sexual violence and rape culture in the younger generation, focusing on the college age students. The research question I've composed is "How do we address or tackle the issue of rape and sexual violence especially among younger people particularly young women?" There are a lot of things to address on rape and rape culture topic that cannot just be solved with a simple answer. When talking on the topic of something as vast as rape, there are a lot of things that need to be focused on such as, what sexual violence is, who is affected, how they are affected and what we can do about it. I have chosen this particular subject matter because of all the exposure I have had to the topic. Over the last few years more and more people are taking a stand and no longer keeping silent on the issue. Rape is a serious crime that in some cases is not treated as such. I personally feel as if there could be more done pertaining to sexual violence cases and that we can all educate ourselves more on the issue. I have come across people in my life that have experienced sexual violence in some form or fashion. I have also seen the side that most people don't get to see too often, that being the emotional damage. I would say that I am qualified to talk about this issue because I could be affected by sexual violence myself. Being a young female in college, it is even more of a danger for me (Goldberg 12). All of the stories that I have heard and people I know that have been personally affected by this sort of violence makes me want to dig a little deeper into the real issues and help in promoting awareness and safety. Rape culture in America has been uncovered as one of the country's major issues. It is important to educate the people on what is going on as well as how we can help combat the problem. Some of the ways we could help inform people is to educated them as well providing services for the victims effected by sexual violence. That could be through creating social programs, providing better help for rape victims, also making sure that everyone is educated on the issue.

Rape culture has been defined as "a culture where we blame victims, where we disbelieve victims, where we act like rape is uncommon and trivial" (Kelley). Rape can be defined as "unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, other body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim" (Rape). In simpler words, rape is a sexual penetration against one's will. Rape therefore is not only a crime but a "major public health issue" (Schafran). With that it is important to understand that "rape is more than just a sex crime, it affects its victim psychologically and boosts women to speak up and not just hurt in silence" (Wolf). It combines the law and morality, the personal lives of people. Rape is a crime, but we often forget that it actually affects the person in many other ways. It is a major public health issue, because it affects a person mentally, emotionally, and physically (Schafran). So there is a lawful side to the situation and then there is a psychological effect of rape.The article by Schafran, central argument is that rape is also a major public health issue even though it is often not viewed as such. The article opened with a quote from C. Everett Koop on the impact of rape in several ways, "[It has] a clear and measurable impact on the physical and mental health of all our citizens. And every day, it also has a major impact upon our clinics, our hospital emergency rooms, and all of our health care facilities." There Koop gives more than just the personal effects of this act of violence, but how others play a role in the issue. How it involves a team not just police to make sure the victim is okay, but also that the proper justice is achieved. Schafran stresses many facts from surveys and other sources on all the health effects of rape, "The fact that 13% of all rape victims have actually attempted suicide confirms the devastating and potentially life-threatening impact of rape," thus showing how even more than just the justice system is needed in this act of violence (Schafran). Being that rape is more than a physical act, it affects people mentally and they may even need to get professional help. Schafran says "As for sexual offenders, health care providers who treat them must be specialists," this shows that it takes different departments of people with the right qualifications to help, making it a public health issue. Throughout the article Schafran includes lots of evidence to support the central argument that rape is also a public health issue not just a personal issue for the individual. The problem with people across America do not really see the psychosocial affects of sex crimes and if they are they just do not know where the line should be drawn and what is the best way to tackle such a multi-faceted and touchy  issue.

One reason that rape is not properly dealt with is because it is often times done when a person is unable to stop the act or is in a situation where someone is taking advantage of the situation. Rape can happen to anyone at anytime, it is just more likely to happen when a person is either intoxicated or in a place where they can be taken advantage of.  The article Incapacitated Rape Is a Big Problem talks a lot about rape and people are not fully aware of what is going on, whether it is that they are drunk or just that they are not able to defend themselves. This article also focuses on how many women entering college are likely to be assaulted and asked questions like why more people are not doing something about this issue that is getting all of this press in recent times. Often times rape happens and the victim may not even be aware at the time or does not truly understand the extent of their situation until later on. Regardless of the circumstances if the person was not open to it or in the right state of mind, it was rape and can and most likely still affects a person mentally, emotionally, and physically.

The core of the issue is how rape is handled that has made rape culture so "popular" in America and other places. To be quite honest it is not really "dealt" with but pretty much just looked over. Rape has become such a common crime and the rates have risen over the years. It is not taken as serious as other crimes and in some situation is just simply something looked over. Another reason rape may not be taken as more of a crime, is because people specifically young men feel entitled to others or women's bodies (Kelley). It is important to inform and teach each other and the children on the value of their bodies and what is and what is not okay. Based on a book written by a woman wanting to speak up about the silence of rape culture, the article basically states just how much of a problem rape in America is and how it can be handled. The article out the outline of Kate Harding's Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture, a book written on the silence of rape and how people can speak up (Kelly). The article offers advice on how to not just be a bystander, clearly defining what rape is and how we have come to almost support rape culture to continue. It starts with us first and then we must educate others if they do not quite understand.

Most people affected by rape are young people and women. The article "Date Rape Amongst Adolescents and Young Adults" attacks the topic of date rape amongst this targeted group. The article delivers straight facts from surveys and research projects done on the topic. It was stated that adolescents and young adults were four times more likely to be a victim of sexual assault than women in any other age group. The reasoning was that young women are easier to attack or lure. The article even starts to focus on how informing people could help eliminate its occurrence. Thus saying that this is the target group in which needs to be educated and protected. In American culture it is something that is not quite focused on amongst young people or anyone in general, in schools there are is not even sexual education offered to students across the nation.

Sex in general is seen as such a private matter and something like sexual violence is unfortunately kept quiet about too.  One article states "in the field of sexual violence, however, the bystander situation is more complicated," which is over all true (McMahon 488). Sometimes an on looker may not want to intervene in fear that it could backlash or even that they just do not know what they could do. "Incoming College Students Bystander Behaviors to Prevent Sexual Violence" focuses on preventing sexual violence and making it more socially acceptable to intervene. Things discussed were aimed at incoming college students so that they can be more informed and effectively be able to help someone in need. The article discusses ways the students could approach the situation safely as well as informing students on the dangers of sexual assault. Dealing with sexual violence and it being such a touchy topic, it is important that people are informed not only on what rape is but how they can step in if they need too. Colleges can provide, "Proactive opportunities are positive actions that students can take to demonstrate a commitment to addressing sexual violence and can include taking a class to learn more about sexual violence or becoming a peer educator on campus" (McMahon 489). As a bystander in a situation dealing with sexual violence, it can be much more complex than stepping in on another problem. The article discusses ways the students could approach the situation safely as well as informing students on the dangers of sexual assault (McMahon). These are just simple ways to get bystanders more involved, especially the younger ones since they are more likely to be effected by the issue.

Dealing with something as serious and large as rape culture, there is really no direct oppositions to informing people or speaking up on the issue. Some people may view it differently because of their religion or cultural beliefs causing it to clash with what many others believe is okay and what is not. Things such as the law and other logistics of the topic kind of go against trying to do any and everything we can to make the current ways we deal with rape better. One thing that directly affects progress being made on the issue is the law, because there has to be "proof" and it is not always easy to get proof on an issue such as sexual violence (Alter). It is difficult trying to find a balance between the justice side of sexual violence and how it affects people personally. The law may define a certain situation as something else, while the people may just say "they were asking for it," mean while the victim is hurting.Not only are we working to make sure that people are aware and that they are more informed it is important to also make it easier for the crime to be dealt with, law wise. 

Although I am very young, I have encountered other young women that have been affected or dealt with rape and or another sexual crime. I have not necessarily dealt with an issue of this stature but I have been effected because people around me have. In one particular case, the young woman was too embarrassed to even make a police report on the issue. She tried to reach out to close relatives and they victim shamed her and said that it was not much the police would even be able to do. She decided to keep it to herself for a couple months before telling her close friends. As a friend it was hard to watch, I got the chance to see how unfair it all was and how mentally and emotionally damaging it was. To this day she still has flashbacks and often times blame herself for the crime even happening. She is one, but there are many others in similar situations. Is this what we want to keep happening to our young women? Are we going to do something about rape culture?

The research question that I have proposed is arguable because it has multiple facets to it. There are many things that people can debate over pertaining to the issue of sexual violence. People argue over who is to blame for the issues, there are social constructs involved, and it is such a current issue that it is talked about quite often now. Rape Culture amongst young people specifically women needs to be addressed and there is definitely more that we can do. Based on the sources used to answer the central question, "what can we do?" there are a number of solutions or at least things that can be done to better the problem. We have to inform people as to what rape is, find ways to allow bystanders to effectively step up, and find a balance between the lawful side, public health side, and the personal devastations of sexual violence for the victim. We need to definitely focus more on making sure we do all we can for the victim (Washington). There is definitely no easy solution or just one simple solution that we can propose right away. We can start with educating more in school with programs or sexual education, allowing people to realize they can be more than just a bystander by giving them the skills to effectively intervene if they ever need too, and also not over looking all the ways that rape can affect a person so people will take it more seriously. We by keeping this issue silent and sweeping it under the rug are encouraging rape culture, so by making small changes we can as a whole tackle the issue that is sexual violence or at least cut down the rates.

