For a legal perspective on the subject of sexual assault and consent I will be discussing the issue of the “grey area” of consent within our justice system. On January 6, 2012, the United States Department of Justice announced a newly revised definition of rape. The new and most recent definition is now, “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (US Department of Justice). The key to this definition lies with the word consent. The definition also states, “the ability of the victim to give consent must be determined in accordance with individual state statutes.” (US Department of Justice, 2012). The United States Department of Justice gives the determination of the victim’s ability to give consent to individual state governments who can choose to view the definition of consent in numerous ways. …show more content…
A definition for the concept of the grey area is given by Sara Alcid in the article “Navigating Consent”, she defines it as, “the unclarity as to whether each party is consensually participating to an act of sex, and that certain actions, clothing, or conversations invite sex or signal consent” (Alcid, 2013). The lack of a verbal “no” during sex is also included within the grey
This is particularly discouraging for acquaintance rape cases, where consent is typically a defense. As it shown, the rape shield laws can play as a strengths and weaknesses both for the victims and defendants.
In America, the legal age to sign off on any medical consent is 18 years of age. Seventeen year olds should be able to compose their own medical decisions, and sign off on their own medical consents. Power should land in their hands, accompanied by the professional advice of a doctor. It is your body, be compelled to fabricate a decision without having to have your parent’s signature.
Alex Wubbels, a nurse in Salt Lake City, Utah was wrongfully arrested by a police officer because she refused to draw blood. Wobbles was following hospital protocol and was following the correct guidelines for her job. In the Alex Wubbels video Wubbel refused to draw blood from a patient who was unconscious. The officer wanted his blood drawn because he thought the patient was under the influence of alcohol and may have been the cause of the accident. When Wubbel refused the police officer preceeded to handcuff her because she was succeeding to comply with the police officers. The officer was angry and wanted Wubble to do what he said. When she did what was best for the patient and what she was supposed to do according to law the police officer detained her. The officer obviously did not have a comprehension of
The American judicial system should be held to a higher standard and should be strict in cases concerning sexual assault. Without repercussions, this young man is not learning from the experience that wrongful actions have serious consequences.”
It is amazing that in this day and age that there is even a concern about the constitutional rights of suspects involved in computer related crime. The rights of the citizens of this country have been eroded by the passage of many laws including the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.O.T. Act. People can expect to have less privacy because of these laws. The government can enter a person’s house that is not suspected of terrorism or any criminal activity at all. They are free to search the house of that person. There is a good chance that whatever crime is observed will not be ignored. If the government searches a house under a secret warrant possible by the Act, and finds child pornography, the suspect is sure to be prosecuted. It is almost impossible to determine what type of defense that an attorney would use. Maybe the federal government would use their evidence found in regards to the Act to tip off local law enforcement of any violations of the law. This would give local law enforcement officers the means to follow the proper procedures such as obtainin...
What are the elements of a valid medical consent (consent)? Under what clinical situations is consent not required? Discuss using any relevant SA or NT legislation, or common law principles.
ABSTRACT: A commonly accepted criticism of the social contract approach to justifying political authority targets the notion of hypothetical consent. Hypothetical contracts, it is argued, are not binding; therefore hypothetical consent cannot justify political authority. I argue that although hypothetical consent may not be capable of creating political obligation, it has the power to legitimate political arrangements.
By gaining consent Jean's autonomy will be respected and maintained. It is important that all nurses and other health care professions uphold the professional standard when providing direct care to individual, community and groups. Gallagher and Hodge (2012) states reinforce a person's right to exercise choice in relation to personal and bodily integrity and to have that choice respected. Before administrating the medication to Jean the nurse and student nurse made sure that she was given a choice by obtaining consent from Jean first. According to the NMC Code (2015) make sure that you get properly informed consent and document it before carrying out any action.
This essay will examine Susan Estrich’s and Lois Pineau’s discussion on rape. Both contribute insights on our society’s negligence when it comes to the protection and justice for women. Estrich provides a peak into the legal system on how it determines rape. We will see that the law is shaped in a way that continues to oppress women and leave them unprotected. Pineau furthers the conversation on placing responsibility on the victim to prove the crime. She narrows her focus on date rape and raises an objection to the model of consent that shapes our culture’s attitude and our country’s law. Pineau proposes a communicative model of sex. From this proposal, I will conclude my essay with an objection of her model and will ultimately defend her model against such an objection.
My colleague and I received an emergency call to reports of a female on the ground. Once on scene an intoxicated male stated that his wife is under investigation for “passing out episodes”. She was lying supine on the kitchen floor and did not respond to A.V.P.U. I measured and inserted a nasopharyngeal airway which was initially accepted by my patient. She then regained consciousness and stated, “Oh it’s happened again has it?” I removed the airway and asked my colleague to complete base line observations and ECG which were all within the normal range. During history taking my patient stated that she did not wish to travel to hospital. However each time my patient stood up she collapsed and we would have to intervene to protect her safety and dignity, whilst also trying to ascertain what was going on. During the unresponsive episodes we returned the patient to the stretcher where she spontaneously recovered and refused hospital treatment. I completed my patient report form to reflect the patient's decision and highlighted my concerns. The patient’s intoxicated husband then carried his wife back into the house.
What do you think and feel when you hear the word rape? Do you feel uncomfortable? Maybe even angry? Your certain feelings and emotions towards this word is a result of rape culture. Rape culture, essentially, is how a society as a whole sees and reacts towards rape or instances of rape. In 2013 rape was defined by the FBI as, “Penetration… of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (Division’s Crime Statistics Management Unit 1). The definition was finally changed after the old definition deemed inappropriate by today’s standards, which beforehand, stated that physical force needed to be used for rape to be considered rape. This is good news for men and women who have been fighting for the definition to be changed, but unfortunately this does not mean that state laws are being changed the same way. Even though the FBI may acknowledge the older inappropriate definition, most states do not. Sexual assault is a commonly unreported crime, where only an average of 36% of sexual abuse is actually reported to the authorities (Planty 7). Some forms of rape can include physical harm, threats, and even death of the victim, and most victims do not want to tell others for fear of criticism, self-blame, or even the fear that their attackers will carry out on their threats. In many cases, victims do have a reason to be afraid. When someone is brave enough to come forward and say they were sexually assaulted, they are putting themselves in the position of being in not only a long legal process, but also having their motives questioned and misunderstood, which is the last thing they want after their experience. The legal system in the United States...
To comprehend the underlying levels of conviction, there are unfortunate factors from the police, the criminal justice system, the probability of evidence and issue of consent that make convictions immensely difficult to prove. This essay will investigate those measures showing the contrasts of rape and why it is tricky to prove rape occurred without consent, without any corroborative evidence, attitudes of police towards rape victims, the victims withdrawing their report due to personal circumstances and the handling of victims in court, that lead to many offenders having a non-custodial sentence or being acquitted of a rape charge. In the first paragraph, I will explain what constitutes rape and the variations of relationships in which rape is committed. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (the Act) came into force on the 1st May 2004. The purpose of the Act was to strengthen and modernise the law on sexual offences, whilst improving preventative measures and the protection of individuals from sexual offenders.
Judicial jurisdiction of sexual assault cases on college campuses reside with the institution’s review board. Under the jurisdiction of an institution, the victim of sexual assault is not provided due process or equal protection of the laws because of the subjective interest of those on the college judicial board. The student-faculty review board is comprised of a police officer, attorney, and chairperson, which are all
Sexual assault is a term that is used interchangeably with the word rape. The decision on whether or not to use the term rape or sexual assault is made by a state’s jurisdiction. Sexual assault is more readily used in an attempt to be more gender neutral (National Victim Center). Sexual assault can be most easily described as forced or unconsentual sexual intercourse. The individual that is performing these acts on the victim may either be a stranger or an acquaintance. In 1994, 64.2 percent of all rapes were committed by someone the offender had previously known (Ringel, 1997). Regardless, this type of crime can have extreme effects on the victim.
First, victim blaming makes it difficult for those raped to report the crime. Did you know that only 32 out of 100 rapes will be reported (“Why Will Only”)? For example, when we normalize phrases like “she was asking for it,” someone who was raped may have a hard time processing the nonconsensual sex as a crime, simply because she has been conditioned by society to think that she was “asking for it.” The definition of consent only continues to become