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Vanessa Alvarado
ENGL 114B
Professor Lusine Makarosyan
28 April 2015
Rape, The Act of Control
"What were you wearing?" "You were asking for it." "What was your reason for being
out that time of night?" These are questions used to interrogate the female victims of rape, as if it
was their fault. Rape is a crime and is a social issue in the United States. It has been a problem in
our society for a very long time, too long that the measure is undefined, and it is a problem today.
This crime is overlooked and the female victims are not supported and provided with the proper
resources they should receive to cope with their suffering. Society likes to shame and sanction
the victims and further threatens them to remain silent about being raped. The majority of rape
crimes are left unspoken of and not reported to the police because women are afraid. And when
the victims do choose to speak up, they are further put down by the criminal justice system. The
rates of rape are also undercounted, in goal to frame this crime as an decreasing and minor issue.
Rape is an act of control rather than of sexual pleasure. The act of rape itself is terrible but the
oppression doesn't stop when the physicality of it has. The female victims of rape face
oppression from personal levels to institutional levels in which society uses to maintain male
superiority.
The victims are threatened to stay silent by their rapist and the rest of society about being
raped. It is unfortunate that the females of rape are discouraged to report the crime because they
are likely to be shamed and sanctioned by people they know, along with strangers. Ways in
which a victim tries to avoid being shunned, looked down upon, and further oppressed is by

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remaining silent. You'd think that the victims would be encouraged to report the crime because it
is the right thing to do, but instead the opposite occurs. It is very common for a woman to remain
silent, especially when she is involved and a part of a patriarchal culture/community. Reason
being is because she is a minority and she is not the dominant sex; she holds little power in a
patriarchal environment. An example of this situation is presented in Maxine Hong Kingstons
story of No Name Woman. No Name Woman is a story of a woman who lives in a
patriarchal society of China and who commits suicide after being shunned by everyone in her
village for being pregnant out of wedlock with an unknown man. She was threatened by her
rapist with, "If you tell your family, I'll beat you. I'll kill you. Be here again next week" (7). She
kept her silence and told no one about being raped. She wasnt supported nor encouraged to
confess to what happened. By not reporting nor speaking up of her abuse, she is letting the
criminal win because he receives no consequences and is getting away with it. It promotes maledominance because in the situation it was the man who had control and power over the woman.
She was oppressed by her rapist through threats, and was oppressed by her society by being
looked down upon, sanctioned, and alienated from the rest of the villagers.
There are various and endless reasons to why women choose to not report. In Correlates
of Reasons for Not Reporting Rape to Police: Results from a National Telephone Household
Probability Sample of Women with Forcible or Drug-or-Alcohol Facilitated/Incapacitated Rape
by Amy Cohn, Heidi Zinzow, Heidi Resnick, and Dean Kilpatrick, a group of victims are
interviewed and they reveal their personal reasons for not reporting. Most of the women were
afraid of their family knowing or really of anyone knowing in general. Isn't it odd that these
women didn't want their family knowing? Shouldn't they feel comfortable and safe talking to a
close relative or anyone whom they share a close relationship with? They didn't want to tell

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anyone because they were afraid of being treated negatively and sanctioned not only by their
family or other people, but by society. The victims also mention being afraid of confronting those
in position in the justice system; For instance police, lawyers, and others who are usually male. It
is common for women to feel this way towards reporting because if she does reports she must
face a male-dominated justice system who are in control. Women are oppressed in this system
because of patriarchy. Her rapist being a male, is privileged over her. She is furthermore
discouraged and threatened by informal and formal acts of society that are meant to oppress her
and reinforce male-control.
The criminal justice system takes a different approach of oppressing the rape victims. The
criminal justice system does not support the female victims fairly as a way of maintaining gender
control and reinforcing male dominance. Shouldnt the police and law protect their victims in a
way that they dont feel helpless? Due to there being an unfair distribution of power in the
American society, males who commit a crime of rape/sexual abuse of women are charged with
minor consequences. Furthermore the victims are left feeling helpless and powerless. Rape has
been the most informal method used by men to control women. We can understand how the
criminal justice system deals with rape in Richard Johnsons Rape and Gender Conflict in
Patriarchal State. Johnson is a professional of the Department of Criminal Justice at the
University of Toledo,OH and has spent many years studying the field making him an expert over
the topic. He has closely observed the criminal justice system and their attitudes towards cases of
rape/sexually abuse. He states, The male-dominated criminal justice system may also exert less
effort in handling rape cases in an effort to maintain male superiority (2). Due to having a maledominated criminal justice system, the man in the case is likely to be more favored even if he is
guilty, than the female victim. Johnson also includes, as women began to make notable progress

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toward pursuing social-political gender equality, men would react though increasing formal and
informal means of social control against women (4). Men use rape as a method of controlling
and oppressing women, as they become more threatened by women through their social-political
progress. The rates of rape are likely to be increased and the criminal justice system is likely to
handle rape cases with even less effort. As a result of the criminal justice system failing to
provide help, equality, and justice for women who are raped, there is a sense of social control,
superiority, and oppression of women. In a sense these actions promote patriarchal power.
Even after the victims are involved with the criminal justice system they further face
being hushed and put down by society. The true number of rape rates are hidden and kept from
publics knowledge. Rape rates are undercounted by police departments in goal to undermine the
issue. Why is it that rape rates are undercounted? There are already an enormous amounts of rape
that occur in a yearly basis; those who do report, majority are undercounted by police
departments. Corey Rayburn Yung has carefully analyzed rape rates counted around different
cities and different states in the United States. He himself has taken role in the police
departments and was once asked to undercount rape rates and he refused. He shares his findings
in How to Lie with Rape Statistics: Americas Hidden Rape Crisis. He states, undercounting
rape is not just a statistical shell game, but a tactic that inhibits effective law enforcement. It is
against the countrys laws and rights to undercount rape rates, yet this crime is practiced by
police departments. It is unfair for women to be pushed to the side and not be acknowledged as
victims of rape. Due to rape rates being undercounted, it makes the crime seem like a
diminishing issue. Since it is not presented as a major issue, it receives little attention from the
public, furthermore it is not addressed on a national level. This results in the victims being

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oppressed by being left unheard and unacknowledged, vulnerable to continue to be under control
of male-dominance, patriarchy.
Rape is not just a crime, it is used as a weapon against its victims and its more than
oppression. There is a reason why women are discouraged and not supported. The victims are
kept silent because that is what the male-dominated society wants. Even when the victims choose
to speak up society oppresses them by putting them down and failing to help them. Patriarchy is
reinforced through these actions. It allows men to hold that control and superiority over women.
As a result of undercounting rape rates and handling rape cases with less effort by the justice
system, women are oppressed because they are not provided with equal rights and face
discrimination. Rape is used by a patriarchal state to oppress women, their goal is to maintain
their male power and maintain control over women. It is important for members of this society to
realize and recognize this dishonorable crime and act for change, for equality. It is not just
problematic for women but our society as a whole. The United States is a country that is known
for emphasizing human rights and their peoples' protection, but how could this statement be true
if it is so contradicting.