Rape And Sexual Assault Case

Sexual assault and rape in common language are usually referred to as the same subject. The word sexual assault is the main category while rape is a specific entity within this category. Rape is a term used to refer to the act of being forced or coerced into performing oral, anal, or vaginal penetration. While sexual assault is the term used to refer to any sexual act unwanted by the participant that ranges from being touched to penetration; that involves intimidation or deception. In general rape/sexual assault is the most underreport crime; however if rape/sexual assault is reported women are more likely to come forward than men. There are barriers that are keeping the victims of rape/sexual assaults at bay. According to Pino and Meier (1999) “the underreporting of this crime is the result of a number of reasons that are related to the ways in which rape is perceived and defined”. The general public when hearing about rape/sexual assault assumes that the victim was a woman; when approximately “5% to 10% of rape victims are male” (Sable, Danis, Mauzy, & Gallagher, 2006).

An American is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds, and every 8 minutes, that victim is a child. Only 310 out of 1,000 assaults are reported, but only 6 out of 1,000 perpetrators end up in prison (RAINN). Although sexual assault is egregious, these perpetrators are less likely to end up in prison than other criminals. The reason that is seems to be that victims do not report their cases. So why are sexual assault victims afraid to share their stories? Victims often do not report their assault because of many reasons, including the fear of reprisal, the belief that the police could not and would not do anything about the case, or because they simply did not know how to approach an official.

The stereotype of who a typical sexual assault victim is, is also detrimental to abide by as male victims of sexual assault will often fear being blamed and feel emasculated as a result of their victimisation. The continuation of stereotypic types of victims when considering a certain crime can often distort the seriousness of sexual

On a college campus, a young female slowly returns to her dormitory a few hours before sunrise. She is a college freshman and she is embarrassed and confused. Late last night, she attended a party where alcohol flowed freely, the music blared and young men and women unabashedly flirted through the night. She vaguely remembers a young man guiding her up the stairs to a secluded room. She begins to cry as she reassures herself that she said the word no multiple times and physically attempted to stop the young man from stripping the clothes from her body and sexually assaulting her. She questions how she let this happen. After all, only months ago she was attending her high school graduation and weeks ago her parents were helping her move her

Another problem directly linking and contributing to the problem of the number of reported cases , is the small amount of cases that successfully prosecute the accused. In a recent report, statistics show that only 10 per cent of 7000 sexual and indecent assaults reported to the police resulted in the accused being found guilty. In another statistic, Shadow attorney-general Chris Hartcher says, “only 1 percent of offenders get a jail sentence and it puts victims off coming forward to report rape.” Through the statistics, victims can only see the law as it promoted, the unjust and the little security of a successful conviction, giving them more of a reason to not report their cases. With the little percentage of a conviction, the law shows that the situation is as it is, due to the many unattended flaws. Flaws such as the undefined meaning of consent and the laws blindness towards the experience victims have encountered. With the combination of all these factors, it is only natural that a victim does not feel the need to report their case as nothing but a more disturbing experience will be its outcome.

Arrest rates of sexual assault cases have dropped according to the "National Crime Victimization" survey roughly around 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimization between 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Many elements come into play causing little arrests rates, and theses cases can be demanding to investigate. Still, research shows that some police officers still believe certain rape myths " many women falsely claim rape to get attention " which may account for the low rates. Sexual assault cases can also be difficult to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. Victims of rape and sexual assault often have difficulty remembering the

Today, for college students, there are many causes and risks that lead to sexual victimization. These include; the usage of alcohol and drugs, prior victimization, lack of cases being reported, and the factors go on. According to RAINN, Statistics show that “about two out of three sexual assaults are committed by an attacker that the victims

This concluded that the victims has to be at least 18 years of age, the case was investigated by one of the five largest police departments in the country, a medical exam must have been completed by either the county hospital personnel's or the SANE program and the results of the exam were examined by the state crime lab. This resulted in a sample size of 137 cases, which is relatively small compared to the number of sexual assault victims. The research was conducted by collecting case outcome data, which was the dependent variable. The outcomes were placed into four different categories, which consisted of the following: referred by police for prosecution, referred to a prosecutor, but not warranted for prosecution, warranted by prosecutor, but dropped or trial acquit and guilt plea or trial conviction. This study also compared DNA analysis findings, medical records of the assault, demographic information of the victims and the offenders and the results of the court case in both of the groups. The results of the study revealed that there was a “significant increase in criminal justice system case progression pre-SANE to post-SANE” (Campbell et al., 2012, p.237) . More sexual assault cases were moving further through the system, resulted in an increase in the number of cases that were prosecuted. The results also found a seasonal effect, which addressed how cases that were processed in December were less likely to achieve a higher

Sexual assault is a major issue in the world we live in today. The punishment that people get is never what they actually deserve.There has been all kinds of crime rates for sexual offence all over the world. Surveys in the United States have proven that one of every six women has experienced an attempt of rape or even a completed rape experience. Many women who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by men that they know,or has came into contact with. Women are rarely going to report that they have been raped when they know the asaultiant. With this being said there are alot of cases that are under reported. In this essay i will argue the many reasons why women are afraid to report a sexual assault crime made against them.

It isn’t a family, it’s a felony. Parents who are in custody battles use cases of abuse and neglect to win, so why are rape custody cases so different? There are 19 states that automatically terminate parental rights to attackers that impregnated woman through rape. But what happens if your attacker wasn’t convicted? What if he was found not guilty? Then you have to provide “clear and convincing evidence” that the child was conceived through rape. Does that even make sense? Shouldn’t it be common sense to take away any sort of right to seeing the child if he/she was conceived through forced sex? Things like this make it that much harder for victims to come forward about their assault.

Prosecutors and police officers may be less likely to believe victims if they have no signs of physical abuse like cuts, bruises, or scrapes, or if they have known their attackers for a long time (Hilgenkamp 163). Victims often feel ashamed and humiliated for bringing their experiences forward and become frustrated and furtherly emotionally damaged (Hilgenkamp 163). Dealing with sexual assault cases differently based on the victim’s state and story is unfair to the survivor and will only further hurt someone who has already suffered through a traumatic ordeal since it causes them feel as though they are not being listened to or heard. In addition to investigations that are often biased and poorly conducted, the number of convictions made in sexual assault cases is astonishingly small. A few years ago, “The Chicago Tribune published the results of a study involving 171 campus sex complaints at six Midwestern universities. Twelve of the accused perpetrators were arrested, and only four were convicted” (Hedelman and Brown). Due to the low conviction rates, many women feel as though their allegations of having been sexually assaulted are not being taken seriously or even acknowledged (Hedelman and Brown). Unfortunately, sexual assault is a popular crime on college campuses, but when victims bring their stories forward to law enforcers, they are not taken seriously and severe punishments are rarely given to assaulters, which further harms people who have already been wrongly treated. Police and investigators have to change the ways in which they deal with sexual assault cases because investigations are unfairly biased and are usually so inaccurately conducted that most offenders

In the case of a crime assault and suspicion of rape of a 14 year-old girl; Jones, Walsh and Bert were arrested. During the investigation, the police obtain statement from a man name Bland providing additional information that suspect Jones was involved in three separate assaults and rapes of juveniles over three days. The prosecution filed charges against Jones, Walsh and Bert for their involvement in the crime. The suspect, Bert then hired an attorney to defend him and explains to his lawyer that he did not participate in any acts of raping these girls and that he was only present one time with Jones and all he did was hit one of the girls. Bert also goes on to say that he can prove this because at the times the other rapes are alleged to have occurred, he was with Mook, who is currently out of the country on a mountain climbing trip and will not return for 2 months. Bland also contacts the prosecutor’s office and provides a written statement to the prosecutor that Walsh was not present during any of the rapes. (Case Study, n.d.)

Furthermore, people need to understand that women could be offenders of the same sex crimes just as male offenders. The majority of the public has a gender bias that women could not possibly commit sex crimes. The gender bias leads female sex offenders to become obscure due to prevalent social cultural norms that define female sexual behavior (Duncan, 2010). In fact, victims are considered to be less protected because females are less likely to be identified due the majority of people having a hard time believing women could be a sexual predator. Victimization is more unlikely to be reported, prosecuted, and convicted because of the prevalent gender stereotypes (Duncan, 2010). Victims of sexual assault are already reluctant to face their abuser in court and with male social norms being classified as being dominant in relationships. More importantly very few males will admit to being victimized by a women sexual predator. There are stereotypes, which include women who fit the role of nurturing caretakers and mothers, that are difficult to view women as potential sexual predators and other crimes committed against children (Mallicoat, 2012). Because of this gender bias, women could never commit such a vile act against their ward; it leads to preventions of recognizing and reporting of

On 07/16/15 at approximately 0438 hours, Kirkland Officers were dispatched to an Assault near Anthony’s Homeport in the 100 block of Lake Street South, Kirkland Washington. Dispatch related the female victim, KMW, DOB 08/25/74, called 911 and reported that a Hispanic male approximately 18 years of age had kicked her in the head. Officer DeAguiar arrived on scene and informed radio that the victim had been sexually assaulted by an unknown male that fled on foot. K9 Officer Hopkins responded to the scene to assist with a K9 track.

I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in