“Rape prone” describes a culture in which sexual violence is common and where prevalent attitudes, norms, and behaviors excuse, minimize, and even propagate sexual violence.

In a rape prone culture:

• Sexual violence is prevalent in various forms, including sexual harassment, stalking, and sexual assault.
• There are harmful myths and misconceptions around sexual violence in areas of society ranging from our friend groups to the media.
• There are minimal consequences for sexual violence and perpetrators are not held accountable.
• People who have experienced sexual violence are afraid to talk about what happened to them and report it (1 in 10 report^[1]). Those who do report are often criticized, isolated, and blamed.

 
The elements of a rape prone culture do not happen separately or by chance. They feed into one another and expose why our lives are so affected by sexual violence.

[1]Statistics Canada. Sexual Assault in Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Profile Series, 2004 & 2007.