Rape as a social problem

This chapter sketches some of the key elements of recent history as they relate to author interest in exposing the cultural scaffolding of rape. There is no doubt that rape has become widely seen as a serious social problem. The chapter charts some of the key feminist and social science contributions to this reformulation of rape. Before feminism called public attention to the issue of rape as a social problem, the social sciences had largely been quiet about the subject. Drawing on feminist analyses of rape Burt argued that rape myths play an important part in those of our cultures that tolerate high rape prevalence, by creating a social climate that is hostile to rape victims and by denying the reality of many rapes.