CAUSES OF RAPE SYNDROME IN OUR TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

CAUSES OF RAPE SYNDROME IN OUR TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Written by Mbibi Longinus Chinagorom/mbibilonginuschinagorom100@gmail.com

Rape occurs on virtually all campuses, small or large private or public, rural or urban. The truth is that rape cannot always be prevented, but the more you know about it, the more likely it is for you to avoid being in a occur.

The most common form of rape on our campuses today is what I call"date rape" this happens where a female student in the quest for fun, pays a male student friend in his apartment. She will end up being threatened, forced or persuaded to have intercourse with him against her will.

Date rape is another phenomenon that destroys the self-confidence of our women for life. It is more painful to a woman especially when she is being raped by someone she knows and had previously liked and trusted. Today about 80% of rape cases on campuses are all date rapes.

One of the major causes of sexual assault against women in tertiary institutions is the "Provocative clothes worn by females" ladies in tertiary institutions have particularly forsaken proper dress sense. They wear swimsuit as lecture clothes and dinner outfit as day wear or lecture clothes. These dresses attract the wrong kind attention from cult boys and other male counterparts including lecturers. The truth is that, there are some parts of a woman that a man is not supposed to see if he does, and the environment favourable, he might be forced to rape her. Most rapists admit that the cloths worn by female are one of the major factors that attracted them to their victims. Their excuses are always the same, like; "She asks for it, what else did she expect from me when she came on a low cut top and a clingy dress, without underwear, and bra and sexy makeup, she only got what she was looking for."

Secondly, bad association is another major cause of violence against women in tertiary institutions. The Bible tells us of a young woman named Diana who became the victim sexual assault (rape). She evidently attracted the attention of her assailant because she regularly used to visit or go out to see the daughter of the land of Canaan (women known for their loose behaviour or waywardness).

When females hang around males of questionable reputation or when they visit males alone in their apartments, they directly or indirectly create a vulnerable environment for assault. Some men are psychologically prone to rape whenever they are alone with a girl/lady, or when they see or touch some sensitive parts of a lady, they must like to have sexual intercourse with her and her refusal will lead to their using force or violence on her and finally rape her. Thirdly, the longing/urging to acquire material wealth by all means, could also be a major causes of violence against women in tertiary institutions, this is because, after acquiring such material things from men, if the girl wants to break the relationship for one reason or the other, the man remembering all he has spent on her will not take it easy with her. 

Many college-age men expect sex as a given after they have gone out with someone a few times. Some men believe that they are entitled to sex when they have spent money on a woman and the woman's refusal to their sexual advances might lead them into raping her.

Fourthly, another major cause of violence against women in tertiary institutions is"dating a cult-boy" or having a brother or relation who is a Cultist. We have observed that some girls on campus enjoy befriending Cult members. Some (especially the wild girls) do it for protection purposes and to be feared amongst their friends. The danger of this, is that during cult wars or clashes on campus, if the targeted cultist cannot be located to be dealt with, his girl friend or anybody closet to him, would be the next target, that way the escaped cultist would also feel the pinch, and the usual way by which they deal with such girl is by "Gang Rape" (where 4 or 6 boys will rape a particular girl at once).

Fifthly, communication problem among men and women is another big problem especially in date rapes. Usually in a first encounter with someone some women may say"No" when they mean"may be" or even "yes" and men have been taught to try to turn that 'No' into a Yes. Thus it is sometimes hard for men to know when "no" really does mean"no". Women on the other hand, don't want to agree to sex too readily (especially at a first date) for fear they will be seen as"loose" or "easy". So, even when a woman says"No" and she means it, men believe that by merely adding a little persuasion, she might give in and by so doing they might end up forcing her into having intercourse with them against her wish. At times a woman might feel at home at her date's house (either by lying freely on his bed or sit careless) the woman thinks she is merely being friendly, but her date (male friend) thinks she's signaling willingness to have sex, and her refusal at that point in time might lead him into applying a little force and finally rape her.

Sometimes a girl says to sex and latter changes her mind after his male counterpart has prepared for sex. This would cause her to be raped.

Also, men who drink heavily (drunkards) can often get sexually aggressive, angry, or violent if they are being deprived of sex by their dates. These types of men, under the influence of alcohol, can be most violent; they are not considerate at all. They don't care whether their victim is in good health condition or whether she is a virgin or not, what they are after is just to satisfy their sexual urge.

Lastly, visiting areas that are prone to rape or other dangerous things alone at odd hours is dangerous and can cause a girl to be raped or walking through lonely areas alone at late hours. Rapist regards such places as vulnerable environment for them to attack their victims and escape without being caught.