Introduction
The average man may possess everyday fears, such as embarrassment or rejection, while the common woman has to deal with the fear of being sexually assaulted. Sexual assault is any type of unconsented sexual contact, and is most frequently associated with rape. Sexual assault is a particularly sensitive issue between Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists. Feminists believe that victims are disenfranchised in society and the court of law, seen through the invalidation of victims and fear from society’s backlash, as well as authorities’ improper conduct under such cases. Men’s Rights Activists, however, carry the idea that victims are given too much trust in society, as they could make a false accusation of rape and people may believe
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However, if this belief is examined more carefully within society, one would see that it does not hold much truth, and that in reality, the exact opposite occurs. In our society, false accusations of sexual assault are rare, and the embedded misogyny in our culture is the cause of the marginalization of sexual assault victims.
I. The Occurrence of False Accusations
False accusations of sexual assault has been a concept which has been relied on by society in order to try to argue against victims’ accusations of sexual assault, reducing the little trust which victims have by society in the first place. False accusations only account for “2 percent of felony convictions,” and that is when they are based on the combined data from exonerations in rape and murder cases. Therefore, false accusations of rape account for less than 2 percent of convictions. Based on that, false accusations are very unlikely, and therefore cannot be relied on in attempt to invalidate rape victims. Even if a false accusation is made, it is very improbable to make it very far in the criminal justice system. If
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Sixteen of these twenty will be prosecuted, but only ten will result in conviction” (Shen). Of all rape reports, only 10 percent end in conviction. Therefore, if a false accusation, which already has a low probability of occurring, is made, it then only has a 10 percent chance of being convicted. This 10 percent chance is likely even lower, as if the case is properly investigated, a false accusation will not end in a conviction. False accusations are not the problem in society, but rather sexual assault. Underreporting, paired with the increase in rape, demonstrates the growing urgency to deal with the problem of sexual assault before it gets out of hand. Although false accusations of rape are without a doubt a problem, they are in no way as big as the growing problem of rape in our society. False accusations should not be society’s main concern, but rather the number of sexual assaults which occur. In the military alone, sexual assault has grown, with “about 3,000 service members reporting being sexually assaulted in 2012, but a confidential Department of Defense survey suggests the figure is closer to 26,000 — up 35 percent over 2010” (Koons). These numbers may even be
“Rape is unique. No other violent crime is so fraught with controversy, so enmeshed in dispute and in the politics of gender and sexuality… And within the domain of rape, the most highly charged area of debate concerns the issue of false allegations. For centuries, it has been asserted and assumed that women “cry rape,” that a large proportion of rape allegations are maliciously concocted for purposes of revenge or other motives.”
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person's consent. If one is accused of rape there is not much the person who is being accused can do to fight against the allegation. Therefore, those who are falsely accused of rape almost have no other choice than to take the punishment for a crime they did not commit. It is an injustice in America that those who are falsely accused of rape are prosecuted as if they did the crime without substantial evidence. Ways to fix this injustice are looking at older cases to ensure that others have not been falsely accused, calling all witnesses if there is the allegation goes to court, and finally charging the accuser for making the false claims.
Last week, the White House released a short, celebrity packed, 60-second public service announcement (PSA) on the topic of sexual assault. 1 is 2 Many addressed those who are in control of preventing sexual assault as its intended audience was those who can put a stop to sexual violence: the perpetrators or would-be offenders. Although this one minute announcement completed the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it failed to encompass the central issues concerning the culture of sexual assault: societal misperceptions, the victims, and the justice system. Sexual assault is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries; the culture of sexual assault is rooted in both legal practices and societal perceptions.
Women that experience sexual crimes and report them are typically subject to more issues dealing with the victimization and blame assigning them they are with the actual crime that was committed. Addressing these issues in the interrogation and questioning process, as well as the issues in the institutionalized
Sexual assault is a major problem in our society today. Though I have never witnessed it first hand, I hear about it from different outlets. Examples of which are word of mouth, in the news, and through social media. Using the article “A Peaceful Women Explains Why She Carries a Gun” by Linda Hasselstrom, I will share some of the authors examples and my own thoughts. To try and demonstrate just how horrifying sexual assault is.
Today's feminist movement is in jeopardy of losing a following unless the woman at the forefront begin to identify with the fact that not every feminist is white, middle class, and cis-gendered. The modern idea of feminism has a fault in the way that its main idea seems to be fighting for equality of white women, this factor neglects every other woman in the world. This sets a double standard within the grouping of women as a whole just as women are fighting to abolish double standards set in place against sexes. This idea of white feminism simultaneously neglects the different problems of women of all demographics, while also grouping women together as a whole as if the struggles white women face are the same struggles all women face.
Even though democrats discuss rape culture as one of their major topics, it has been statistically proven that people lie about being raped in order to provide alibis; a rape accusation can preserve one’s reputation. In an investigation concerning rape cases, researchers brought back the cases of 109 women who had rape cases that did not have enough evidence to prove their point (Gross 66). When they subjected the women to a polygraph test, “41% of all of the forcible rape complaints were found to be false,” so therefore, of the women who are not believed about rape, approximately four out of every ten are being dishonest (Gross 66). Although rape is an issue within America, modern feminists are not always correct-- rape has been proven to be an alibi for some women. When trying to maintain one’s image, like Ms. Jones did, to accuse one of rape happens more often than one may
In Chapter One, we learned that only 10% of cases go to trail, it is very unlikely that these rape cases are ones that go to trial as little action is taken in rape crime. When agencies report crime numbers, the data presented is most likely far off from the true number of rape crimes committed as few rapes are reported to the police. Within criminal justice are several controversial issues, one being rape on college campuses and failure of universities to accurately report rape crime. Investigation rarely happens with college rape cases with athlete
Rape and sexual harassment are both two common forms of sexual violence prevalent in the United States. Although both events can happen to men, women are more prone to face these occurrences. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, “78% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are women and 22% are men” (“Domestic Violence Statistics”). In 2011, companies experienced sexual harassment charges at 11% in relation to all charges brought forth to businesses, and 16% of these charges were filed by men ("Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment"). These women are eternally tainted by these occurrences, as Jean Améry wrote, “whoever was tortured, stays tortured” (Brison 5). Our American society rarely considers the effect on
In addition, falsely charging someone with a sexual assault crime can alter their lives permanently. People have the power to destroy a person's reputation with one sentence. According to the National Center for Reason and Justice, “When innocent people are confronted with untrue, absurd allegations of child abuse (sexual assault), they frequently assume that this is a simple misunderstanding and that it will be cleared up quickly .They cooperate with police and try to explain. They have faith in our system of justice” (All Rights Reserved). We need to find a way to fairly testify both sides. We need to testify both sides equally because it could alter a person’s life, make real victims feel vulnerable, and allow real assaulters to commit
False accusation is an insult to real victims of sexual assault and rape; it de-values the traumatic experience they have been through. Serious allegations like these shouldn’t be a case of he said, she said it should be based on fact and hard evidence, like every other crime. And although a sensitive subject the view of both parties should be treated equal, rather than a battle to prove
According to a 2000 Criminal Victimization Survey, only 16% of reported rapes result in prison sentences. Furthermore, the closer the relationship between the victim and the offender the greater the likelihood that law enforcement will not be told about the sexual assault. The Air Force has been aggressively addressing this national problem. Military commanders have a variety of punishment options for alleged offenders. The disposition in
As reported by, feminist criminologists, their perspective of rape and sexual assault differ between liberal and radical feminists. Liberal feminists’ viewpoint in regards of rape as a gender-neutral assault on a persons’ autonomy and mainly focusing on the harm that rape can do to an individual. In contrast, radical feminists describe rape as a subject to be recognised and understood as a major pillar of patriarchy; a social system in which men claim the positions of dominance and control of the central norms and values that are linked with masculinity (Johnson, 2005: p. 4-15). The radical feminists believe that rape is a patriarchal structure within male power, thus displaying the harms that rape can do to an individual and as a group of women. Furthermore, the radical feminists approach view rape as male have the control and authority over the use of women’s bodies, which involves the sexual and reproductive. Hence, this is the core element of patriarchy, Radical feminist believe that rape is one of many forms that connects men’s sexual exploitation and violence, as well as, reinforcing women’s oppression (Whisnant, 2013).
In America, there is a war raging. This war is not fought with guns blaring and casualties strewn across the battlefield. It is a far more subtle war that divides to its very core. There seems to be no way out and the victory of one side over the other will mean that no one wins. This war is engrained into our society in the pursuit of equality between men and women. However, there is a divide within this pursuit, a tendency to side with one extreme or the other: modern feminism and the men’s rights movement. These paradigms, on the surface, seem harmless. However, when taking a closer look, the issues that are addressed in these movements are further cause for the division of men and women. While promoting the idea of equality, at the
This literature review provides a brief overview of six scholarly articles and other facts about sexual assault .This review will first define sexual assault as it is defined in these articles. It will analyze the strengths and limitations of the definition used and will discuss the occurrence of sexual assault in the general population.This review will also illustrate the protective factors, barriers to recovery , impact of development and the specific sexual assault population that are absent in these articles. Sexual assault is a societal issue that impacts men and women at every age in their life, it’s much more highly reported among college aged women. The majority of women who are victims of rape are