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Rape Schedule

Fear of sexual assault is a fear that is commonly shared among many individuals in today’s society, particularly targeting women. This fear often forces individuals to make alterations within their everyday life, whether by compelling changes in behavior, daily routines, or even avoiding being alone as much as possible. According to Susan Griffin in 1971, “rape and the fear of rape are a daily part of every woman’s consciousness. The fear of rape keeps women off the streets at night. Keeps women at home. Keeps women passive and modest for fear they be thought provocative." In addition to affecting behaviors and routines, rape schedules can also affect the emotional stability of an individual. When you think of the term “rape victim”, chances are that one might assume the victim is a woman as opposed to a man. This is because in today’s society, women are viewed as the weaker individual, thus making them an easier target.   As a result of the fear of rape, individuals then begin living by this rape schedule, which in turn, leaves woman feeling powerless and eventually woman begin to view themselves and their own self worth somewhere between low to non-existent.

Rape also leads to mental health disorders such as PTSD. According to Dean G. Kilpatrick in The Mental Health Impact of Rape “Rape victims were 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who had never been victims of crime”. Because of these severe incidents, women develop these rape schedules to help them try to avoid the possibility of rape occurring in the future.

One might assume that only individuals that have fallen victim to rape are the only people that abide by these rape schedules, however, that is not the case. There are many people in the world that have never been the victim, but yet are far from being carefree and are highly concerned with doing everything they possibly can to avoid a tragic instance, such as rape from occurring. A particular quote by Jessica Valenti in her book Full Frontal Feminism, stated, “When I was in college a teacher once said all women live by a “rape schedule.” this goes to show that men see women as easier targets, thus making women fall victim more easily to rape and live in constant fear. Mmeffo3 (talk) 20:34, 2 October 2015 (UTC)