FINAL POST FOR MY READERS!!!

My public audience should know the different views of marital rape and understand why there may be a number of attitudes towards such a topic. However, I would like my audience to take the information that I am going to share and recognize that such behavior can occur to anyone around us. This is a serious form of domestic violence. There were laws created by different states to either oppose the beliefs against marital rape or agree. I shared the thoughts of why victims may not typically report spousal abuse and the gender inequality that occurs when trying to prosecute an offender in cases like these. Please be aware of people who seem controlling and quickly switch on and off about how they may feel at a given moment. I need people to understand that this is not just a crime that can be bypassed, humiliation, and often times retaliation follows.

I feel that it is important for my audience to understand from a social science standpoint because it took years for this issue to actually become a crime. Years, months, and days passed before people could even acknowledge that these acts took place between loved ones. It is essential for people to feel safe at all costs and the law should back that up at any time an individual has their rights taken. Violence itself is a social phenomenon. Violence was not what it is now. Violence, better yet, marital rape was displayed as an act committed typically by a husband who took advantage of the legal bond made between him and his wife. Often times, people tend to ignore the issues that sometimes are in their face, however it is crucial for my audience to perceive this knowledge as a sign to be aware and cautious. Most importantly to take in their rights and know that when no means no, nothing else matters. There have been laws surrounding this major issue recently. Violence has always played a huge part of our history, but this is the time that victims are now receiving the chance to be heard. Grace Miller wrote a non sociological article regarding the bill that was passed in 2017 for domestic violence. This article participated in the qualitative research design and tried to portray that men too were victims. Audience members please do not let someone tell you that you are wrong for how you feel. This article tried to describe reasons for why men may tend to rape their wives. You do not have to agree to anything you do not want, no matter who it is. It is okay to be afraid but speak up for those who are scared and humiliated.

I found a few scholarly resources for three of my ideas supporting or answering my research question. Based on my question and my ideas I narrowed in on states’ views, gender inequality, and a very important factor, why victims choose not to report. Some of my articles does not clearly specify how the research was found, however I was able to get information to help me understand how the findings came about. As I begun my research, I came about how in other areas gender roles played a part in how marital rape would play out. In this particular scholarly article, titled mentioned that the husband would view their wives as property so they had the ability of doing anything they felt was necessary to them. Years before all states agreed that marital rape was a crime, rape itself was identified as an “offense of property.” The article speaks upon decriminalizing of marital rape as well why certain states take this law more serious than others. The research question for this article was,"Why do some states continue to allow marital exemption for rape, while others fully criminalize it?" (Howard, Warner, Renzull 2009: 506) This group of researchers decided to use quantitative research analysis. During this analysis, they were able to provide specific states and laws passed regarding marital rape. They explained the difference between Nebraska and North Carolina about the timeline of their actions surfacing my topic. Nebraska becoming the first state to completely destroy the spousal rape exemption. North Carolina, however was the last state to agree marital rape was a crime, but only under some conditions. (Howard, Warner, Renzulli 2009: 507) The findings of this article summed up that most states views on marital rape depended on the women’s power in that specific state. The information that this article specifies on the importance of this social issue because not only does the equal rights that should be granted to women missing, but disregards women as human beings. This article displays the various attitudes that the states had about my topic.

My research on the gender inequality I previously mentioned brought about information that my audience needs to focus on. This research was conducted with the qualitative analysis. There was a specific group of people they were observing to conduct their research. The articles signified that women were given the lenient hand when compared to a man on the stand for the same crime. When speaking of marital rape, or other terms  “spousal abuse”, was easier to give off lower bail amounts and sentences because often times the women were the victim (Demuth, Steffensmeier 2004:225). This lightens the light on the women as the defendant, and because of it less likely being a male victim the women are still given leniency though they were on trial for the abuse. However, this does not mean that women were always the ones to be believed when they were the victim and actually go through the trial process. Their findings for this research was that within gender, females were always given the advantages within the system, but within between females minority groups received the disadvantages. This concluded that gender and racial backgrounds played a huge role in the decisions often made by the court.

Based on the information I am giving to my audience, they should conclude that most time husbands chose their wives to rape rather than strangers. It is easier to manipulate someone you know than someone you do not. Husbands seem to have this control over their wives that typically puts fear into their heads so that they do not have the ultimate faith in the justice system when choosing to report their rape. My audience should also understand that just because someone may not believe that this sort of issue is a crime, does not mean it isn’t and you should not report. When you or anyone else does not consent to any physical harm done to you, you have every right to call the police. Those that are reading this to realize and accept that women are not the only ones this can happen to. Men can be raped as well, though many times they feel the need to keep this hidden. Most important my audience need to help those who are suffering under any circumstances, so try to bring any awareness and comfort to anyone who confides in you.