We have seen the phrase "rape culture" plastered onto our television screens, noted in our newspapers, and exploited on our Facebook profiles. What comes to your mind when you see the phrase "rape culture"? Let's break it down. When a person thinks of culture they usually picture a group of people or a society. But, little do they know that they are in some ways wrong. Culture according to Dictionary.com is "a way of thinking, behaving or working that exsist in a place or orginization". Then, we move onto the word rape, which again defined by Dictionary.com is "unlawful sexual intercourse or any other type of sexual penetration, without consent of the victim". By putting these two powerful words together we have accepted that rape is becoming a normal part of our culture. .
A valuable example of a common case involves 19 year old college freshman, Beth. She is known as the girl who is unfailingly quick to laugh, and that nothing can keep her down for long. That all changed at a party towards the end of her first year at college. She encountered an acquaintance she knew through friends during the last "hoorah" between classmates before returning to their homes for the summer. What started with a kiss escalated quickly. Beth was forced to do things that still scar her to this day. She was raped by the fun, out-going, everybody gets along with frat boy. ("Meet") Beth is one of the 65% of women in the U.S whose cases went unnoticed ("Chemaly") and was considered "dust under the rug". .
Rape is physical violence and often leaves the victims with physical and emotional damage. Sexual violence affects millions of Americans. In fact, every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted("Victims"). The majority of those, including Beth, fall between the ages of 18-34 ("Victims"). That night Beth became a statistic.