Ultimate Rape Victim Summary

Sexual assault is a serious issue that concerns all genders, yet is mainly an act of violence affects women worldwide. In her article, “The Ultimate Rape Victim”, anonymous author Jane Doe explains stigma of being a “rape survivor” and the injustice women who have been raped face from law enforcement. In her article, Doe notes that female purity is often seen as holy, whilst female sexuality is viewed as sinful (pg. 77). In her example of the devout Italian girl, Maria Goretti, Doe notes that women are basically taught that it is “better to die in a state of purity and resistance than to live defiled as a raped women” (pg. 77). She also states that this very religious point of view holds the connotation that female sexuality is problematic
Courts never seem to truly care if the rapist did or did not rape the women. It always goes back to her sexual history, if she had too much to drink, if she was under the influence, or simply what she was wearing that night. Victim-blaming is unfortunately too common in the courts, letting guilty men walk for the horrible crimes and injustice they have caused the women whom they have raped. As Doe states in her article, it is time for the courts to hire women who “work in anti-violence, who write about it and educate others and have first and experience of it, are the experts in the field of rape – not some Eliot Ness clone or computer nerd with a PH.d.” (pg. 80). In order for real change to happen in courts, real expert-witnesses need to be put on the stands to testify, and true justice shall prevail against the rapists who are still roaming the streets as opposed to be lock away. As Doe states in her article, “stop using the fear of strange men to deflect the bigger problems of sexual assault, beatings and other inhumane atrocities committed against us by men we know” (pg. 81) in order for real change and justice to