A Case of Rape

[Northern Light]

The number of rapes in the Civil War was most likely vastly under reported due to societal attitudes towards women and purity. These cases show that the attitudes of men were more likely to blame the victim, while reporting the crime seemed only to bring shame and degradation to women who who had been violated. In a society where a great proportion of marriageable men had been killed, women wouldn't want to advertise that their "purity" had been compromised.