Title: 4.6 Reducing Gender Inequality – Social Problems
Headings: 4.6 Reducing Gender Inequality
4.6 Reducing Gender Inequality
Learning Objectives
Reducing Rape and Sexual Assault
Key Takeaways
References

Content: Instead it must make more far-reaching changes by changing people’s beliefs about rape and by making every effort to reduce poverty and to empower women. This last task is especially important, for, as Randall and Haskell (1995, p. 22) observed, a sociological perspective on rape “means calling into question the organization of sexual inequality in our society.” Aside from this fundamental change, other remedies, such as additional and better funded rape-crisis centers, would help women who experience rape and sexual assault. Yet even here women of color face an additional barrier. Because the antirape movement was begun by white, middle-class feminists, the rape-crisis centers they founded tended to be near where they live, such as college campuses, and not in the areas where women of color live, such as inner cities and Native American reservations. This meant that women of color who experienced sexual violence lacked the kinds of help available to their white, middle-class counterparts (Matthews, 1989), and despite some progress, this is still true today. Key Takeaways
Certain government efforts, including increased financial support for child care, should help reduce gender inequality. If gender inequality lessens, rape and sexual assault should decrease as well. References
Matthews, N. A. (1989). Surmounting a legacy: