Sexual violence and rape aren’t about sex, they are about power and control; if someone feels entitled to use another person’s body for their own sexual gratification then they prioritise their own needs over the other person’s in an unequal power dynamic. This is why, although sexual violence can be perpetrated by anyone towards anyone, it is perpetrated most frequently by men towards women: because patriarchal structures in society encourage men to prioritise their own needs over others’ and to see women as sexual objects that they are entitled to use in order to satisfy these needs.
