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Introduction to rape
Introduction to sexual assault essay
Rape culture and its effect on women
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Radical Feminism understand that patriarchal societies shape experiences and dynamics of victims.
What is sexual Assault?
To define sexual assault, the Met Police in the U.K have given a definition: “The overall definition of sexual or indecent assault is an act of physical, psychological and emotional violation in the form of a sexual act, inflicted on someone without their consent. It can involve forcing or manipulating someone to witness or participate in any sexual acts.” (Met.police.uk, 2018). Sexual consent is understandably accepted by various scholars and researchers. However, depending on age, the ideas and acceptance of what is sexual assault can differ. Allan (2005) agrees that children whom commit sexual assault via threats or force are deviant (O'Brien & Wendy, 2008: 6).
Sexual assault is a crime in all communities, ages, religions and social classes, however, this review will aim to show if these factors play a role in the experiences females face as a victim of sexual assault. The study amongst females accordingly South Asian Muslims, is due to the lack of representation these victims contract and if women’s victimization within this community has become acknowledged within themselves as well as society.
A review of the experiences of sexual assault
In review most of the
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Reviewing criminological literature, it is gathered that radical feminists believe rape against a female is due to power and oppression. (Primorac, 1998). ‘Gender blindness’ a criminological theory states the causation of crime. Due to Feminism in the late 90’s, female victimology has emerged to be acknowledged and taught in the wider society of Britain, all due to Feminist activism. Due to the increased knowledge of violence against women, in 2002 the Council of Europe declared this crime a ‘public health emergency’ (Silvestri and Crowther-Dowey, 2008:
Camille Paglia a thrilling humanities professor at Philadelphia University of the Arts. Known for her controversial books and essays wrote a selection for the New York News Day in 1991 titled, Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminist Know (578). In this selection Pagila takes a stance on rape and who is really to blame for it. Paglia’s thesis, which states “ Feminism keeps saying the sexes are the same. It keeps telling women they can do anything, go anywhere, say anything, wear anything. No, they cant. Women will always be in danger” (579).
According to RAINN, (2009) approximately 10 per cent of all victims of sexual assault and abuse are adult and juvenile males. In terms of the nature of assault, real figures include a compendium of reported incidents ranging from unwanted sexual touching to forced penetration. To qualify this statement, it must be understood that the percentage does not reflect a vast number of crimes that go unreported due to issues that will be discussed in the present paper.
Feminist Criminology, 7(2), 146-162. Kinder-Matthews, J. & Co., Ltd. (1994) The 'Standard' of the 'St Working with female sexual abusers. (pp. 57-67). The 'Secondary' of the Miccio & Fonseca, L.C. a.
Legally, one might wonder how sexual assault is defined. According to Massachusetts State law, there are two major categories of sexual assault against adults. One of these is rape, and the other is indecent assault and battery. Rape is defined as “sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a person and compels such person to submit by force and against his/her will, or compels such person to submit by threat of bodily injury.” Rape and attempted rape are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The longstanding commitment of feminist criminology has been to deconstruct the embedded male bias within criminology and the criminal justice system, but, as some commentators have poi...
Feminist criminology looks to address this restriction by improving our understanding of both male and female offending as well as criminal justice system responses to their crimes. They also try to find ways to place gender at the center of the discussion, bringing women’s ways of understanding the world into the knowledge on crime, criminality, and responses to crime. It is obvious that men commit more crimes than women. Criminology was developed to help understand why people commit crimes so that laws could be passed to reduce crimes. Women not only commit less crimes they commit crimes that are really unimportant as to why they have been ignored since the 1970’s. Today, women are still committing less crimes but the types of crimes are those similar to men. Feminist criminology includes a wide range of theoretical perspectives and methodologies that discusses how gender forms knowledge at the center of intellectual analysis. It emphases on an extensive variety of issues related to women and crime, including hypothetical explanations of crime, responses to female offending, programming in women’s prisons, women as workers in the field of corrections, and the different needs of women prisoners. Feminist believed it is not a standardized method; it integrates the liberal feminist focus on equal
The Feminist theory is based around gender inequalities and the concept of an imbalance of power between men and women and within men themselves. This theory argues that male sexual offenders are like normal men, however they have been conditioned within society and culture that when their masculinity is questioned, this creates a reaction where males sexually assault females to boost their male status within society. The feminist theory highlights how women’s experiences are often based around the struggle of male domination or patriarchy (Moore, 2008, p. 5) in relation to sexual offences. This article links closely with the Feminist Theory as
Sexual assault is a worldwide epidemic that has long lasting and devastating effects on the victims. The terms sexual abuse and sexual assault are often used interchangeably. Most often the term “sexual abuse” is used when the victim is under the age of 18 and “sexual assault” is used when the victim is over the age of 18. For the purposes of this paper, “sexual assault” will be most often used as this provides a better description of the impact it has on the victims. Women are more often the victim than men; however, all races, cultures, and societies are affected by sexual assault and child sexual abuse (Davies and Jones, 2013). It is nearly impossible to determine exactly how many women have been victimized. There are two primary reasons that make such estimates difficult. First, there are so many different definitions and terms used to describe sexual abuse and assault and definitions vary from state to state (Holcomb and Holcomb, 2011). According to Holcomb and Holcomb (2011, p 27), sexual assault is used as an overarching term, encompassing a large number of sexual behaviors – physical, verbal, and psychological – that violate the health and well-being of an individual. Holcomb and Holcomb (2011) provides their own definition of sexual assault as “any type of sexual behavior or contact where consent is not freely given or obtained and is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of authority” (p. 28). In contrast to Holcomb and Holcomb’s broad definition of sexual assault, many researchers advocate for a more narrow interpretation to prevent over reporting, thus inflating statistics (Holcomb and Holcomb, 2011). The Lancashire Sexu...
Lawmakers and the criminal justice system overlook marital rape, Das (2010) states those survivors’ experiences of being told that their victimization is “not a real rape” and encountering victim-blaming attitudes may lead to less filing of complaints and reporting to police. Women have reported experiencing harsh and insensitive treatment from the criminal justice system when trying to report abuse or marital rape. Social stigmatization, cultural traditions, and gender bias are structural hurdles that discourage women from reporting acts of sexual violence, especially experiences of marital rape (Prasad,
What is sexual assault? Sexual assault is, “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape” (Sexual Assault).
Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. Vogelman: This socialization process is changing, but slowly. Rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse that a male performs against a woman whom he is neither married to or cohabiting with. The definition of rape changes by geographic location.
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.
“She asked for it.” Attitudes, beliefs, and incorrect ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. There are constantly meaningless excuses, such as "women ask for it," and "women secretly enjoy rape". Women are indeed not objects of pleasure, but it seems as though people cannot get the message. Feminism is needed to get this point across; it is needed as a representation that women are people. Rape is a violent act of power; it is not a sexual act. Rape is dehumanizing for the victim, but yet the victim is always a fault. We live in a society where victims are being blamed for “what they were wearing” or “she led him on”. Justice is not being served in any shape, way, or form. Rape culture cannot be simply defined because of the factors that can influence the situation. However, it could be best defined by Emilie Buchwald, author of Transforming a Rape Culture, “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violenc...
For some, sexual harassment and assault seem almost like myths or bad dreams. For others, it's a living reality. The United States Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” Sexual harassment and assault are demeaning, terrifying, and forceful behaviors. And yet, it’s happening every day.
Gender, among class, race, age, disability, often defines the distinctions in social categories with relation to exclusion, marginalisation and powerlessness. It helps to understand the experiences and the perceptions towards crimes and victims of crimes. (Davies et al, 2007). Gender has done a notable job in understanding offending and victimisation (Messerschmidt, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2004). The word ‘victim’ in the criminal justice system is often symbolised as gender female and that leads to implications that powerlessness and passivity with being a victim are also associated with being a female.