**TL;DR - Rape culture is a pervasive part of western society, with 97% of women aged 18-24 being sexually harassed and one in 16 women losing their virginity through rape.** Firstly, rape culture is a sociological theory of a setting in which rape is normalised due to societal attitudes towards sex and gender. Therefore, rape culture is present in western society as patriarchal attitudes continue to teach people, especially women, “not to be raped”, rather than focusing on the issue of preventing rape as a universal crime and threat. This responsibility that is placed on women to ensure they are not raped feeds into the victim-blaming and slut-shaming which perpetuates rape culture. In a society where women have to be hyper-vigilant and fearful of men, rape culture is active. Ultimately, the statistics, as well as patriarchal attitudes, means rape culture is part of western society as sexual violence continues to be normalised. [Research finds that 97% of women in the UK have been sexually harassed](https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/97-of-women-in-the-uk/105940/ ) [Rape culture is as American as apple pie](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/21/culture-american-apple-pie-week-in-patriarchy)

**Rape and sexual assault have been normalised within western society to the extent that the 'Me Too' movement gained huge traction as a widespread exposition of that which had gone unspoken and been normalised for too long.** - The definition of 'rape culture' is ["a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalising or trivialising sexual assault and abuse."] (https://www.lexico.com/definition/rape_culture) - A relatively recent high profile case was the ['Stanford Rape Case',] (https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/stanford-sexual-assault-letters/485837/) where Brock Turner was accused of assaulting and raping an unconscious woman. It is doubly revealing that - firstly a number of reputable news sources [reported Turner as being "a star swimmer",] (https://theintercept.com/2016/09/02/media-continues-to-refer-to-brock-turner-as-a-stanford-swimmer-rather-than-a-rapist/) whose life was being derailed by the accusations. And secondly - the victim wrote in a letter to Turner that ["he has only apologised for drinking ... and has yet to define what he did to me as sexual assault."] (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katiejmbaker/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra) - It is easy for a 'rape culture' to take hold since as that saying goes, what consensual adults do on their own time in the bedroom is their business - and since they are often the only two there, consent is a very hard thing to measure in a court of law. An element of what makes Western society complicit in the perpetuation of rape culture is the persisting idea of the poor male victim who has been unjustly accused and the evil accusee, plotting to ruin his life. (Obviously, rape/sexual assault victims are also male - [1 out of every 10 victims] (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence), in fact, but the stats for female assault are higher - [1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of a completed or attempted rape in her lifetime] (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence)). - The scrutiny and disbelief to which victims of rape and sexual assault are subjected have encouraged a normalisation of not speaking up for fear of derailing the victim's own life. The weight and breadth of impact had by the ['Me Too'] (https://metoomvmt.org/) movement is indicative of rape culture's normalisation in the West. It revealed how easy it is to follow the group consensus - consequently showing how difficult it is to call out deeply embedded cultural norms when no one else is. - Overall - criticisms of the 'Me Too' movement and of the idea that rape culture is something that is embedded into Western society often centre around [false accusations] (https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlynborysenko/2020/02/12/the-dark-side-of-metoo-what-happens-when-men-are-falsely-accused/?sh=3d7d89c1864d). And sadly, it is unavoidable that these will occur. But the more pressing issue is that rape and sexual assault do happen, even post-Me Too, at an alarming rate. [Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted] (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence). Our collective focus should be on helping and believing those victims.

What does this statement even mean? Human beings have always done awful things to one-another, the "West" is no exception. But to suggest that rape is part of the culture is absurd. Statistically it is African countries who have the highest rates of rape so would those in favour of this opinion also claim that it is a bigger part of African culture? Western culture has had a disgust of rape for centuries from both Roman and Christian ethics. Rapists are sent to prison and vilified for their actions. Western culture could in fact be highlighted as one where zero-tolerance and punishment of rape is pretty much guaranteed.

Rape is rooted in nature, not culture. The case for "rape culture" starts from the fact that rape is more widespread and therefore less shocking than we might like to think. But then blames Western culture, when it's actually a fact about human nature. Chimpanzees rape. The evolutionary imperative to reproduce, as experienced by the male of the species, does not require the female to be willing. And humans are closer to chimps than we like to think. All societies struggle to channel the physical and sexual energies of young men into socially useful or at least harmless channels. In many historical cultures, the reward for a successful warrior is his pick of the enemy's women. Western culture, influenced by Christianity, traditionally sought to overcome the worst aspects of human nature. Chivalry is a product of Western culture. A man fully socialised into the tradition of Western culture despises rapists. But traditional culture is under attack from the cult of "if it feels good, do it" and the false belief that people are basically good if only they could be freed from the oppression of tradition. It's more complicated than that, of course. Feminism is itself a product of Western culture, ..

that specific tyypppe of rape culture is part of the west i guess? but i dont doubt theres something exetremly similar in every other part of the world. japan comes to my mind.