“You’re a young girl. You’re an easy target,” a mother might tell her daughter as she leaves the house in a low-cut top or short skirt. Like other American parents, the mother may be afraid that the way her daughter dresses will provoke sexual violence. Nationally, sexual assault is the most unpunished crime, as two out of every three perpetrators walk away from the crime without accusations. Victims of sexual violence may be afraid to bring attention to their cases due to public shame and concerns that no one will believe them, according to rainn.org. While the legal principle “innocent until proven guilty” written under the Fifth Amendment of the United States (US) Constitution is a fundamental element of a just judicial system, this same just judicial system needs to protect the dignity of the victim or else perpetrators of sexual violence will not be held accountable. Society must work to create safer spaces for sexual assault victims so that they are not afraid to speak up about crimes.
Every 68 seconds, someone becomes a victim of sexual assault in the US. On average, that number amounts to 463,634 a year. However, most of these victims do not receive justice. Only 310 out of every 1000 victims report their cases to the police, according to rainn.org. One main reason is that the public does not believe the victim and shames them for allowing the crime to happen without fighting back, according to The New York Times.
Nonetheless, one woman explained that her body would not let her defend herself.
“I really wanted to move,” one woman said, according to The New York Times. “In my head, I was screaming. But my body wouldn’t move.”
Victims of sexual violence often use the lingua franca term “freezing” to describe the experience of paralysis during the crime, according to The New York Times. While it is easy to question a victim’s response to an act of sexual assault from an outside perspective, researchers discovered the phenomenon of “tonic immobility,” which refers to temporary paralysis as an extreme response to trauma. Neurological scientists theorize that tonic immobility kickstarts when the brain believes that resistance will cause more suffering and pain than the current action, according to mcasa.org. Usually, tonic immobility occurs in animals. However, humans experience tonic immobility during war, torture, and natural disasters, according to The New York Times. Thus, from both a scientific and moral perspective, no one should judge why victims of sexual assault may have been unable to fight back against perpetrators. Rather, as a whole, society must work toward taking off its critical lens and instead use empathy to allow victims to tell their stories.
Often, once victims bring attention to sexual assault cases, the public refuses to believe them. For example, writer Ms. Elizabeth Jean Carroll refused to speak up and charge former President Donald Trump with sexual assault for decades because she was afraid of the public backlash she would receive. When bringing allegations to the public, women face blame, shame, retaliation, and doubt, according to pbs.org. The public needs to take every case of sexual assault seriously. That starts with creating a safe space for individuals to speak up about the truth. Americans must not let victims of sexual violence go without justice.
Ninety percent of rape victims are female, according to rainn.org. Society often points to the way a woman dresses as the cause of a sexual assault, leading victims to blame themselves for the crime and feel afraid to bring it into the public, according to rapecrisis.org.uk. Just because someone dresses “provocatively” or shows a little bit of skin does not justify an act of horrific violence. In fact, there is no statistical evidence that links the choice of clothing with the likelihood of a sexual assault encounter, according to nwasexualassault.org. Clothing is a form of self-expression. Individuals should have the freedom to express themselves sartorially without having to worry about the consequences of potential sexual violence. No one but the perpetrator is at fault for sexual assault. Thus, Americans must not shame a victim for sexual assault because of the way they dress.
While courts of law must uphold the legal principle “innocent until proven guilty,” they must also acknowledge the shame and doubt that a victim faces when bringing their stories to the public. Judgement should be reserved for the accused, not the victim. Therefore, society needs to become more attuned to victims’ humanity by using empathy to create a safe space for them to speak up and to be heard.
Featured Image by Emily Shull ’25
