WHY RAPIST RAPE

A very good morning to our lovely lecturer, Madam Normawar Bt. Ahmad Marzuki,
and all my dear friends. Before I start my speech, may I have a show of hands of how many
of you have had a happy childhood? I see many of us who have had a cheerful and nostalgic
childhood. We all had memories of the swirly rainbow patterns on a disc of hard candy, a
game of tag that never really ended, countless stars which dazzle and pours over our
carefree dreams. But unfortunately, there are many children who are scarred and
traumatised during these so-called happy childhood memories. According to the Rape,
Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), there are 44% of rape victims who are under
the age of 18, and 15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12. This is a very
shocking and unbelievable amount of young victims and the amount continues to increase
drastically. In order to stop this phenomenon from happening, we must try to overcome this
situation. The best way to solve rape cases is to avoid it from happening. Therefore, in order
to handle the problem, we must ask ourselves this one question: WHY do rapist rape?
Why do rapist rape? That is indeed a question worth asking. There are many
influence and factors that cause the rapist to take action on the poor and innocent victim.
One of the many reasons is because the rapist wants to be in control. According to biologist
Ghiglieri, testosterone is a real kick-starter for violence. "It's a kick starter for every male trait,
not just violence, it is the responsible hormone for making males. It does affect behaviour, it
actually forces aggressive behaviour. Of course, as humans we do have the choice as
individuals whether we are aggressive or not. But the fact is testosterone does affect male
attitudes and the propensities to violence." Ghiglieri has become convinced that violence is a
male tactic. "I think in general if you want to get the simplest perspective on it, male use
violence to control females and they do it very often and they control those females for
sexual reasons. It's done in every species." From his work with sex offenders, C. Y. Roby
has also seen "a lot of desire to dominate or control others. Males often grow up and realize
that the way to get what they want is through aggressive means. Men often view their
actions as revenge or retaliation. In their opinion, women have power over them because
women are beautiful and sexual and they want them.
Besides that, rapists tend to be antisocial. Many have a mixed criminal history and a
pattern of victimizing people. They're aggressive and have problems controlling their anger.
Because they lack of adequate communication skills, they usually express their feelings of
rage and frustration. They're often sensitive to rejection and insecure about their own
masculinity. They also have distorted views about women and sex. Most have been sexually
deviant since adolescence and all of these factors cause them to vent their anger on the

victim. They did not realise that the actions and decisions they have made to the victims will
effect and ruin them for the rest of their lives. It leaves an impact that could never be erased
or removed.
Furthermore, some rapist are convicted in the crime as they want to hurt the victim
for self-satisfaction. When they rape a victim, they want the victim to feel vulnerable and that
the rapist is more superior to them. As mentioned previously, most rapist are also insecure
and sensitive. They have distorted views about the opposite gender and the meaning to sex
to them is misleading. They may also have unpleasant memories regarding sexual
intercourse and they may also have led a life being a victim of rape. So, in order to take care
of matters with their own hand and make things even, they return the flavour to victims,
maybe even worse than what they have experience, so that they can express their
unfairness and discomfort. But they have neglected to have thought of the feelings of the
victim. They may have been scarred too, yes, but that does not necessarily mean that they
need to keep the cycle on.
Moving on, rapist tend to rape to degrade victims to feel superior. Most rapists are
the outcasts, the kids that have been pulled pranks on, and the ones who could never really
fit in the any clique in school. To ensure that they are way above that level, or at least to
make themselves feel that there are people worse than them, they choose a prey who may
show traits of being a weakling and seize the opportunity to let someone else feel the same
way as what they have felt previously and give others a taste of their own medicine. They
will feel better raping someone even though it is a sinful act. By their doings, they will have a
sense of dominating a person and think that they can do whatever they wish without thinking
about the consequences. This is why they will choose different victims to take action on
them as this let them feel even more powerful and think that they can shame the opposite
gender. Raping makes them feel tough and invincible.
To conclude, rapist are tempted to make a move because of their unquenchable thirst
to control, to hurt people and also the desire to feel superior. To ensure ourselves to not fall
into the category of their prey, we must learn to be more wary of our surroundings and never
let rapists have any slight chances to pounce on to hurt us, especially for the ladies. Avoid
wearing clothes that are too revealing and exposing too much of our flesh so that the rapist
would not be encouraged to take advantage on you. And if unfortunately a rape case has
happen, never be afraid to tell the world about the doing of these beasts. It is not your fault
for what that have been done, but it will be your fault if you continue to remain silent and let
the rapist off the hook and continue their hunt on their prey. With that I would like to end my
speech, thank you.

Reference
1) Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). 2009. Retrieved from
https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims.
2) Mary

Dickson.

1996.

Retrieved

from

http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/articles/rapefeat.html.
3) Danielle Paradis. 2013, October 24. Retrieved from http://mic.com/articles/69789/the
-truth-behind-what-causes-rape.
4) Mississippi State Department of Health, B. o.-R. (2000). Avoiding Rape. 8.
5) (2013, September 7). Psychiatrist: Harder for Older Kids to Recover from Sexual
Abuse, p. 16.