There are a lot of problems and issues that we as women face because we are veiwed as the weaker sex, sexual conquests, and other derogatory things. Some are caused by the urge to become what society wants us to be, some are what society wants us to be, and they're all sad.
RAPE
"RAPE is forced sexual intercourse, including both psychological coercion and physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal or oral penetration by the offender(s). This category includes incidents where the penetration is from a foreign object such as a bottle. This definition includes attempted rapes, male and female victims, and heterosexual and homosexual rape.
SEXUAL ASSAULT includes a wide range of victimizations, distinct from rape or attempted rape. These crimes include completed or attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact between the victim and offender. Sexual assaults may or may not involve force and include such things as grabbing or fondling. Sexual assault also includes verbal threats. " (Thanks to RAINN for the definitions)
One out of every six women in America will become a victim of attempted or completed rape. Forty percet of rapes take place in the vicitm's home. It's not only womne being raped either, in fact one out of every eight rapes in a male rape and about three percent of men will be a victim of rape or attempted rape.Three out of every twenty victims in under the age of twelve. Twelves percent of girls in grades 9-12 have been sexualy assaulted. Nintey-three percent of underage rape victims know their rapist. Rape and sexual assault is most prominant here in the United States, yet is very under reported. Only about one out of every three rapes is reported to the authorities. These are the statistics for prosecution of rape: "If the rape is reported to police, there is a 50.8% chance that an arrest will be made.
If an arrest is made, there is an 80% chance of prosecution.
If there is a prosecution, there is a 58% chance of a felony conviction.
If there is a felony conviction, there is a 69% chance the convict will spend time in jail.
So, even in the 39% of attacks that are reported to police, there is only a 16.3% chance the rapist will end up in prison.
Factoring in unreported rapes, about 6% of rapists—1 out of 16— will ever spend a day in jail. 15 out of 16 will walk free. "
(Thanks to here for these stats)
If you've ever gotten an email or read somewhere the semi-well known piece about rape prevention, disregard it, it's littered with errors. Fighting backs will not always be the best course of action, in certain cases it can elevate to murder. Rapists do not look for specific hairstyles or clothing styles, they're looking for someone vulnerable. Rape is not always a ransom crime, many are planned against someone because of some previous problems experienced between them. XXX
DOMESTIC ABUSE
Every nine seconds, another woman is beaten by her husband/boyfriend. In about the time it takes to read this sentence, another woman somewhere could be severely injured by one she loves.Ninety-five percent of domestic abuse victims are women. It is the number one cause of injury towards women, more than car accidents and muggings combined. Domestic violence is responsible for thirty percent of women's physical disabilities and fifty percent of muders committed against women are done by a spouse, boyfriend, or acquaintance. It occurs in sixty percent of marriages, and children who see their father hit their mother are more likely than others who don't to learn that it's okay to smack around a woman if she does something to displease him. It is the most under reported crime in the United States. Aside from the physical harm that it does to women and families, it costs companies three to five billion dollars due to absenteeism. (>>Source here
BREAST CANCER
Cancer affects millions of people every day, and as much as I'd like to write about them all, I chose breast cancer becausae of the impact it has on women in specific.
13.4% of all women will sometime contract breast cancer in their lives. However, statistics according to age are more accurate, because the risk of breast cancer varies by age. The risk of cancer in women has gone up over the last several years and continues to rise. Luckily, new medical breakthroughs are finding new treatments that lower the risk of fatalies.Other types of cancer affecting women are cervical and ovarian cancer.
EATING DISORDERS
There are so many types of eating disorders, and most are misunderstood. Eating disorders are not about getting thin only, they're deeper than that. Most come from a desire to be in control when in reality they are totally out of control. They can come from a desire for attention, and are an extreme way of asking for it. Whatever the reason, all sufferers of ED's have one thing in common: low self esteem.
There are many types of eating disorders. Anorexic nervosa is probably the most well-known one. If a girl is anorexic, she is desperately afraid of gaining weight and will not eat, no matter how long it's been since she last has.However, not all anorexics have the desire to lose weight for the sole purpose of being thin. Many do this as a way to gain control of themselves, emotionally, and physically. This is a misconception that they suffer, beucase as the disease progresses, they will eventually lose all control of themselves and will be under the power of the numbers on the scale. If one becomes anorexic, many health problems will arise. Heart abnormalities begin to occur, thin black hair grows all over the body to keep itself warm since there is a lack of fat to do so, people will get irritable, loss of periods in girls, and there is a direct connection between all eating disorders and depression.
Bulimia nervosa consists of two separate periods: binging and purging. Someone with bulimia will eat a large amount of food and, within an hour, usually(before the calories are absorbed), will purge the fod out, either by forced vomiting or laxatives/diuretics,enemas. But a bulimic will not always purge in this way, some will excercise vigorously to burn off the calories or will fast the next day to "make up" for the excessive amounts consumed. Like in all eating disoders, there are often connections(but not always) to some sort of abuse, leading to the low self-esteem. If someone keeps up these habits long enough, they can cause problems with the person's colon, the stomach acids from vomiting will wear away the enamel on their teeth. People with bulimia often do not dip as extrememly low in their weight as the anorixics do.
Compulsive overeating is when a person eats when they feel any excessive emotion, contrary to the other main two. A person who overeats this way will eat when under stress, when depressed, or when very excited. They often feel that they "aren't good enough" for the society that we live in, and therefore are stricken with the same low self esteem as the rest. Food is often their drug, so to speak, and they do become addicted. It helps them to cope with hard emotions just as starving oneself would to an anorexic.
Binge eating is, like in bulimia, eating a large amount of food in one sitting, however, after this episode, the person will not purge or excercise. These types of people may be above their ideal weight, and because of our society, they feel horrible about themselves. They'll often feel guilty about what they do, and many will eat in private so that no one can watch and criticize how much they are eating. After prolonged binge eating, one is at risk for heart attacks, high blood pressure, bone deterieration, and kidney problems.
There are even more ED's that are not brought to light hardly as often as the big name ones. These include Pica, which is a compulsion driving one to contantly want to chew or eat something, Prader-Willi syndrome, which, technically, is a developmental defect causing a child to overeat from birth, Night eating syndrome, which is also referred to as "morning anorexia", where the person wioll not eat until noon-ish and may over eat later in the day, body dysmorphic disorder(BDD) is an obsession with one's physical appearance, when one will imagine or exaggerate flaws and obsess on these. In extreme cases, the afflicted person could attempt their own makeshift surgery or attempt suicide.Orthorexia nervosa is an obession with a pure diet, and if the purity falters, severe consequences are performed. This is not something thata doctor will diagnose. Also not able to be diagnosed is Bigorexia, which is often referred to as reversed anorexia, when the person fears that they are too small.
With the internet, people with eating disorders are able to get in touch with each other and exchange tips on how to hide their disorders and tips for getting through the pain of hunger, and get what is referred to as "thinspiration", which is often pictures of scrawny models and other emaciated people, or lyrics/poetry that could be triggering. I personally am upset that this can be allowed, this aiding in what could be a slow death, but the worst thing is that the problem is so vast that there's hardly anything we can do. However, to help stop the promotion of these triggering images, go to the links page and look for the Anti-Ana page.
Of course, there are many many more problem s that we as women may face today, and I will in time put more up..
