“But rape isn’t like that”

Rape does not just happen in some back alley of the city. Rape is not committed by just the large, scary individual that overpowers someone. Rape victims are not just single women. Rape is when sex, or any sexual activity, happens between people without the consent of both parties, and it can happen to any person no matter the circumstances.

According to Rainn.org, approximately every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. That statistic is absolutely horrifying and it accounts for all people: the general public, inmates, children, and the military. And according to another statistic, about 55% of sexual assaults happen at or near the victim’s home.

There is a general outlook that rape is only these extreme, brutal cases, while these grab the most attention of the public eye, society as a whole should not ignore and push to the side the people whose significant other or friend forces them into sex that they do not consent to. No matter how it happened, being raped in some shape or form will affect someone either physically or mentally. the chances of someone getting rapped and it having no affect on them whatsoever is slim to none. Many people are seriously affected, and they are forced to keep their rape to themselves because people discredit their accounts and mark them off as insignificant.

It truly does not matter what happened, sex without consent constitutes rape and it is as simple as that. There is no bending the rules, using the excuse that they did not really say no or that they are your girlfriend or any other unjustified excuse a rapist can think of. Rape is rape.

Society as a whole needs to come to an understanding that rape happens and can happen to people of any shape or form, and that rape is not just the brutal cases you hear about on dateline.