17.7 million American women have been victims of rape. The effects of rape are severe, victims of sexual assault are 3 times more likely to go into depression, 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, and 4 times more likely to commit suicide. So why is it that after all those statistics are shown, people still try to blame the victim of rape?

Rape myths allow us to blame the victim, two main theories behind the victim being blamed are the Just World Theory and the Assumptive World Theory. The Just World Theory is basically saying the victim was asking for it by the way they dress, for example a girl was wearing a white lace skirt and green tank top and the exact words of the jury foreman were, “ we all feel she asked for it by the way she was dressed.” The Assumptive World Theory is having the victim believe in self-worth, self-confidence, and luck. The reasoning for this is because some victims tend to blame themselves for the rape, when in reality it could’ve happened to anyone.

Rape is a crime of violence, power and control. No one “deserves” it. According to the World Book Encyclopedia 2007 entry for “rape”, only 2% of accused rapists are convicted; which is meaning more people think they are lying more than telling the truth about being sexually assaulted. Rape is the only crime in which the victim must prove his or her innocence.

I actually have a friend who has been raped, twice. She never got her justice because she never wanted it; the rapist convinced her that it was all her fault for this occurring. He was killed driving drunk a few months later, which made her relieved until his friend (the second rapist) kept telling her it was all her fault he was dead. He convinced her, and raped her. Her parents found out about the second boy, but taking her to the police station would not give her any justice since it was too late for DNA evidence. Also her not giving the whole story was a huge thought given in the police’s minds that it was a lie. Not giving every detail could most likely result in people thinking you are making everything up.

There is a blogger on a website called www.falserapesociety.blogspot.com, it has made women furious in the past because all it ever is doing is basically going by the Just World Theory. “We need to hold the false accusers accountable for their lies and deter them much better than we do -- because only then will false rape claims be substantially reduced. And we need to better protect the reputations of the presumed innocent and to insure that they are not unfairly deprived of their liberty prior to an adjudication simply to appease politicized interests.” –ARCHIVISIT on falserapesociety.

So many statistics show that women and even men do not ask to be raped. It normally isn’t one’s desire to live with the trauma the rest of their lives; no one should have to prove their innocence in a situation like that.