Poll: Which is worse: Rape or Murder?

[Xigageshi]

Well I for one would like to know if the OP was asking if murder is worse than rape or if killing was worse than rape. because you can justify killing, but you can't justify murder. they are two different things.

If that is indeed what the OP meant, I would say murder is worse than rape, because of the already mentioned chance of recovery.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

Rape, 'cause if you're dead, you don't care how bad it was. Being alive its not all that great when you have to suffer through pain and emotional trauma, and sometimes even have to go through an abortion or raise a child you didn't want or plan for. Victims can get AIDS or other diseases. In patriarchal societies it is often considered shameful for a woman to be raped, as paradoxical as that sounds. So victims have to live with trauma and stigma for the rest of their lives. There is also the thing about abuse victims becoming abusers themselves. Overall, death isn't that bad compared to all that, especially since you'll die eventually.

 

[Davey Woo]

They're both equally bad things to do to a person, murdering someone puts stress on the victim's family members and friends, however the victim themselves won't be troubled about it.
On the other hand a rape victim will have to deal with the trauma of being raped, and this can also affect their family and friends as well, so I guess in that case rape is worse.

 

[2718]

Look, if I had to pick between being raped or being murdered, I would pick the former without blinking. Not to trivialize rape, but I'd rather live with damaged private parts and a traumatized psyche than not live at all. Still, I hate ALL rapists unconditionally, while some murderers might gain a little sympathy, depending on the circumstances (like someone murdering their rapist).

 

[Colour Scientist]

well rape for a women is on par with being killed

Really? That's some bizarre reasoning. So, a female rape victim may as well be dead? You know I've never heard of a rape victim wish that the rapist had just killed them, usually they're grateful to be alive.
What about male rape victims?

OP: For me, murder is worse. Rape is disgusting, despicable and one of the most vile acts any human being can inflict on another but at least the victim still has the chance to have a relatively normal and happy life. Whereas, with murder, there's no coming back.

Murder can be Justified

Rape on the other hand, Can not!

I don't think that murder can ever be justified.

 

[Estocavio]

You can get counseling for rape, not for murder.
You can confront the rapist and get closure, you cannot confront you killer.
There is life and happiness after rape, perhaps it may be limited, but there is nothing (in my mind) after death.

(So murder is worse)

This.
This. This. This. This. This.


You survive rape. Unless your Raped and Murdered - But thats Murder, with a side of rape.
Thats different.

Yes, this. 100%

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

i'd have to say they're about equal. they're both things one person does to hurt another and assert power over them, they're both things that the victim will never recover from, and they're both things that destroy multiple lives (the victim's and his/her family's).

and for those who say that death is worse than having to wash off a petty thing like rape, well...clearly, you've never had another person invade your space to the point that he is actually inside of you. there is no "getting over" something like that, there is only coping. when you're dead, you don't go to sleep every night remembering what it felt like to get killed. it's terrible, but it's the matter of stacking up misery, pain, and fear over the rest of a life and cutting a life short. i think both are equally terrible.

 

[A Free Man]

My reasoning behind my answer (murder being worse), is that although it could be argued that some people may never recover from rape, the experience will most likely stick with them throughout their entire life it is possible to live around those memories. Dealing with the feelings it brings up and moving forward even if you are never really at peace with what happened (which lets face it is not expected) you can still go forth and live a good and happy life despite of it. However with murder you are condemning the person to not even have a chance to move on with their life as they will no longer have a life to continue with. I don't know about some religious fanatics who might think death is no big deal thanks to heaven etc etc. But my estimation and in all seriousness hope is that we just die and there is nothing more to it and therefore life is all we really have in this world and so the taking of that is essentially taking every single thing that person is. So yeh I think murder is much worse, but that is based a lot on my I guess you could say beliefs but a more accurate term I suppose would be hypothesis.

 

[Outright Villainy]

In terms of what's worse for the victim, I couldn't possibly imagine which would be worse.

But in terms of which is more immoral, definitely rape. Rape can never be justified, and I'd have no sympathy at all for a rapist.

 

[AnkaraTheFallen]

well rape for a women is on par with being killed

Really? That's some bizarre reasoning. So, a female rape victim may as well be dead? You know I've never heard of a rape victim wish that the rapist had just killed them, usually they're grateful to be alive.
What about male rape victims?

OP: For me, murder is worse. Rape is disgusting, despicable and one of the most vile acts any human being can inflict on another but at least the victim still has the chance to have a relatively normal and happy life. Whereas, with murder, there's no coming back.

Murder can be Justified

Rape on the other hand, Can not!

I don't think that murder can ever be justified.

Actually most women who have been raped do, for a long time, wish they had been killed... the horror of remembering the act stays with them forever, some even kill themselves years later after everyone thinks they were 'over it'. And male rape victims are probably worse because they feel they can't tell anyone what happened so it just stays bottled up inside them.

Personally I feel rape is much worse... the pain stays with the victim long after it's over and murder can be justified in some cases by people... some people would say murdering someone who killed their children is what they deserve for example (not saying I feel this way, I personally think that killing people is never the right thing to do).

 

[Scorpianhead]

Their both horrible.

 

[demoncub1990]

i believe that rape is the worse option because of the fact that if you die there's nothing else to it but if you get raped it lingers in the back of your mind haunting you all the time. i'm not saying that murder is not terrible believe me it's just as bad as rape. and some rape cases might even lead to vengence permanent trauma or even suicide. This sort of reminds me of a movie i saw a while ago it was a futuristic zombie apocalapse, but instead of just eating the victims they raped them, skinned them alive and then killed them. Yes i know it's gross and rape would make you wish you wanted to die but then they leave you and you have to deal with it.

 

[Kaymish]

both are awful but murder edges out ahead because after rape you are still alive and there is a chance of recovering murder you are dead and that's about as bad as can happen plus your friends and family still have you around so thy dont suffer as much grief than if you have been murdered
though it is difficult to say because i haven't been raped or murdered

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

It's not really easy to compare the two but I have to say that I think murder is worse. I think that I would personally rather be raped than murdered because I might be able to recover from the trauma of rape but if I'm murdered then there's not a lot left for me to do. And this is going to sound quite harsh but if you can't handle the rape then you always have the option of killing yourself. Not a nice thought but I'm just saying that you've got more choice.

I've seen people saying that murder can be justified where rape cannot. This is completely true, you cannot accidentally rape someone in self defense for example. If someone commits rape then they are probably more "mentally troubled" than someone who commits murder. But I still think that the actual consequences of murder are more harmful. Like I said though, it's not something that you can just compare side by side.

 

[Sun Flash]

Rape is like murder of the soul/mind/whatever you want to call it. While people can recover from it, they are changed irrevocably and have to live with memories and social implications that being a rape victim brings. And your family and everyone around you, like it or not, will see you differently, which leaves a pretty big elephant in the room for the rest of your life. Plus it is always deliberate, and that the attacker set out to do that.

Murder is technically, the worst of the two, because it ends a life. but all of the negatives of murder are suffered by a rape victim. You could argue that being dead frees them of the repercussions that living with what rape brings. Plus as plenty of others have said, it can be justified sometimes.

There's a reason rapists and pedophiles are secluded from other prisoners in jail.


... and that makes me sound like an asshole. I would like to say that I am in no way condoning or belittling the act of murder in any way. But OP asked for a yes/no answer to a question that could be answered as with an essay.

edit: I think it should also be said that religion is a big part of it, and your views on morality, mortality and the after life.

 

[Adam28]

As many people have said, murder can be justifiable, however we can argue that the consequences of murder are worse for the victim and others. This really depends on the case of the crime, and whether we are talking about the act or the victim.

 

[godofgamers]

Just had a thought: what about mercy killing? Unlawfully taking a human life, yes, but with the "victim's" permission, not entirely immoral. As opposed to rape which is never consensual. (unless it's statutory or one party is judgement impaired)

 

[Matthew Wilson]

Damn, I'm surprised so many people picked murder.

Murder can be justified, rape cannot.

You my friend hit it right on the nose.

I fully agree that rape is so much worse, if you murder it can be for any number of reasons, jealousy, anger, accident etc. I'm not saying it's good but at least there's a reason, there is absolutely no reason for rape.

Also while it may be bad for a family that a relative has been murdered they'll get over it eventually because people die all the time, dark but true. With rape the victim and their family both have to live with the fact that the horrible crime happened, yes there's therepy but that victim's life has changed forever and it will never go back to the way it was.