And Contrast The Perception Of Victims From The Viewpoints Of Feminism And Positivism

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An individual becomes a victim when they have suffered loss, injuries or hardship for any reason (Karmen, 2013). Victims are recognized within society as a social aspect or identity of a person/s (Rock, 2002 cited in Hoyle and Wilson, 2002). The following essay will focus on the perceptions of victims from the viewpoints of positivism and feminism; more specifically victims of rape. Rape is defined in the Sexual Offences Act (2003) as forced penetration, with lack of consent, to the vagina, anus or mouth by a penis. Positivism in many cases, is referred to as the founder of victimology and under Positivism, victimology has progressed dramatically and became a vital part of the criminal justice process (Goodey, 2005a). Feminism, although it …show more content…

As a result of this, feminist workings attempts to disprove rape myths and remove the stigma that surrounds them. It has been suggested that in accordance to public perceptions some sexual assaults do not class as “real rape” (Estrich, 1986). Brownmiller (1975) implies there are 4 fundamental rape myths which consist of; all women want to be raped, no woman can be raped against her will, she was asking for it and if you are going to be raped you might as well enjoy it. Due to these myths women are often blamed for their experiences of rape however there is still this underlying notion that men can achieve sexual gratification from rape and women become the means to achieve this (Ward, 1995a). This is supported by the results of a dated study conducted by Feild (1978) which investigated 400 university student’s perceptions of rape. Of the university students interviewed, 7% of females and 17% of males agreed that if a woman was going to be raped she might as well enjoy it, 8% of females and 32% of males stated that it would actually benefit a woman to be raped. Based on the experiences of women in patriarchal societies, rape ideologies such as the aforementioned, encourages and rationalizes rape thus resulting in women becoming devalued in society and this is a matter that feminism are seeking to battle (Ward,

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