Dear Future President,

Over 683,000 adult American women are forcibly raped each year. This is equal to 56,916 women per month; 1,871 per day; 78 per hour; and 1.3 per minute. Rape and other forms of sexual assault in the U.S. are a huge problem. Victims are stuck feeling afraid and sick to their stomachs with worry, because of the lack of discipline and consequences against the attackers.

“Not enough people understand what rape is, and, until they do ... , not enough will be done to stop it.” a rape victim quoted in Groth 1979 (p. 87). People need to acknowledge that most of the cases involving rape in the past decade, have been unfair. For example, a rape case in 2008 states that an 18 year old girl was raped and was blamed for it. Her lawyer was surprised she had been charged. No suspects arrested, or even questioned. Something needs to be done. One out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime today. Most of these women have been accused as liars. Their cases have been left uninvestigated, and they are forced to still see the eyes of the man or woman who assaulted them.

There are many people who are too ignorant to see the issue of rape and sexual harassment in the United States. They often make assumptions that “Boys can’t be raped” when in fact, by law, the victim/harasser may be a man or a woman. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex. Also, one in every ten rape victims is male. People have also often counter-argued that “If the woman/man is drunk and says yes to sexual intercourse, it is consent.” which is false. When a person is intoxicated, they are not in a stable mind state at all, and therefore can not give legal consent. Having sex with that person is still technically rape, and the victim can press charges. It is sad that people have these wrong ideas while in the meantime, every two minutes another American is sexually assaulted.

As a young woman who is living in the United States that is tarnished with sexual assault and scary situations, I want to feel safe and unsexualized in my body. I want to know that if someone were to violate me in any way of the sort, that the assaulter would face serious consequences for the damage they have caused. I also want my loved ones to feel like they can walk down the street without fear of seeing the eyes of those who violated them.

The least that can be done about this issue is just educate. Everyone needs to understand the consequences of rape and the guidelines of consent. It is not that hard to teach people that no means no. But, to do even more to prevent rape and sexual harassment from occurring, every man or woman who is raped, deserves to have an investigation of victims performed. I really hope that during your presidency, you reduce the rates of rape and make our next generation feel safe and secure.

Sincerely,

Jessi N.

Grade 10

Mendota Heights, Minnesota.