Description of course consistent with catalog: This course provides an overview of contemporary issues of sexual violence. It defines the scope and reality of sexual violence and examines the processes by which sexual violence is perpetuated and maintained at the micro and macro levels of society.

Course Prerequisites: WS 110, or WS 150, or AACS 150, or Pol 272.

Course Objectives: To examine the ways in which sexual violence functions as a means of social control. To study how separate acts of violence against women are interrelated. To examine the consequences of living in a rape culture for girls and boys and women and men. To evaluate strategies and models for personal and political change.

Student learning outcomes: At the end of the semester, students should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the prevalence and incidence of various forms of sexual violence.

Explain and evaluate theories that justify sexual violence.

Explain and evaluate theories of causation of sexual violence.

Explain and evaluate feminist frameworks for analyzing sexual violence.

Analyze the relationship between violence against women and children and the family as an institution.

Analyze orally or in writing the role of popular culture in sustaining rape-supportive myths and attitudes.

Describe and analyze the global phenomenon of trafficking of women and children.

Demonstrate an understanding orally or in writing of the commonalities between the many forms of sexual violence.

Explain why violence against girls and women is considered a health issue.

Analyze and evaluate legal strategies to combat violence against women.

Describe and analyze individual and collective action regarding issues of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and intimate violence.

Topical outline of the course content:
1. Living in a rape culture: the reality and scope of sexual violence
2. Theories of sexual violence: an examination of the prevailing analytical frameworks for understanding sexual violence.
3. Forms of sexual violence: this section will focus on how sexual violence is manifested and identified. Attention will be paid to specific forms of sexual violence, such as, femicide, rape, battery, incest and molestation of children, sexual harassment, prostitution, pornography, and a variety of forms of sexual intrusion that are deemed minor or inconsequential by society.
4. Maintaining sexual violence: in this section of the course we will examine the role of cultural myths, ideology, media, and socialization in perpetuating a system of sexual violence.
5. Cultural and institutional responses to sexual violence: this section will explore contemporary responses to sexual violence, such as the Violence Against Women Act, Megan's Law, the debate over domestic violence protections, etc.
6. Surviving sexual violence: this section of the course will examine the literature on the ways in which girls and women have resisted and survived sexual violence.
7. Sexual violence as a global phenomenon: this section will focus on violence against girls and women in various settings and the international efforts to recognize such violence as a human rights violation.
8. Transforming a rape culture: this section will focus on strategies for
personal and systemic change.

Guidelines/suggestions for teaching methods and student learning activities:

This course is primarily lecture and discussion, using films and guest speakers where appropriate. Students will keep a "content journal." The journal will provide the basis for daily participation and the required written work. Class participation is required; it includes answering questions, asking questions, explaining assigned materials, initiating discussion, sharing experiences related to course topics, and challenging information presented.

Guidelines/suggestions for methods of student assessment (student learning outcomes):

Students will be expected to write analytical papers, on topics cleared with the instructor. Students must determine their topic for this paper and submit a written abstract (title, one-two paragraph description and preliminary bibliography) During the last two classes of the semester students should be prepared to share their research with the class.
Additionally, students will be required to familiarize themselves with the Women's Studies library collection and specifically those journals that focus on sexual violence.

Suggested readings, texts:

Buchwald, Emilie, Pamela Fletcher, and Martha Roth (eds.). 1993. Transforming A Rape Culture. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions.

Dobash, R. Emerson, and Russell P. Dobash. 1998. Rethinking Violence Against Women. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Hearn, Jeff. 1999. The Violences of Men. London: SAGE Publications.

O'Toole, Laura, and Jessica Schiffman (eds.). 1997. Gender Violence: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York: New York University Press.

Bibliography
Armstrong, Louise. l978. Kiss Daddy Goodnight. New York: Pocket Books.

Armstrong, Louise. (l994). Rocking the Cradle of Sexual Politics: What Happened When Women Said Incest. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Barry, Kathleen. (l979). Female Sexual Slavery. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Barry, Kathleen. (l995). The Prostitution of Sexuality: The Global Exploitation of Women. New York: New York University Press.

Bart, Pauline and Eileen G. Moran (eds). (l993). Violence Against Women: The Bloody Footprints. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

Beneke, Timothy. (l982). Men on rape: What they have to say about sexual violence. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Bell, Laurie. (l987). Good girls/bad girls: Feminists and sex trade works face to face. Seattle, WA: Seal Press.

Bohmer, Carol and Andrea Parrot. (l993). Sexual Assault on Campus: The problem and the solution. New York: Lexington Books.

Buchwald, Emilie, Pameal Fletcher, and Martha Roth (eds). (l993). Transforming a Rape Culture. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.

Bunch, Charlotte and Niamh Reilly. (l994). Demanding Accountability: The Global Campaign and Vienna Tribunal for women's Human Rights. New Jersey: Rutgers University, Center for Women's Global Leadership.

Cameron, Deborah, and Elizabeth Frazer. (l987). The lust to kill: A feminist investigation of sexual murder. New York: New York University Press.

Caputi, Jane. (l987). The age of sex crime. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Press.

Davis, Angela. (l985). Violence against women and the ongoing challenge to racism. Latham, NY: Kitchen Table/Women of Color Press.

Dobash, R. Emerson and Russell Dobash. (l979). Violence against wives: A case against the patriarchy. New York: Free Press.

Dworkin, Andrea. (l974). Woman Hating. New York: E. P. Dutton.

Dworkin, Andrea. (l981). Pornography: Men Possessing Women. New York: Perigree Books.

Dworkin, Andrea and Catharine A. MacKinnon. (l988). Pornography and civil rights: A new day for women's equality. Minneapolis, MN: Organizing Against Pornography.

El Saadawi, Nawal. (l980). The hidden face of Eve: Women in the Arab World. London: Zed Press.

Estrich, Susan. (l987). Real rape: How the legal system victimizes women who say no. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Finkelhor, David. (l984). Child sexual abuse: New theory and research. New York: Free Press.

Hanmer, Jalna and Mary Maynard (eds.). (l987). Women, Violence and Social Control. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, Inc.

Hanmer, Jalna, Jill Radford and Elizabeth Stanko (eds). (l989). Women, Policing, and Male Violence: International Perspectives. New York: Routledge.

Herman, Judith with Lisa Hirschman. (l981). Father-daughter incest. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Herman, Judith. (l992). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence, from domestic abuse to political terror. New York: Basic Books.

Hoff, Lee Ann. (l990). Battered Women as Survivors. New York: Routledge.

Fortune, Marie Marshall. (l983). Sexual Violence: The Unmentionable Sin. An Ethical and Pastoral Perspective. New York: The Pilgrim Press.

Graham, Dee. (l994). Loving to Survive: Sexual Terror, Men's Violence and Women's Lives. New York: New York University Press.

Gillespie, Cynthia K. (l989). Justifiable Homicide: Battered Women, Self-Defense and the Law. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.

Kelly, Liz. (l988). Surviving Sexual Violence. Minneapolis, MN.: University of Minnesota Press.

LaFree, Gary D. (l989). Rape and criminal justice: The social construction of sexual assault. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Larkin, June. (l994). Sexual Harassment: High School Girls Speak Out. Toronto: Second Story Press.

Ledray, Linda. (l986). Recovering from rape. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Levy, Barrie (ed). (l991). Dating Violence: Young women in danger.
Seattle, WA: Seal Press.

Lobel, Kerry (ed). (l986). Naming the Violence: Speaking Out About Lesbian Battering. Seattle, WA: The Seal Press.

MacKinnon, Catharine A. (l979). Sexual harassment of working women. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Malamuth, Neil and Ed Donnerstein (eds). (l984). Pornography and Sexual Aggression. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Muraskin, Roslyn and Ted Alleman (eds). (l993). It's A Crime: Women and Justice. Englewood Cliffs: Regents/Prentice Hall.

NiCarthy, Ginny. (l987). The ones who go away: Women who left abusive partners. Seattle, WA: Seal Press.

Rush, Florence. (l980). The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Russell, Diana E. H. (l986). The secret trauma: Incest in the lives of girls and women. New York: Basic Books.

Russell, Diana E. H. (l990). Rape in marriage. Bloomington: Indiana Univeristy Press.

Russell, Diana E. H. and Jill Radford (eds.). (l992). Femicide: The politics of woman killing. New York: Twayne Publishers.

Russell, Diana E. H. (ed). (l993). Making violence sexy: feminist views on pornography. New York: Teachers College Press.

Searles, Patricia and Ronald J. Berger (eds). (l995). Rape and Society: Readings on the Problem of Sexual Assault. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Sheffield, Carole. (l995). "Sexual terrorism," in Women: A Feminist Perspective (5th ed), edited by Jo Freeman. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co.

Sheffield, Carole (l989). "The Invisible Intruder: Women's Experiences of Obscene Phone Calls." Gender & Society, Vo. 3, No. 4.

Stanko, Elizabeth. (l985). Intimate intrusions: Women's experience of male violence. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Summer, Toby. (l987). "women, lesbians and prostitution." Lesbian Ehics, 2(3), 33-44.

Sumrall, Amber Coverdale and Dena Taylor. (l992). Sexual Harassment: Women Speak Out. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press.

Walker, Alice and Pratibha Parmar. (l993). Warrior Marks: Female Genital Mutiliation and the Sexual Binding of Women. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company.

Warshaw, Robin. (l988). I never called it rape. New York: Harper and Row.

Dr. Carole Sheffield

Original Departmental approval date:

Reviser's name and date: Carole Sheffield, Spring 2000

Departmental revision approval date: Spring 2000