Each and every society has been perverted by rape culture, no matter its economic status, location, or military power, yet many people still do not understand what it is and how it affects them.

Rape culture is a sociological concept for a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. At least that’s what the textbook says.  But it isn’t a line of words in the dictionary, it’s girls who can’t walk home alone in the dark. It’s a girl not wearing what she wants because she’s scared a man will say that she’s asking for it. It’s society mourning the future of the rapist when the victim will live with what’s done for the rest of the victim’s life. Rape culture and victim blaming are ingrained into our society- something akin to eating or breathing- and it absolutely should not be.

This pervasive culture encourages people to justify sexual assault with flimsy excuses, and while rape is something that can happen to anyone, it’s much more likely to happen to women, reflecting how the majority of rape culture works again women.

In fact, according to nsvrc.org, one in six women have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime, and that’s just in the United States. Out of these victims, less than one out of every four go to the police reporting it. Society blames victims for not reporting anything, but when what happened comes to light, the rapist is cast as the victim. This is rape culture: victim blaming and the systematic silencing of voices crying out the truth.

Emily Tanner, a sophomore at Tahoma High School, said that “I feel as though rape culture is one of those things that is often ignored or pushed to the side in society because victims are often seen as falsely claiming rape or sexual assault… [it’s] something that society blames on factors that do not actually necessarily have a play in the event, which is why the struggle for victims to get recognition is so large in this country.” No longer will it be hidden or ignored in favor of a pretty lie.

Now in the #MeToo age, awareness of rape culture is prevalent in media more than ever. Slowly but surely, people are learning more about it, but it won’t be enough until it’s completely abolished.

It’s the hidden monster in every corner, every crevice and doesn’t really matter until it matters. Matters to the hundreds of thousands of people, of children, that get sexually assaulted in America annually. Matters to the 17.7 million and counting women who have been victims of rape since 1998. It matters to all the victims in history forced to stay quiet for fear of retribution. There is a way to stop this: standing up and pointing out the issue even when it’s your friends, even when it’s something little, especially when it’s something little. Rape culture is part of our society.

But it doesn’t have to be.