I started my journey with research, outlining the scope of the issue in a problem statement:

Women, transgender, and nonbinary people live in constant fear of being harassed, overpowered, abused, and even killed. Though it happens at a lower rate, the topic of sexual abuse is equally important when it comes to violence against men. A world without crime is likely impossible, but, ideally, women and minorities should feel safe around men, abusers should face significant punishment for their crimes, and all people should know the effects of sexual abuse, have access to helpful resources, and think twice before forcing a sexual encounter.

Because I am interested in true crime, I constantly hear stories of women who’s lives end with rape and murder. This happens far more often than one might think. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center reports that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 33 men will experience rape in their life time. Furthermore, people who are raped often suffer PTSD, depression, and other mental health injuries that can haunt them for years. It’s reported that 734,630 people were raped in the US in 2018; however it is important to note that that number is likely much higher as an estimated 80% of sexual harrassment cases go unreported. According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network(RAINN), women between the ages of 12-34 are at the highest risk of being raped. There are also high risks in minority groups such as transgender women and nonbinary people, Native Americans, prisoners, women in the armed forces, and college-attending men. Furthermore, statistics on the RAINN website show that 55% of sexual assault cases occur at or near the victim’s home, 15% in a public place, 12% at or near a relative’s home, 10% in enclosed public places, and 8% on school properties.

There are many reasons why rape can occur, for example: insubstantial sexual education and knowledge about consent, mental disorders, prejudice against race, sexual orientation, class, etc., intoxication, and more; many agree that the root cause of the problem, though, is the patriarchal system our society was founded on and the reinforcement of that system today in which “traditional” gender roles create inequality between sexes, giving men a sense of entitlement and superiority and a false idea of what it means to be masculine. The approach for solving the problem, in this case, is educating people who are sexually active by sending them messages about rape culture through a product they may buy.