Victim Blaming In Court

Victim-blaming in a word is exactly what it sounds like, it is when the victim of a crime is either held partially or entirely responsible for the wrongdoing that has befallen them. Victim-blaming can have numerous negative effects the most obvious being that other victims are less likely to come forward in fear of being labeled at fault and generally degraded. In the article ‘Being Silenced: The Impact of Negative Social Reactions on the Disclosure of Rape’ it is revealed that rape survivors often stopped talking about the assault after experiencing negative reactions such as being blamed for the assault, receiving insensitive reactions from family friends, and professionals, receiving a lack of support after disclosing the crime, and inappropriate

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.

“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.”

Many believed that there was no reason to report an abuse because the police or authorities would not believe them. However, they did not believe many until proven truthful, anyone can say someone sexually assaulted them, but they did not. This was to take precautions amongst both the victim and the accused perpetrator. In the article, there were many aspects that explained that the woman felt more victimized because of the courts decision to believe the abuser until proved he/she is guilt. Also, many children blamed themselves for the rape, so they would not tell their parents. To add, as we read throughout the article, we can distinguish that many abused individuals are scared and embarrassed about the sexual harassment. Many factors were brought to attention: youth and woman fell under the micro-level individual factors, and the community and police did not want to really intervene. These factors result in many victims maybe later on abusing others because they were abused, which should not happen. So, therefore, there was a lot of valuable information presented throughout this

A fair share of qualitative and quantitative research was conducted in an attempt to adequately address the specific questions that were being asked. All of the research we reviewed used primary data and chose not to utilize secondary data to conduct their experiments, however, several of the studies references secondary data sources when speaking of historical backgrounds of rape and in their discussions. The methods our group has chosen to pay particular interest to are those that were used to gather data from participants at college campuses, as this is the population we wish to further explore. Due to women of college age being at an increased risk for sexual violence, several of the studies we found pursued out this population as well. A study conducted at James Madison University gathered their findings from a participant pool at their university using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, the Modern and Old-Fashion Sexism Scale, and rape scenarios and questions in which they evaluating participants identification with either the victim or the assailant (12p.242) This study was not alone in using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale as measure. In fact, of the research reviewed seven other studies utilized the scale in addition to the research done at

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.

“They are all innocent until proven guilty. But not me. I am a liar until I am proven honest.” Louise O’Neill. Rape has become a widely recognized issue in recent decades, however, an estimated 63 percent of assaults are never reported to the police. Differences in 1930’s issues compared to present day include: false rape accusations centered around racial prejudice, but now skirt the main issue of rape itself; victims still face many obstacles but now feel more supported; development of rape kits helped solve many suits but make survivors wearisome; and today’s trials are not based on accusations, but are based on evidence.

One in four college-aged women has experienced rape or attempted rape, although 95% of attacks go unreported.” According to a survey from the American Association of University Women, the results showed that there are 3% of women in the colleges across the country have been raped or have suffered attempted rape. While only 2% of incapacitated rape survivors report assault. There are several reasons why many women do not report being raped or sexually assaulted. Many female college students buy into myths about rape and sexual assault causing them to believe that it was their fault and that they were somewhat responsible for what happened. Most victims usually blame themselves, so they choose not to come forward, some others are scared that law enforcement won’t believe them, while others are simply embarrassed, or they might be afraid their attacker might retaliate. A friend of my friend, she has been sexually assaulted after deinking, but sadly as a victim of a rape, she was too scared to step forward and she didn’t even report the rape to the law enforcement because she thought it was her fault to drink alcohol. She was also too embarrassed and uncomfortable to talk about the rape and answer any questions. Even she chose to drink alcohol, what happened is not her fault. Because whatever the reason is, no woman should blame herself for being raped or sexually

Rape culture creates myths that victim blame the survivors of sexual violence. For example, a victim of a crime may be asked a question by police that suggests the victim was too drunk or wearing revealing clothing that provoked the perpetrator and resulted in the sexual violence against the victim. Rape culture silences victims who feel that law enforcement and the judicial system do not protect them or hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. The stigma of sexual violence continues to silence students who choose to not report incidences because they are in fear of stepping forward or believe the judicial system will fail them when they

Victims are often too afraid to come forward or even to tell friends or family about their rape. They suffer from things like Rape Trauma Syndrome or if the rape was traumatic enough PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Scientifically speaking, from the article “Reporting Rape in a National Sample of College Women”, “Approximately 1 in 7 US women have been rape in their lifetimes...Estimates from the 1990s and 2000s indicate that only 16% and 20% of forcible rape victims report the rape to law enforcement” (Wolitzky-Taylor). This shocking statistic shows the high percentage of unreported rapes in the country. Most rapists are repeat offenders and with the high percentage of unreported rapes the law enforcement has to have numerous victims before they are able to get a brave victim to speak up. A majority of rapes or attempted rapes on college campus happens to 1 out of 4 women according to the article. The rapes showed to be reported most of times involve the stereotype of rape by a stranger and getting injuries. The lower chances of getting a victim to report her rape is when she under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In college rape the chances of women reporting is less likely than in the general public because they experience non-stranger rape which could be a friend or partner

After reviewing our book and focusing on Dr. Kristen Zgoba’s lecture, some sex crime does not receive the level of attention, because they are not reported to the law enforcement either being a nine-year-old girl or a nineteen-year-old girl, some people and their families don’t want to report this, either because they know the person (family member) or because they are ashamed. Not supporting the Media, but the Media cannot report what they did not know. On the RAINN’s website, they state that sexual assault crimes are one of the most under reported crimes among all the crimes, with up to 68 percent still being left unreported to the law enforcement. Also stating out of every 100 rapes, 32 are only reported, seven leads to an arrest, two leads

Victim rights are set in place to give victims of a crime ground to stand on to take action and seek justice against the offender. It truly gives the victim a place within the legal system rather than the defendant having all of the rights like it was in the past. “Victims are meaningful; they are more than just witnesses, they are more than just players, they are important participants in the Criminal Justice System” (Franks, A., 2007). Victims are the ones who can stand up against what has wrongfully been done to them and prevail with justice by the offender having to do time for their crime. Not only does this justice help the victim recover, it helps future victims have rights and have an easier time winning their case in the court of law.

There are many reasons victims do no want to testify in court. Legal cynicism and witness intimidation are a couple of the top reasons. One reason I feel is overlooked is witness intimidation. Witness Intimidation is when threats are made by defendants to discourage victims or witnesses of a crime from reporting or testifying. (Connick and Davis 439) If a victim feels threatened, they often become hesitant to testify sometimes even to report the crime. With the right incentives, victims and witnesses would be more likely to participate in the process of testifying against a defendant.

Moreover, most of the sexual assaults go unreported, but the ones that do get reported, less than half of them get a conviction. If only 10 % of sexual assaults are reported, from that 10%, only 1 in 4 get convicted for their crimes (Butt, 2013). A study done in Winnipeg in the mid-1970s showed that more than 70% of charges were filtered out of the criminal justice system, 20% were reduced to lesser charges, and only 10% of original charges resulted in convictions (Gunn & Minch, 1988). A sexual assault or even a sexual relationship between two consenting adults is a very hidden act; meaning most of the time there could be no other witness or little hard evidence. In this situation, the testimony of the victim is very crucial for the prosecution of a sexual assault case (Walsh, 1987: 1129). There are many external and internal barriers that could discourage the victim from proceeding to convict the accused for his crimes. External barriers such as, the formal atmosphere in the courtroom during the trial; victims could be intimidated by the rigid rules; reliving the horrific experience and facing the assailant; or the court trial may come at a time when the victim has begun to move on (Best Practices, 2013: 61). Furthermore, internal barriers such as myths and gender stereotypes could also demotivate the victim from testifying in court against the

In the United States rape completely toxic and it’s a dangerous myth. On college campuses where drinking is prevalent, most victims don’t report their assault to the police because of the fear of being blamed for the incident. “A recent National Crime Victimization report showed that only 55% of sexual assaults reported in their survey were reported to the police” (Hayes, Abbott, Cook 2016). Hayes goes on to explain that rape myths are defined as “attitudes and false belief held