Topic 3 Myths on Sexual Violence
There are a lot of myths about sexual violence that represents an obstacle to the victims reparation and contribute to the crime’s impunity.
We’d like you to show some of these myths and compare them to the facts.
We can’t conceive sexual violence only as a matter of sexuality of the individual, but as an abuse of power as a result of asymmetry.
Do you remember both in Module 1 and Module 3 when we have been explaining the way patriarchal societies work? That’s exactly it! It is all connected and leads to the same sad end.
Like we saw in this Module’s first Unit, when talking about Ideas and Myths about perpetrators, remember that lots of studies demonstrate that perpetrators come from all kinds of economical, ethnical, social or age groups.
Women and girls of all ages are sexually abused. Their appearance has nothing to do with it. Perpetrators chose based on their vulnerability not their appearance
Rape doesn’t happen because of sexual pleasure; It is a way to harm, to exercise power and cause a lot of pain in the victim
Rape happens, mostly, at the victim’s home or workplace by someone known by her, where is less probable that other people believe them, and even less probable that they report the crime.
There is a tendency to think that a boyfriend or a husband cannot rape his girlfriend or wife. But the reality is that the majority of rapes happens with the intimate partner.
