Anti-rape movement
[3] Feminists began to emphasize the role of power dynamics specifically with regard to the perpetration of rape as a crime committed primarily by men against women.
[3] The anti-rape movement continues, with growing awareness in the United States public about the concept of rape culture, coinciding with the increasing popularity of feminism.
As early as 1970, feminists began engaging in consciousness raising groups, which involved sharing personal experiences women have had with sexual violence with the wider public.
In 1971, the New York Radical Feminists sponsored the first events specifically regarding sexual violence as a social problem, the first of which was a speak-out, used to attach personal stories with the cause.
In 1970 Sandra Sutherland and Donald J. Scherl published the first substantial study of the psychological effects of rape on its victims in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
These first centers were largely formed by radical feminists, as "…the goal initially was not reform, but a total transformation of ideologies, power relationships, and the existing social structure," and they relied mostly on volunteers.
Her late 1960s case created national controversy, resulting in a gradual moral evolution against the custom of so-called "rehabilitating marriages", in which a survivor's "honour" was considered restored if she married her rapist.
[15] In 2013, UNC Chapel Hill students Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino filed a complaint against the university with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, based on Title IX.
[19] Sulkowicz inspired the formation of Carrying the Weight Together, "a coalition of college students and activists who are working to support survivors of sexual and domestic violence".
[21] In October 2017, following allegations of sexual assault against film producer Harvey Weinstein, the Me Too movement began to spread virally on social media after a Tweet by actress Alyssa Milano.
[26] Prior to the anti-rape movement, the laws in the legal system did not place much legitimization on the claims of the victims, making them hesitant to even consider reporting a rape.
[27] Later in 1973, joint committee hearings were held to begin to discuss the possibility of repeal, but the Legal Aid Society kept the existing laws in place.
Eventually, President Jimmy Carter signed the legislation that allowed rape shield laws to be put into place to protect the victim.
Michigan created the Criminal Sexual Conduct Law bill which removed spousal exception, lowered evidentiary burdens, redefined rape, and other reforms.
[27] The four main changes made to most state laws were: The new federal definition of rape is defined as, "non-consensual sexual intercourse 'by force, threat, or intimidation.
Rape crisis centres offer education and outreach programs and workshops to the public, largely to prevent sexual assault from occurring.
The rape crisis center in Santa Barbara, California, hosts a radio show six times a year to openly discuss issues concerning sexual and domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of oppression.
[37] Cleveland County Rape Crisis Center in Ohio hosts "'Girls Kick Butt': An Empowerment Conference Model for Adolescent Girls".
[42] One in Four has chapters of its organization on college campuses and military bases across the United States and focuses its approach on building survivor empathy and bystander intervention.
"[47] Other feminists and anti-rape advocates take a different approach to what constitutes "rape culture", focusing less on ideas like French's "concerted campaign" in which all males are complicit and more on what they see as institutional problems in American society.
[citation needed] Many feminists and anti-rape advocates see a systemic problem with the way rape is handled immediately after it is reported to police.
[51] Nancy Gager and Cathleen Schurr argue in Sexual Assault: Confronting Rape in America that such responses from law enforcement were indeed commonplace.
"[52] Many feminists also feel that policemen (indeed most men) fail to recognize what they see as a basic truth about rape – that it is about power and not sex, "an act of terror", not of lust.
"[53] This can present unique problems for women, especially if the experience was traumatic and she has trouble recalling specific details, which some police misinterpret as dishonesty rather than genuine trauma.
"[55] Vachss laments that far too often rape crisis become more of a "chess match" between competing lawyers (or the state) than any attempt to provide justice or healing for the victim.
Reporting anonymously, the 35-year-old man relates that many of his colleagues are "convinced through the years of prosecution folklore that rape cases can't be won … so they plead 'em and settle cheap.
A 37-year-old Rape Crisis Center founder and executive director, also speaking anonymously, bemoaned the fact that accused rapists are difficult to convict which causes success-driven lawyers to instead seek out and fight hard for burglary or larceny cases, because there are "no emotional issues, no time-consuming efforts and victims.
"[56] Thus, the defense attorney can simply seek to build a case that the rapist thought the woman or girl consented, rather than focusing on whether or not force or date-rape agents were used.
[citation needed] By the very nature of the American legal system, good cases with strong evidence have to be built in order for prosecuting attorneys to pursue them.
While this may protect many innocent individuals accused of other crimes, very often it can shelter rapists, since courts are apt to err on the side of acquittal in a "his word versus hers" situation.
