Every 109 seconds, and American is sexually assaulted. Every 8 minutes, that victim in a child. Meanwhile, one 6 out of 1,000 perpetrators are sent to prison. Sexual assault can happen to anyone. Your gender, age, sexuality, or race doesn't matter in these terms. This is an ongoing problem in the U.S. and it's real. 

Growing up, little boys and girls are taught certain things. They are taught to never speak to a stranger, never to take anything from a stranger, and to never open the door. Little girls are taught things differently. They're taught that if they feel like someone is following them to cross to the other side of the street. If a strange man follows at your pretend you're on the phone. They tell us to walk with confidence, they tell us to run away, but how can we do that when it's not us who are the problem?

Our society is flawed. We are taught to be scared of our own streets where we grew up, told to cover our bodies because they are too "provocative" and revealing, and we are taught we are just an object of appeal in someone else's eyes. What we have been taught makes the slimy predator have all the power against us. Our dress codes tell us to cover up so boys don't feel so distracted. This is all apart of rape culture in itself. Because of our bodies, we feel powerless. We are never taught to fight, or to save ourselves, but only to run away from those who sexually harass us or look us up and down like an object of appeal. 

Several Americans get sexually harassed on the daily. We see it everyday like it is only normal. But that's not normal, matter of fact it's absolutely disgusting. It's just not right. How can we just sit and let people be victimized constantly? Sexual violence affects millions in America. People who are 12 or older and victimized every single year. Teenagers and children being both boys and girls are caught in prostitution rings just above the age of 11. Just think of little girls and boys just 12 years old going through this traumatic experience. According the the National Sexual Violence Resource (NSVR) only 12% of child assault is ever reported and 63% of sexual assault is not reported. The statistic is that out for every 5 women, 1 is sexually assaulted and out of 71 men one is assaulted. These statistics show that rape if the most unreported crime. 

In conclusion, rape culture is real. Whether we chose to ignore it or not, it is part of our society and we have to live with that. So why don't we change that?