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Sexual Assault, Consent and Media Kacey-anne Inu n8290920 Tutor: Mangalam Sankupellay ** The Artefact ** This picture is an advertisement by a popular fashion brand, Dolce & Gabbana. The advertisement shows a lone woman in a prone position being held down by a half dressed man whilst 3 other men look on. The image was allegedly meant to depict an erotic dream or a sexual game. Although many campaigns by this particular designer could be considered explicit, this particular image was withdrawn from circulation due to a number of complaints from many women’s groups who believed the advertisement promoted sexual violence against women. ** The Public Health Issue ** Sexual assault refers to a range of acts of a sexual nature, the key feature is that the sexual act was carried out against the victim’s will through physical force, intimidation or coercion. This covers any person from a child through to an adult. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006) There are many public health issues relating to sexual relationships, ranging from sexual health to sexual consent and safety. A consensual sexual relationship is whereby both parties consent to a sexual act. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002) In today’s society, the manner in which women either portray themselves or are portrayed is somewhat questionable. It is not uncommon to see an advertisement or music video with women wearing next to no clothing and displaying various forms of sexual innuendos. It is evident that many female celebrities have little or no concern with behaving in this manner. Does this behaviour give false hope to men? Does it make men feel that some women, because of the way they dress or act, that sexual consent is not a requirement and that women are asking to be raped? Regardless of the way a woman acts, dresses or is portrayed in the media, this is not an invitation for sexual assault and/or rape. Women should be able to wear and behave the way they want without the fear of being raped or sexually assaulted. Sexual assault is a major public health issue with substantial impacts on the mental health, physical health and social well-being of victims. (Basile & Smith, 2011) Physical and health impacts include contraction of STD’s, unplanned pregnancies as well as gastrointestinal problems and many other gynecological problems. (Basile & Smith, 2011) Psychologically, a woman’s belief on the goodness in people and how she views the world is often skewed. (Basile & Smith, 2011) Women victims specifically, may suffer from low self-esteem, self-blame, shame, insomnia, dissociation, problems with sexual functioning and depression. (Basile & Smith, 2011) ** Literature Review ** The Australian Institute of Criminology states that there were 19, 781 recorded sexual assaults in Australia in 2007, a slight increase over the prior years. (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010)



( Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010) The Personal Safety survey of 2005 provides more alarming results as it includes figures of all results, e.g. victims of sexual assault who have or have not reported the incident to police. (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010) From this survey 1.3 million women and 362, 400 men in Australia experienced an incident of sexual assault since the age of 15. This translates to 1 in 6 women and 1 in 20 men. (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010) Even though more victims are reporting incidents to police, there is still a large number who do not. For most victims of sexual assault, this includes both adults and children, the perpetrator is likely to be known to them and the most commonly reported location of the offence is in a residential setting, commonly the victims home. Less than half of assaults occurred between 5pm and 9pm on weekdays, however, 40% of victims did not report the actual time of the assault. In the data from the 2002 NCSS, in 93% of cases reported by women, the offender was male and data from a publication released by the Australian Institute of Criminology states the 98% of offenders in Australia were aged between 20 and 39. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002) Females comprised 86% of victims and proportionally, more victims of sexual assault are children and young people, with 31% of cases occurring in the 0-14 year age bracket and 31% in the 15-24 year age bracket. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002) Aside from assault in general, in 2011, sexual assault incidence far outweighed the rates of other violent crimes this rate shows that sexual assault is still very much a problem within the Australian community. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002) Although from the statistics above, sexual assault as at 2011 has had a small decrease compared to 3 years earlier, the incidence is still alarming. The fact remains that these are recorded incidences and do not include many victims who are possibly too afraid to report sexual assault. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002) Sexual assault is not just a problem in Australia, but throughout the world. In the United States of America, statistics show that rape in 71% of cases, occurred when the victim was aged 18 years or younger. (Basile & Smith, 2011) Further, just like in Australia, in more than 80% of cases, the perpetrator was known to the victim. (Basile & Smith, 2011) There is great debate as to the key contributing factors in attacks, and most research articles indicate that offenders were once victims themselves, this is a common misperception. As stated earlier, most of the offenders are known to the victim, therefore, it is not uncommon that these offenders are often a parent, relative or family friend. (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010) This is one of the main limitations regarding rape, in that, media can somewhat display that how a women behaves or dresses is the driving force to becoming a sexual assault victim. The evidence states otherwise, in that media in fact does not play a major role in sexual assault because in the majority of cases, as the perpetrator is known to the victim. The importance of this topic is further evident by the array of organisations and charities whose sole purpose is to prevent, treat and educate on sexual assault. There are charities relating specifically to women, some for children and some for sexual assault on a broad scale, covering all types of victims. Perhaps with the slight decline of reported sexual assault over the last 3 years, these organisations could have a positive impact on the incidence and prevalence of sexual assault cases. ** Cultural and social analyses ** The groups that are affected by sexual assault are mainly women and younger children as the victims, and in most cases, the offender is male. Relating to media and what we see as acceptable behaviour through this format, young girls are most affected. Young girls look to female celebrity icons for direction. If we think of current celebrities such as Miley Cyrus or Britney Spears and video clips of them, we can see that a young girls impression of acceptable behaviour is definitely skewed. If we compare music videos between now and 20 years ago, the allowable content difference is alarming. An article written by K Parkinson stated that Dolly magazine’s youth monitor found that 56% of teens first had sex between 13 and 15 years old. This figure was backed up by an Australian study that found the age of girls’ first sexual experience ranged from 11 to 17 years. (Parkinson, 2011)). A more recent article by The Age revealed that girls aged 12 to 15 years are testing positive for chlamydia at higher rates than older women. (Hagan, 2013) This information is indicating that girls younger and younger are partaking in forms of sexual activity. With the type of music videos that we see today, these statistics are not surprising. The relationship between media and sexual display currently affects the behaviour of young girls, however, it cannot be blamed for the incidence of sexual assault.   Another facet of media to be considered is the stigma placed on women when they allege sexual assault. The public tends to scrutinize the victim to determine whether she or he is lying or responsible for the rape. ( Flowe et al., 2009 ) People are less likely to hold the perpetrator accountable if the victim had behaved flirtatiously before the attack, if the victim is sexually experienced, and if the victim and perpetrator had engaged in consensual sexual intercourse in the past. ( Flowe et al., 2009 ) A large majority of the population relies on media for information regarding criminal cases; therefore media can influence public opinion. ( Flowe et al., 2009 ) Media can also influence whether a victim reports rape to the police and whether legal officials find the victim believable and the perpetrator culpable. ( Flowe et al., 2009 ) Some rape stereotypes in today’s society is that rape is perpetrated only by strangers using violence, no woman can be raped against her will, women frequently lie about being raped and women who wear short skirts are asking to be raped. ( Flowe et al., 2009 ) The most common stereotype of a ‘real rape’ is that a woman is physically beaten into submission and raped by a stranger in a deserted public place. ( Flowe et al., 2009 ) However, as mentioned earlier, we know that a large majority of rape/sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim and usually in a residential setting. It is evident that the media is hugely responsible for the manner in which the public views an alleged sexual assault claim. The media can either support or refute the victims’ claims and paint a picture of the victims’ personal life that will either make their story look to be true or false. ** Analysis of the artifact and your own learning reflections ** My artefact strongly represents the influence media has on public perception of women, rape and acceptable behaviour. When I look at this picture, I see a woman being overpowered by a number of men, initially concerning, however, on closer evaluation, her body language and facial expression does not appear as someone putting up a struggle or refusing the advances, but more so enjoying the moment and submitting to the situation. Personally, I feel this image portrays to the community that this behaviour is sexy, fashionable and acceptable. For younger girls, this image could portray what is required in order to receive attention from men, they could see this as acceptable behaviour. For men, it further implies control and authority on a higher scale and by a power in numbers type theory. Overall, I have learnt that media plays a strong role in the perception of rape, sexual assault and acceptable behaviour, particularly by women. I have learnt that in today’s current society, sex sells and the more provocative our female celebrities (role models for some), the more media and exposure they get. It displays a very poor image to vulnerable girls. Further, the media can almost dictate how the community view publicized sexual assault cases by supplying selective information on the victim and/or offender. The most important thing that I have learnt from this assessment is that sexual assault cases are rarely spontaneous, violent attacks and more commonly occur whereby the victim and offender are known to each other. It really does not and should not matter how a female dresses, behaves or if she is intoxicated, as this type of scenario, although occurs from time to time, is rare. Women should have the right to behave and wear whatever they choose. Significant change needs to come from the media and the way they portray these cases, as it is these stories that prevent real victims, including children, from coming forward and reporting sexual assault for fear of attack and blame. ** REFERENCES ** Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2002). Crime and Safety. Retreived from http://www.secasa.com.au/assets/Statstics/national-crime-and-safety-australia-2002.pdf Australia Bureau of Statistics. (2006). Personal Safety Australia, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4906.0/ Australian Institute of Criminology. (2010). Trends in Sexual Assault. Retrieved October 31, 2013, from http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/violent%20crime/sexual%20assault.html Basile, K., & Smith, S. (2011). Sexual violence victimization of women: Prevalence, Characteristics, and the role of public health and prevention. //American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5, 407-417.// doi: 10.1177/1559827611409512 Flowe, D., Shaw, S., Nye, E,. & Jamel, J., (2009) Rape Stereotyping and public delusion. //British Journalism Review, 20, 21-25. Doi// 10.1177/0956474809356836 Hagan, K. (2013). Chlamydia rates rise for younger girls. Retrieved from http://www.theage.com.au/national/chlamydia-rates-rise-for-younger-girls-20131023-2w1ub.html Klaw, E., Lonsway, K., Berg, D., Waldo, C., Kothari, C., Mazurek, C., & Hegeman, K. (2005). Challenging Rape Culture, //Women & Therapy, 28:2, 47-63.// doi: 10.1300/J015v28n02_04 Nurka, C. (2013). Shame and disgrace in Australian football culture: Rape claims and public affect. //Women's studies international forum//, //38, p. 43//. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0277539513000228 Parkinson, N. (2011). Girls just want to have sex?. Retrieved from http://justbaustralia.com.au/be-smart/girls-just-want-to-have-sex-9442/ Reflections: http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64710782 http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64710800
 * Table 1 ** Victims of selected violent crimes, 1996011 (n)