ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the third, fourth, and fifth components of sexual terrorism; amorality, socialized compliance, and perceptions of the perpetrator. First, Amorality is described by explaining how people who perpetrate sexual violence may believe it is culturally acceptable or normal because we live in a world where women are sexualized, violence is seen as sexy, and fault and accountability are often debated. Next, we change the original label of the fourth element of sexual terrorism from voluntary compliance to socialized compliance. This section describes how sexual terrorism is achieved and maintained by elaborate systems of gender-role socialization. This involves concepts like sexual scripting and the push-and-resist dynamic of heterosexual sexual encounters that have very little to do with voluntary actions and instead reflect social constructions of gender roles. The last component that is discussed is perceptions of perpetrators wherein we analyze how cases of sexual violence often illicit societal responses that look to excuse the behavior of the offender and blame the victim. Examples of campus sexual assault cases where perpetrators’ actions have been dismissed and victims have been blamed for their own victimization are provided.
