To begin, what is rape? A lot of people would understand the concept of rape. The Cambridge Dictionary defines rape as “the crime of forcefully having sex with someone against their wishes.” Whether committed by a man or a woman, it is described as forcing the other without appropriate agreement and permission. As a woman and a feminist, I firmly think this assault should not be allowed or treated as a mild penalty.
Why should rape be illegal and not justifiable for any reason? The answer is simple: it is unethical, destroys people’s lives, and violates women’s human rights (even if the victim is not a woman).
Many kinds of crimes that damage femininity are rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, killing, violence, misogyny, and digital violence. However, women are not sufficiently protected from these numerous threats. Recently, there was a case in Korea in which men were using AI to create composite pictures of female acquaintances and share them on Telegram, which constitutes a digital violent crime.
During World War II, not only Korean women but also women in Japanese colonies were forcibly sexually assaulted and raped by Japanese soldiers, and it is called Japanese Military Sexual Slavery. In Japan, the soldiers committed these crimes to raise the military’s morale. Not only did the victims have to be forcibly sexually assaulted, but they also suffered from uterine extraction, fetal murder, and sexual torture. Similarly, carnal abuse during warfare occurs all the time in Sudan, Rwanda, Congo, and Ukraine. When a battle breaks out, soldiers target women and indiscriminately rape young children. BBC News produced the news based on the testimony of Ukrainian women who were sexually assaulted by Russian troops and that Russia is using sexual violation as a weapon. According to NPR.org, they said that by sexually assaulting women, the military instills the concept of fear and the weak in them and thinks it is a reward for looting.
Most of the perpetrators of rape are men, and most of the victims are women. Men deny their crimes or make absurd excuses in court. Most argue that it is not rape if a pretty woman seduces the offender first or if the offender is lonely or he cannot control his sexual desire, and it wouldn’t be a crime if the raped woman were satisfied. Yet, this is only the one-sided assertion of the offender. Claiming a nervous breakdown and denying the fact of rape should be banned immediately. A nervous breakdown is a false information that rapists claim for their innocence and a selfish, shameless excuse to justify their actions. Without accurate medical certificates, courts should not accept the offenders’ excuses.
Women who got raped hide the truth. The reason is that they are afraid of retaliation and are ignored. Socially, people call those victims a “slut” or “prostitute.”. Women are so scared and ashamed that they will be insulted, including those two words, by others, so they cannot reveal the truth. People point fingers at the targets for having deceived or acted vulgarly instead of the perpetrator. Because of this, several women who were ravished committed suicide due to shame. Nonetheless, despite committing a heavy offense, the perpetrators do not receive any punishment against it and live proudly.
If we tell criminals not to rape, won’t they? Why do women always have to shiver with anxiety and carry sprays and a self-defense stick? If the law is strong enough for rape, fewer cases will be imposed, and women will be less worried. Just because women know how to deal with it doesn’t mean we won’t be raped. Information about the dangers of rape and why rape should not be done may be more beneficial to men. Women are fully aware and sufficiently anxious, and their lives have been ruined. According to RAINN, one in six women is raped. Eighty-two percent of young women are exposed to the risk of rape, and ninety percent of the victims are adult women. Nevertheless, the probability of a man being raped is significantly lower. One in ten men is raped, it said.
Then how can we prevent ourselves from being raped? Don’t trust or follow strangers, especially someone from online. It is the most basic fact. In fact, in 2004, more than a hundred perpetrators ravished female victims who were minors at the time in Miryang, Korea, for over a year. Still, not one single felon was appropriately punished. The victim dialed the wrong number and became familiar with the perpetrator. He then persuaded the victim to meet and rape the victim along with his acquaintances.
Regardless, rape does not necessarily happens by the perpetrator who you don’t know. There are many cases of rape among relatives. It can occur when parents rape their children or even when siblings are involved. There are cases where one’s brother took off his sister’s clothes and took pictures while one was sleeping, or one got constantly sexually assaulted by the stepmother and stepfather. Unusually, however, there are many attempts to cover up the case by defending the perpetrator. Minor victims, in particular, are unjustified and divided because they are powerless. If this has happened, there is no choice but to sue the family. In Korea, the only situation where a family can be sued is when a criminality of sexual violence occurs between families. The existence of a family must protect you, but if they are harming you instead of protecting you, you must choose yourself without hesitation.
You must have the courage to tell the truth about your condition to those around you. I disagree that it is the victims’ fault that offenders rape them. Victims are victims, and the perpetrator who raped me deserves a severe sentence. No matter how unfair, resentful, and shameful you are, nothing is solved, and nothing changes unless you ask someone for help. If the perpetrator is not reported and arrested, that person will one day make another victim with the exact charges.
Sexual crimes may occur because schools do not accomplish enough sex education. Proper sex education can lead to feeling responsible for one’s actions before committing various sex offenses. Meanwhile, sexual education in Korea is mainly aimed at women. I have also learned only about women’s primary elements, pregnancy, contraception, and fundamental sperm and eggs. However, I have never received sexual education for men, although boys and girls gather together to take classes. Will students know everything just because they understand the basics? Of course, sex education is taught from elementary to middle school, but decreases in high school. Many sexual violations occur among juveniles in Korea; I think it is time for high school students to be more knowledgeable about sex and pay extensively more attention.
In Korea, there is a program named “High School Student Mother and Father” that deals with the difficulties that high school students experience in living with their children due to premature sex and inappropriate coping, such as lack of contraception. One of the episodes dealt with a story of a female student who was pregnant with a child after being raped and then abandoned by an offender. To reduce these kinds of incidents, I think men, in particular, should be mature in their actions.
As a result, I think unethical rape against women should be dealt with firmly by law. Korean law is surprisingly compassionate to sexual outlaws. How can women walk in and out of dark alleys and public toilets that may have hidden cameras? Since long ago, men have considered raping women as something that entertains both of them and as a man’s right. If raping women is a man’s right, where is a woman’s right not to be raped? During war and in everyday life, women are exposed to the threat of sexual crime. The world needs to pay more attention to women’s fears and crises. We need to strengthen laws against sexual crimes and listen to women.
By: Areum Irene Kim
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