Social Analysis 

My Social Justice topic is Women and Sexual Assault. This injustice is a constant struggle in everyday life for survivors. Being a survivor is a struggle within itself, and just because you are living doesn't mean you are alive. Along with being a survivor comes depression, anxiety, PTSD, sexually transmitted diseases, and more. 

This is an injustice because perpetrators are not facing consequences for their actions. The justice system is not giving the clarity or justice that the victim deserves. Another reason this is an injustice is because the victims may be intimidated to speak up due to society's “judgment”.

Who Benefits and Who Suffers

In the justice system, male perpetrators benefit due to their dominance of being a man. The rate of male perpetrators is ninety-nine percent. When in court, the victim is considered a “witness" of the assault and not necessarily the victim. Sexual assault can range from showing pornography, making sexual remarks, demanding sexual favors, all the way to physical contact without consent. Although one in three women will suffer from sexual assault in their lifetime, some police officers may not report the incident because they do not believe the woman. Police criticizing women is based on a culture of victim blaming and stereotypes that allow disbelief regarding the assault. Studies show that approximately 5% of women who falsely accuse men of sexual assault suffer from mental illnesses, misunderstanding of what is sexual assault, and altered memory due to substance use. Substance use is a leading cause of sexual assault. This is because perpetrators use women being vulnerable and weaker to their advantage. 

The Role of Social Systems: Political and Economic System

Social systems are the political and economic systems that have an effect on women in the sexual assault crisis. Most powerful figures in the court are male, being seventy percent.

Section 276(1) of the Criminal Code is "the rape shield law introduced by former Justice Minister Kim Campbell in 1992. It was an attempt to banish the kinds of sexist rape myths that poison rape trials: the belief that a sexually experienced woman is less trustworthy and more likely to have agreed to sex, and that enticing clothing or seductive behaviour can excuse a violent assault. Rape shield law also restricts the use of a victim's prior sexual history in court and limits the use of a victim's personal therapy records to discredit their testimony." The “rape shield” law also has some down sides to it. As it allows protection of the “witness” it also causes biased opinions within the court system. In order to be upon the hearing in court, you need to be put through a lot of training of sexual assault. Without training, you could blame the victim and list them as “the accused” if you have different beliefs, the punishment could be biased. 

The Role of Social Systems: The Media

Social systems in the media also has a major impact on sexual assault in woman. Sexual assault shown in social media includes: Threatening to distribute or actually distributing intimate or sexual images of a victim without their consent, sending unrequested nude images, pressuring a victim to send sexually explicit images, emails, chats, or texts, sharing unsolicited pornographic images or videos with a victim, taking sexually explicit content of the victim without their consent. On social media, experts found teenagers may have a harder time reporting rape cases due to the fear of others and others' opinion. Ages twelve to twenty-four have the highest risk of rape or sexual assault. Researchers found that through an anonymous website (pseudo), there are ways perpetrators can communicate with women, and pretend to be someone they are not. In a positive aspect, using social media can bring awareness to society about the crisis.

Privilege in workplace

Male entrepreneurs are in charge of most workplaces. Some woman find themselves being victims of sexual assault because of their lower amount of power in the workplace. Thirty-eight percent of woman experience and report acts of sexual assault/harassment in their place of work. Over eighty-five percent of woman face sexual assault in the workplace and do not report it in fear of loosing their job. When woman report sexual assault and harassment it often causes their place of work to face financial loss, turnover rate of employees, and harm in the reputation of the workplace. With that being a major factor in the workplace, it often creates a fear in women to report the issue due to repercussions. 

Ideology:  The Worldview of Individualism, Violence, and Victim blaming 

Ideology has a major factor in the sexual assault crisis today. Victim blaming, violence, and the worldwide view of individualism is what prevents women from reporting encounters with perpetrators.