Date Rape

Date Rape: Who's fault is it really?

In a perfect world, all men would be loving, respectful, and protective. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. Every woman must be informed and well-equipped to recognize and protect herself against men who try and force themselves upon unsuspecting women who may not see it coming. When intercourse is unwanted and forced upon by someone, it is known as "date rape" and sadly, becoming more common in the United States today.

One of the biggest fears from a male to a female is the fear of being raped. Date rape is the crime which the victim, majority of the victims being women, is forced to having a form of sexual intercourse by someone they are familiar with or sometimes, a total stranger who they meet at a club or party. "One in four women will be raped in their lifetime. This is a very scarey, but true statistic. Women need to understand what is going on with the situation of date rape, and be looked on less as the problem, so more women will come out and report the incident." (www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=61312). It is not in any way the woman's fault for being the victim of date rape, but it is the fault of the rapist. The rapist should be the one to pay the consequences. Some people believe that it is the woman's fault for putting herself in the position to be raped, but the truth is that rape can happen almost anywhere and at anytime depending on the circumstances of the certain situation.

Date rape generally happens when a man is alone with a woman. Although it has been reported that men have been raped by women, it is much more common for a woman to be raped by a man. There are several reasons why date rape might occur. Sometimes a man thinks that a woman "owes" him something if he has done a favor for her. Even if woman acts friendly towards a man, he may take it the wrong way and he may become angry if she rejects his advances. When this happens, the man will become violent and hold the woman down against her will and proceed to rape her. Majority of the time, the victim is in so much shock that the rapist has enough time to get away from the scene before she attempts to call the cops.

The presence of drugs and alcohol are also contributing factors to the occurrences of date rape. Rohypnol, GHB, activesex, roofies, ruffies, rooche, R-2, rib, and rope are all names describing a form of the date rape drug. These drugs are odorless and tasteless, therefore undetectable to taste when mixed with a drink. The time to slip a person one of the drugs only takes a few seconds. Even if the victim were to turn their back just for a few seconds, the unknown rapist just has to dispose of the powder-like substance into their drink and it instantly dissolves. Another way the victim is vulnerable to the drug is if she asks the unknown rapist to get a drink for her from the bar. He then has ample time to distribute the drug into the drink with no detection from her.

Date rape is commonly reported throughout the college campuses. In an environment