Sexual violence is perceived as a gender-based crime of power. The law states that rape is a crime. However, when rape cases are brought before the legal system, they are hit with charges of “rape myths” and the legitimacy of the victim is questioned and undermined by legal representatives and jurors; therefore the public. This has made rape the least reported crime. The purpose of this article is to examine the reasons why society blames victims rather than perpetrators and explore why they commit sexual assault crimes. I will rely primarily on Young's piece, which draws on transcripts to demonstrate the ways in which lawyers deteriorate the victim's legitimacy. Using other sources, I will try to explain how and why rape victims are blamed for this crime. Young examines, using trial transcripts, observations and discussions with legal personnel who were involved in rape trials and analyzes how women are “imagined” in rape law.” This is important to show how women's stories are challenged before the law and how they go unheard by the legal system. This piece examines “the linguistic mechanisms through which legal power is realized and reproduced.” It therefore focuses on the crime of sexual violence and the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence. Attempting to understand why rape victims are re-victimized by the legal system, she examines political and legal discourses, paying exclusive attention to power and domination. In doing so, it helps explain how rape is “an exercise of power” over the weak. Chapter 7 – the politics of the legislative process, discusses the present relationship between power and law. The power imbalances that… half of the article… nd Henderson, E. (2014). “Meanings of “Sex” and “Consent”: The Persistence of Rape Myths in Victorian Rape Law,” Griffith Law Review, 1-38.Smart, C. “Law's Power, the Sexed Body, and Feminist Discourse” (1990 ) Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 pp. 194-210Easteal, P. 'Rape Prevention: Combating the Myths', Australian Institutes of Criminology. Bryden, DP & Lengnick S 1997, 'Rape in the criminal justice system', The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 87, no. 4, pp. 1194-1212Allen, A 2013, 'Feminist Perspectives on Power', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Available from, .Rape Myth Attitudes in Rural Kenya: Toward the Development of a Culturally Relevant Attitude Scale and ''Blame Index'', Paula Tavrow , Mellissa Withers, Albert Obbuyi, Vidalyne Omollo and Elizabeth Wu.