Page 1163 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

inviting him into her hotel room—is hardly a woman’s statement of
consent to have sex with him any more than she has agreed to have

him beat her with a club.

A third myth is the notion that rape is simply sex. If there is no knife 9

held to a woman’s throat, or if she is not bound and gagged, then how

can sex be a crime? The answer is simply that forcing a woman to
have sex without her consent is a violent crime. To accept the idea

that rape is sex one would also have to see no difference between

brutal combat and playful wrestling. “Having sex” implies intimacy,

caring, communication, and, most important of all, consent—none of

which is present in cases of rape. Beyond the brutality of being

physically violated, date rape also undermines the victim’s sense of
trust. This psychological burden is especially serious among rape

victims under eighteen—half of the total—about one-fourth of whom

are attacked by their own fathers.

The more people believe these myths about rape, the more women 10
will fall victim to sexual violence. The ancient Babylonians stoned

married women who became victims of rape, convinced that the

women had committed adultery. Ideas about rape have changed little

over thousands of years, which helps to explain why, even today, only

about one in twenty rapes results in an offender being sent to jail.

Nowhere has the issue of date rape been more widely discussed 11

than on the college campus. The collegiate environment promotes

easy friendships and a sense of trust. At the same time, many

students have a great deal to learn about relationships and about