A date makes people think of two people having fun together. Rape evokes images of fear a lack of control and violence. Society's misunderstanding of rape today makes rapist go free. Victims need to understand what date rape is, what happens afterwards, and what they can do to prevent it.
Teen magazine defines date rape as a sexual assault perpetuated by someone known to the victim: a friend, an employer, a date, or someone who the victim recently met. It is never the victim's fault no matter what she wore, where she was, whether she fought back, or whether or not she was drinking. The perpetrator is 100% responsible for his action (73).
Many people think the greatest danger of rape comes from a stranger, a woman is much more likely to be raped by someone she knows. Women sometimes takes on the terrible burden of guilt, thinking that they asked to be raped if they had too much to drink, went to the guy's room to listen to music or talk, or getting into his car. But the fact is that doing those things is never asking to be raped. Doing them does not means a woman is consenting to have sex with a man. Other women feel guilty because they think they didn't fight back hard enough, but the fact is that rape is rape whether or not the victim fought back. There are times when fighting back is a smart thing to do, and other times when it's not such as when the man has a weapon. Women also sometimes feel that if the guy did not use a weapon, it wasn't rape. But sex against a woman's will is always rape whether the man uses a gun, a knife, or just his bigger, stronger body to force it.
If you have had sex before, does that mean you cannot be raped? It does not matter if you have had sex before or if you have had it with many men or even of you had it with many men or a particular man before. If you do not want it, it is rape. Just because a woman agreed to do some sexual things does not mean they have had agreed to intercourse.
