Society in early modern England seen rape, if proven, to be a gross and extremely indecent crime, specifically if the victim is a child or a virgin. Toulalan mentions the misguided belief that sex with a virgin was thought to cure venereal disease, yet society still views the rape of a virgin through a harsh lens due to the impact a sexual assault has on the victim, as well as the victims family. The marriage of a women depended on their virginity, chastity, and reputation, and therefore raping a virgin or a child was seen as especially heinous, due to the importance society placed on ones virginity and reputation. On June. 22nd, 1677 an unnamed man is accused of raping a married women. The victim is said to have not cried out, and also dined …show more content…
In Laura Gowing’s article Women’s Bodies and the Making of Sex in Seventeenth Century England, she argues that the “hierarchical nature” and “early modern patriarchal household” play a factor in the number of rapes and sexual assaults that are brought to the authorities, and make these crimes a frequent risk to women in early modern England. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the paternalistic structure of society plays a large role in the way society perceives cases of rape. Throughout Europe, women were still assumed to be desirous, temptable, and “satiable”, as Manon Van Der Heidjen points out in her article “Women as Victims of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seventeenth Century Holland.” An unnamed man living in Chancery-Lane was indicted for the rape of a woman around fifteen years of age on an unknown date. He has witnesses testify in confidence of his character, and further testimonials are made condemning the woman, stating she is “lewd, lascivious, and disorderly,” and that she is only after “a piece of his money,” and thus he is found to be not guilty of rape. It is clear from the trial of this unnamed man that women remain at a disadvantage when convicting a man of rape, due to society perceiving the female gender as possessing an “excess of desire”. Another case from the Old Bailey which shows the disadvantage a women is at when convicting a
In Anne Orthwood’s Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia, John Pagan sets out to examine the complexities of the legal system on the Eastern Shore in the seventeenth- century. He brings to light the growing differences between the English and Virginia legal systems. Pagan, an early American legal historian at the University of Richmond School of Law, spins a tragic story on the legalities surrounding an instance of out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Indentured servant Anne Orthwood’s brief encounter with a man of higher social standing produced a series of four court cases. Pagan examines each case and persons involved, vividly connecting each case to larger themes of social class, gender, labor, and economic power.
Since the second wave of feminism in the 1960’s women have demanded for equality rights. The R V. Ewanchuck case created many disagreement’s with feminists on the topic of rape myths. It has not only been seen as a precedent for the criminal law but as well an eye opener for the society to create awareness for this act. Since society continues to support most rape myths, it overlooks the act itself and puts the blame and responsibility on the victim as opposed to the perpetrator. This has created a rape culture within society. The term rape culture was created to demonstrate the ways in which victims were blamed for sexual assault, and how male sexual violence was normalized. Feminists are exploring the world of rape myths in Canadian law
Ulrich shows a progression of change in the way that women’s sexuality was viewed in New England. First, she starts with a society that depended on “external rather internal controls” and where many New Englanders responded more to shame than guilt (Ulrich 96). The courts were used to punish sexual misconducts such as adultery with fines, whippings, or sometimes even death. There were certain behaviors that “respectable” women were expected to follow and “sexual misbehavior” resulted in a serious decline of a woman’s reputation from even just one neighbor calling her names such as whore or bawd (Ulrich 97-98). Because the love between a man and his wife was compared to the bond between Christ and the Church, female modesty was an important ideal. “Within marriage, sexual attraction promoted consort; outside marriage, it led to heinous sins” (Ulrich 108). This modesty was expected to be upheld even as death approached and is seen with the example of Mary Mansfield in 1681. Ulrich describes Mary to have five neck cloths tucked into her bosom and eleven caps covering her hair. “A good wife was to be physically attractive…but she was not to expose her beauty to every eye”. Hence, even as she died, Mary was required to conceal her sexuality and beauty. However, at the end of the seventeenth century and throughout the
In City of Dreadful Delight, Judith Walkowitz effortlessly weaves tales of sexual danger and more significantly, stories of the overt tension between the classes, during the months when Jack the Ripper, the serial murderer who brutally killed five women, all of them prostitutes, terrorized the city. The book tells the story of western male chauvinism that was prevalent in Victorian London not from the point of view not of the gazer, but rather of the object. Walkowitz argues that the press coverage of the murders served to construct a discourse of heterosexuality in which women were seen as passive victims and sexuality was associated with male violence. Much of City of Dreadful Delight explores the cultural construction and reconstruction of class and sexuality that preceded the Ripper murders. Walkowitz successfully investigates the discourses that took place after the fact and prior social frameworks that made the Ripper-inspired male violence and female passivity model possible and popular.
This essay will explore reasons why females such as Vanessa George turn to the crime of sex offending. Demonstrating my knowledge and understanding of classical criminological theory, exploring biological theories such as penis envy and more contemporary views such as liberation theory within feminism. The essay will then go on to look at the inequalities female sex offenders face within the criminal justice system in comparison with males, using chivalry theory and evil woman theory to explain this.
The criminal justice system is dynamic and has changed rapidly since the works of Cesare Beccaria and Cesare Lombroso during Enlightenment Period and this reflects in the issue of intersectionality with the changing approaches taken towards concepts of gender, race and class. Sexual assault will be a predominate study used throughout the essay to examine the different approaches and issues between traditional and non-traditional justices. This essay will first establish where are these intersectionalities found in terms of sexual assault cases and the challenges victims face in the legal process with traditional approaches then followed by a comparison to the transition towards non-traditional alternative justice system has responded with a deeper insight into restorative justices and its effects on resolving these challenges. The role of alternative justice and the key challenges in disproportionate crimes are also important aspects of intersectionality in Australia as they aim to resolve challenges women and the mentally disabled encounter during processing through court in the criminal justice system.
In today’s society, there is evidence that gender roles hold high standards in forming an identity, whether that gender is male or female. These standards put pressure on either gender to uphold them and commit to specific behaviors/actions that validate their very being. For men, this includes being considered masculine, or portraying the sense that they are authoritative over others, in which this includes displaying attitudes that contribute to female subordination. According to Pascoe (2016) in his article “Good Guys Don’t Rape” men are given the opportunity to challenge rape yet reinforce rape attitudes at the same time that are contained within rape culture and masculinity considered “norms.” Pascoe, illustrates that rape can be seen
During the late eighteenth century, particularly 1770s through 1790s, the common woman of London, England had a primacy through life because of the growing center of prostitution. Women, specifically single women, were considered to be destined for prostitution because of the absence of a male role model. However, some women found great success in this lifestyle because of the beneficial assets garnered within their interactions with their clients. As to the courts, benefiting some of these assets were due to involuntary judgments which lead to women imprisonment. Women who worked as prostitutes were compared to materialistic property used for pleasurable encounters. Often in London, these women were categorized in three different demeanors according to some of the case trials brought against them. The major characteristic was focused on the means of survival. Women struggled to survive in London because of the male dominancy overruling their judgment of their own behaviors and beliefs. Another demeanor of prostitutes was identify with theft and abuse of taking what should have been rightfully owed to them for their services. Lastly, the behavior of organized crime was in favor of prostitutes; for what they did against their clients was only to gain recognition and praise from their brothel-keeper. There was a concerned discourse about the city on whether the act of prostitution was right or wrong. London usually showed a humane attitude towards prostitutes and maintained justice for the women who choose this profession.
The article “Spousal Abuse” discusses that Victorian perception of religion, domestic principles, and laws allows men to justify “wife-beating.” Domestic violence during Victorian times is mainly attributed to the idea that the man is the ruler in all worlds. The man’s responsibility of being a protector is the main idea in contributing to domestic violence.
One of the most horrible things that has erupted from the subjugation of women is rape culture. Rape culture is the downplaying of the crime of rape to appease the violator, the accusation that the victim made a choice that led to their rape, or even jokes that suggest rape. According to Jessica Valenti’s, “In Rape Tragedies, the Shame Is Ours,” in today's world many people give in to rape culture by participating in these acts that somehow change our mindsets into believing that, “it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist”. Once ...
However, this disparity is more of a perception, as the differences of how the actual crime was committed, mitigating factors, and the victims change the overall treatment of female sex offenders and male sex offenders through the criminal justice system. These perceptions cause a belief that female offenders are treated differently than male offenders. These perceptions are unfounded, as they do not include the factors that affect the outcome of proceedings. Because no two cases are similar, a conclusive answer to “fairness” may never be found. Works Cited Center for Sexual Offender Management.
Morgan has always been heavily criticised by scholars and feminist activists, the mere fact that those accused of rape could gain an acquittal merely by stating their ‘mistaken’ but ‘honest’ belief in consent. The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) plays an i...
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “women secretly enjoy rape,” from a historical perspective, can lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Much stems back to the idea that women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men a...
Victims who were under the influence may feel as though their report won’t be validated since they chose to go out and chose to get drunk. Judge Lindsay Kushner made the claim that, “yes, you can drink yourself daft and you can use your body how you want, but if you do you are more likely to get raped.” But what must be noted is that the victim did not choose to get raped and the intent of rape ultimately lies with the perpetrator. This point of view emphasizes the traditional ideology of gender roles in sexual assault cases when women are the