SS9 Social Issues - Rape/Sexual Assault

Brianna Bold
1. The social issue that I have chosen is rape/molestation. Sexual assault is the act of
subjecting someone into unwanted/improper sexual advances or activity, and rape is
any form of sexual intercourse that has been forced onto a person. Both acts invade
and disrespect personal space and comfort.
17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.
2.78 million American men have been victims of sexual assault or rape.

2. I am on the anti-rape side of the issue. Some people say that rape happens for a
reason - possibly the way the victim dressed - but they are wrong. No matter the
situation, rape NEVER happens for a reason. And rape is also NEVER the victims
fault. Just because a person acts or dresses a certain way gives you no right
whatsoever to try to take advantage of the situation. Even if you are partners with a
person, you still have no right to invade their personal space without consent. Even if
who you were with was okay with what you were doing at first, the moment they change
their minds, its over. No means no, and you either abide by that, or be classified as a
rapist or a molester.
3. In order to protest in a way to support my side of the argument, you could take a few
different routes. You could choose to protest through art, may it be a poem, a
painting/drawing, or a song. You could also arrange a protest march or demonstrations
where you and many other people could hold up signs and banners. And of course you
could also do a public speech that explains your opinion on the issue. All options are
(hopefully) violence free.
4. I found a rape poem that was performed by four - female - university students.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wu7Ax78hXo (Or go to youtube and search: rape
poems.) The poem is titled as The Rape Poem to End All Rape Poems
The four girls were able to effectively recite this rape poem mainly because of how they
put the issue in perspective, and how they spoke about the issue with so much

power. They made it so that the issue that the poem was written about was nearly
impossible to ignore.
5. Protest using the arts is much more effective because using the arts is much more
peaceful and there is minimal amount of injuries, and harm that would come to people
by using violence. Another reason that using art is more effective is because many
people are able to put issues in perspective much easier when there are no punches
being thrown of guns being fired. It is much easier to show people a piece of art that
feels like a punch to the stomach than it is to actually punch someone in the stomach
trying to get your point across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wu7Ax78hXo (Rape poem)
http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/sermonsfromthemound/files/2014/03/r
apestats.jpeg (Relashonship to victim chart)
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=molestation (Definition of
molestation/sexual assault)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rape (Definition of rape)
https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims (number of
women and men who have been victims of rape in the USA)