These assignment will cover the reading material for that week. The assignment will be two full pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, 1” margins, no heading. I only want your name at the top and nothing else; again, two FULL pages, which will be between 1300-1400 words in length.
There is no prompt. These assignment will include your thoughts on the assigned reading; there is no prompt. It is expected that the assignment will be well edited, thoughtful, and written in true assignment format. Points will be deducted for short assignment, poor grammar, bullet points, and the like. The assignment will be checked with turnitin.com, so do not collaborate with others. Quotes from the book can be used but should not be the majority of your assignment and should be marked as quotations so as not to plagiarize. The assignment should not show more than 10% match with other sources in Turnitin.com. If so, points will be deducted.
These assignment can include: personal stories of experiences you have had related to this section, information from the research you found in the books that sheds more light on the topic, questions/arguments about the reading you want to bring to light, thoughts on applications of the material to your own life, etc. This is your time to show you thorough read the material and understand it.
**DO NOT use Grammarly, ChatGPT, SpinBot or any outside software to help write these assignment or a 0 will be given.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition
Chapter 4: Women, Gender, and Victimization: Intimate Partner Abuse and Stalking
1
Introduction (1 of 4)
History of violence within relationships.
Rule of thumb.
Banning the legal right to beat wives.
Limited enforcement.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
2
4.3. Discuss some of the historical and contemporary issues in IPA.
Introduction
History of violence within relationships:
Historically, violence within relationships has been well documented.
Women were considered the property of men, and wife beating as a form of discipline was legal and accepted.
Rule of thumb:
In the Roman times, men were allowed to beat their wives with a rod as long as its circumference is no greater than girth of the base of the man’s right thumb.
This continued as a guiding principle of legalized wife beating, which later influenced the legal structures of the early settlers in America.
Banning the legal right to beat wives:
In 1871, Alabama and Massachusetts became the first states to take away the legal right of men to beat their wives.
In 1882, wife beating became a crime in the state of Maryland.
Many states resisted the ban on the grounds that the government should not interfere in the family environment.
Limited enforcement:
Defining wife beating as a crime meant that the act would receive criminal consequences.
However, husbands rarely received any significant penalties for their actions.
2
Introduction (2 of 4)
Battered women’s movement.
Nonarrest policy.
Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (MDVE).
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
3
4.3. Discuss some of the historical and contemporary issues in IPA.
Introduction
Battered women’s movement:
Rise of the feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s gave a foundation for the battered women’s movement
Small scale efforts such as shelters and counseling programs appeared throughout the United States during the 1970s.
Nonarrest policy:
Police officers received training about domestic violence calls for service, and many officers saw their role as a peacemaker than as an agent of criminal justice.
Homicide rates continued to increase because of the murders of women at the hands of their intimate partners.
Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (MDVE):
Battered women’s movement led to systemic changes in how the police and courts handled cases of domestic violence.
Recidivism rates were significantly lower when an arrest was made compared to cases in which police simply “counseled” the aggressor.
However, replication studies indicated that arresting the offender led to increases in violence.
3
Introduction (3 of 4)
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
VAWA: renewed expanded every five years.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
4
4.3. Discuss some of the historical and contemporary issues in IPA.
Introduction
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA):
By 1989, the United States had over 1,200 programs for battered women and provided shelter housing to over 300,000 women and children.
In 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as part of the Federal Crime Victims Act.
Provided funding for battered women’s shelters and outreach education, and funding for domestic violence training for police and court personnel.
Provided opportunity for victims to sue for civil damages as a result of violent acts perpetrated against them.
Office on Violence Against Women (OVW): Created in 1995, it administers grant programs aimed at research and community programming toward eradicating intimate domestic and intimate partner abuse in our communities.
VAWA: renewed expanded every five years:
VAWA expired on December 22, 2018, with the federal government shut down, and the reauthorization was stalled.
Republican and Democrat representatives disagreed on key protections for transgendered victims and offenders.
In March 2021, a bipartisan bill was passed by the House and is waiting for consideration by the Senate.
4
Introduction (4 of 4)
The Violence Against Women Act:
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.
Violence Against Women Act and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act.
Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization:2013 and 2021
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
5
4.3. Discuss some of the historical and contemporary issues in IPA.
Introduction
The Violence Against Women Act:
2000-Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
Division B—Violence Against Women Act
Allocated $3.33 billion in grant funds (2001–2005)
Enhanced federal laws for domestic violence and stalking
Added protections for immigrant victims
Added new programs for elderly and disabled victims
Included victims of dating violence into VAWA protections and services
2005-Violence Against Women Act and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005
Allocated $3.935 billion in grant funds (2007–2011)
Created repeat offender penalties
Added protections for trafficked victims
Provides housing resources for victims
Enhanced resources for American Indian and Alaska Native populations
Provides increased training for health care providers to recognize signs of domestic violence
Enhanced protections for illegal immigrant victims
2013- Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2013
Allocated $3.378 billion in grant funds (2013–2018)
Continues funding for grants for research and services
Maintains and expands housing protections
Expands options for tribal courts to address domestic violence
Requires reporting procedures for dating violence on college campuses
Prohibits discrimination for LGBT victims in accessing services
Maintains and increases protections for immigrant victims
2021 (Proposed)- Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2021
Bars gun ownership for individuals convicted on misdemeanor domestic violence or stalking offenses
Closes the “boyfriend loop” to expand gun ownership prohibitions to dating partners.
Increases access to women’s shelters to transgendered women
Allows transgendered offenders to serve in prisons that align with their gender identity, not birth assignment.
Ends impunity for non-native perpetrators who engage in acts of sexual and domestic violence on tribal lands.
5
Defining and Identifying Intimate Partner Abuse (1 of 3)
Wife battering.
Domestic violence.
Intimate partner abuse (IPA).
Terms vary between different research studies.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
6
4.1. Define intimate partner abuse (IPA).
Defining and Identifying Intimate Partner Abuse
Wife battering:
The term wife battering fails to identify cases of violence outside of marriage, such as violent relationships between cohabitating individuals, dating violence, or even victims who were previously married to their batterer.
This exclusion often denies these victims any legal protections or services.
Domestic violence: Combines the crime of woman battering with other contexts of abuse found within a home environment.
Intimate partner abuse (IPA): Captures any form of abuse between individuals who currently have, or have previously had, an intimate relationship.
Terms vary between different research studies:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines intimate partner abuse as physical, sexual or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse.
National Violence Against Women survey extended the definition of intimate partner abuse to include cases of rape/sexual assault, physical assault, and stalking behaviors.
Bureau of Justice Statistics include additional crimes within the discussion of IPA, such as homicides and robberies involving intimate partners.
6
Defining and Identifying Intimate Partner Abuse (2 of 3)
1.2 million persons affected in 2019.
Misdemeanor offense.
Not visible to community.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
7
4.2. Explain the rates and prevalence of IPA.
Defining and Identifying Intimate Partner Abuse
1.2 million persons affected in 2019:
According to National Crime Victimization Survey, an estimated 1.2 million persons were experienced violence from domestic relationship in 2019.
59.7% of these cases involved violence by a current or former intimate partner.
In the majority of cases, men are the aggressor and women are the victim (85%).
Misdemeanor offense: Most crimes of intimate partner abuse are considered a misdemeanor offense, even for repeat offenders.
Not visible to community:
Much of the abuse is not visible, making it difficult to measure the extent of these acts or to provide outreach and services for victims.
Many are reluctant to report cases of abuse to anyone due to the high levels of shame that they feel as a result of the abuse.
Others believe that the police will be unable to help, are blamed for causing the violence, or were told to fix the relationship with the offender.
7
Defining and Identifying Intimate Partner Abuse (3 of 3)
Emotional abuse.
Economic abuse.
Escalating to murder.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
8
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Defining and Identifying Intimate Partner Abuse
Emotional abuse:
Emotional abuse is a way in which perpetrators seek to control their victims, whether it be in telling them what to wear, where to go, or what to do.
They may act jealous or possessive of their partner, sometimes even turn violent.
Emotional abuse continues when a batterer blames the victim for the violent behavior by suggesting that “she made him do it” or by telling the victim that “you deserve it.”
Women are more likely to experience social isolation and property damage within the context of emotional abuse compared to men
It robs the victim of her self-esteem and self-confidence, as victims fail to identify that they are victims of intimate partner abuse if they do not experience physical violence.
Economic abuse:
Involves acts that damage the victim’s ability to be self-sufficient.
It becomes difficult for a victim to leave their batterer, as it restricts access to finances.
Extends to both jeopardizing one’s employment status or prohibiting them from working.
Escalating to murder:
For a small number of women, physical violence in an intimate relationship escalates to murder.
Death was the culmination of a relationship that had been violent over time.
The presence of a weapon significantly increases the risk of homicide.
Three-fourths of intimate partner homicide victims had tried to leave their abusers, refuting the common question of “why doesn’t she leave?”
8
The Cycle of Violence
Three distinct time frames:
Tension building.
Abusive incident.
Honeymoon period.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
9
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
The Cycle of Violence
The cycle of violence is made up of three distinct time frames.
Tension building:
In this stage, a batterer increases control over a victim.
As anger begins to build for the perpetrator, the victim tries to keep her partner calm by minimizing any problems in the relationship.
During this time, the victim may feel as though she is walking on eggshells because the tension between her and her partner is high.
Abusive incident: During this period, the batterer is highly abusive, and engages in an act of violence toward the victim.
Honeymoon period:
During this stage, the offender is apologetic to the victim for causing harm.
He often is loving and attentive and promises to change his behavior.
In this stage, the perpetrator is viewed as sincere and in many cases is forgiven by the victim.
Unfortunately, the honeymoon phase does not last forever, and in many cases of intimate partner abuse, the cycle begins again, tensions increase, and additional acts of violence occur.
Over time, the honeymoon stage may disappear entirely.
9
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (1 of 9)
Dating Violence
Violence between unmarried people.
Prevalence rates vary.
Teens and young adults are at high risk.
Students are more knowledgeable.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
10
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Dating Violence
Dating violence: intimate partner abuse in relationships where people are unmarried and may or may not be living together; violence that occurs between two people who are unmarried; teenagers are seen as the most at-risk population.
Prevalence rates vary:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey:
8.2% of students reported experiencing physical dating violence
8.2% experienced sexual dating violence
Students who identify as female, LBGTQ, and those who are unsure of their sexual identity experienced higher rates of violence.
9.3% of girls and 7.0% of boys have experienced physical violence.
Sexual violence in a dating relationship also impacts 12.6% of girls and 3.8% of boys.
13.1% of students who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and 16.9% who are unsure of their sexual identity experienced physical violence.
Rates for heterosexual students are higher (7.2%).
Prevalence rates for cases of sexual dating violence: 16.4% of lesbian, gay or bisexual students, 15.0% of those unsure, and 6.7% of heterosexual students.
Similar rates are noted for college students.
The Association of American Universities 2019 Campus Climate Survey found that:
14.1% of undergraduate women experienced dating violence since they entered college.
Students who identified as transgender or non-binary, this rate increased to 21.5%.
32% of students report a history of dating violence in a previous relationship.
35% of youth had experienced some violence in either their current or recent dating relationship.
Teens and young adults are at high risk:
This is a result of their inexperience in relationships and their heightened views of “romantic love.”
Adolescent victims often find themselves in a pattern of abusive relationships as adults.
Students are more knowledgeable:
Students are more knowledgeable about how to identify dating-related intimate partner abuse, how they can file a report, and where they can find support on their campuses and within their communities.
Students are most likely to seek counseling following their victimization.
10
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (2 of 9)
Children of Intimate Partner Abuse
Not the direct victims of abuse.
Negative mental health outcomes.
Cycle of violence into adulthood.
Child welfare agencies.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
11
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Children of Intimate Partner Abuse
Not the direct victims of abuse:
Children are significantly affected by violence within the home environment, even if they are not the direct victims of the abuse.
Research indicates that 68% to 87% of intimate partner abuse occurs in the presence of children.
Negative mental health outcomes:
Children who reside in a home where violence is present tend to suffer feelings of low self-worth, depression, and anxiety.
They often suffer in academic settings and have higher rates of aggressive behavior.
While boys tend to display more negative external behaviors, girls tend to engage in more internalized issues.
Cycle of violence into adulthood:
Many children exposed to violence at a young age continue the cycle of violence into adulthood.
30% of young boys who are exposed to acts of intimate partner abuse tend to engage in violence against an intimate partner later in life.
Child welfare agencies:
Victims of intimate partner violence are advocated to connect with child welfare agencies to provide a continuum of care for children and their families.
Agencies should not label the children as potential offenders and victims, because it could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is key that children from IPV homes receive support for both severe outcomes as well as interventions that focus on coping skills such as conflict resolution, emotional support, and communication skills.
Treatment considers risk and protective factors for children with a diverse lens to meet needs across different ethnic, cultural, and identity groups.
11
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (3 of 9)
LGBTQ and Intimate Partner Abuse
16.2 per 1000 persons are victims.
Same-sex intimate partner abuse.
Identity abuse.
Disclosure practices.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
12
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
LGBTQ and Intimate Partner Abuse
16.2 per 1000 persons are victims:
Data from the National Crime Victimization survey found that LGBTQ identified persons are victims of IPV at a rate of 16.2 per 1000 persons, compared to a rate of 2.4 for heterosexual and cis-gender individuals.
LGBTQ individuals experience IPV at a rate that is four times greater than of non-LGBTQ persons.
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey noted that 61.1% of bisexual women and 43.8% of lesbians report experiencing physical abuse, stalking or sexual assault by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Rates are significantly higher than heterosexual women (35%), heterosexual men (29%) and gay men (26%).
Same-sex intimate partner abuse:
Intimate partner abuse that occurs in a same-sex relationship.
Research is significantly limited on this issue, and many victims fear reporting these acts or seeking help because of concerns of being “outed” or concerns about homophobia.
Identity abuse:
Factors such as heterosexism, external homophobia, and internalized homophobia influence on LGBTQ IPA relationships.
Over 40% of LGBTQ victims of intimate partner abuse experience identity abuse (IA) in their lifetime.
Women and transgender/non-conforming individuals experience higher rates of IA compared to men and cisgender individuals.
Disclosure practices:
Women who experienced abuse within the context of their first lesbian relationship tended to express fear about discrimination.
This fear of being “outed” also led some victims to stay in the relationship for a longer period of time.
Women who had strong networks with LGBTQ community were more likely to seek out help when their relationships turned violent.
12
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (4 of 9)
LGBTQ and Intimate Partner Abuse
Reluctant to report their abuse.
Heteronormative and patriarchal laws.
Intersectional approach.
Restraining order.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
13
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
LGBTQ and Intimate Partner Abuse
Reluctant to report their abuse:
Decision to report same-sex IPA involves the same challenges as a heterosexual battering relationship.
Fear of exposing their sexual orientation can significantly impair help seeking through both formal and informal means.
Less than half of LGBTQ victims of intimate partner violence seek out IPV-related services.
Heteronormative and patriarchal laws: One of the key challenges is that most laws and programs are designed from a heteronormative and patriarchal lens that does not place gender identity and sexual orientation at the center of the conversation.
Intersectional approach:
The availability of LGBTQ facilitators and support groups can help support victims in ways that traditional programming may not be able to.
Historically, legal resources that are often available to heterosexual victims of IPA were expressly denied for the LGBTQ population.
Restraining order:
As of January 2021, all states now allow LGBTQ persons to seek out a restraining order against a current or former intimate.
This right was established by a state Court of Appeals ruling, who argued that limiting access to “persons of the opposite sex” violated both the state constitution as well as the 14th amendment, which provides for due process and equal protection.
Many LGBTQ individuals experience identity abuse when they seek help, which results in verbal and physical harassment, a risk for being arrested, and a lack of understanding of gender dynamics in LGBTQ battering relationships.
13
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (5 of 9)
Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Intimate Partner Abuse
Gender inequality.
Black women are at an increased risk.
Black women may not seek out help.
Latina women: higher rates of violence.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
14
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Intimate Partner Abuse
Gender inequality:
For women of color, issues of gender inequality become secondary in the discussion of what it means to be a battered woman.
Cultural differences and structural inequality play a major role in understanding experiences of IPV in ethnically diverse communities.
Research needs to reflect the different factors such as age, employment status, residence, poverty, social embeddedness, and isolation to explain higher rates of abuse within black communities, and not just race or culture.
Black women are at an increased risk:
As a population, Black women are at an increased risk of being victimized in cases of intimate partner violence.
Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey notes that black women between are more than twice as likely to report cases of intimate partner violence to the police, compared to white women.
Reporting rates are significantly impacted by other structural factors such as age and education, as well as case characteristics such as substance use by the offender, weapon use, and level of injury.
Black women may not seek out help:
Research notes that some Black women may not seek out help and did not feel that they need help.
Some women of color may not want to further criminalize the men in their communities.
In cases of severe cases of physical IPV, 13.8% of Black women did seek out support from a psychiatrist, 14% sought help from other mental health professionals and 13.4% reached out to a family doctor for assistance.
Latina women: higher rates of violence:
Latina women face disproportionately higher rates of intimate partner violence compared to white women.
Gender role expectations can play a unique role in both placing women at risk for IPV as well as impact help-seeking behaviors.
14
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (6 of 9)
Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Intimate Partner Abuse
Machismo, simpatia and familismo.
Challenges in Asian community.
Physical and psychological issues.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
15
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Intimate Partner Abuse
Machismo, simpatia and familismo:
Machismo: patriarchal model whereby the men in the household are responsible for making the decisions.
Simpatia: belief that women should be non-confrontational
Familismo: belief of family loyalty and respect in decision-making
These three combined may mean that Latina women who embrace these beliefs may not see their partner’s violence as a problem and as such, not seek out help in these situations.
Challenges in Asian community:
It is difficult to determine the prevalence of the issue, because most surveys do not highlight the unique differences between different ethnic groups.
Unique cultural issues within Asian communities that can make identifying and reporting intimate partner abuse as an act of violence difficult.
Physical and psychological issues:
Women who experience IPA may be faced with a multitude of physical and psychological issues, and race and ethnicity can affect whether a victim will seek out support and resources from social service agencies.
Research indicates that Black women were significantly more likely to use emergency hospital services, police assistance, and housing assistance, compared to White and Hispanic/Latina women.
Women of color also express a need for culturally relevant support in their communities.
15
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (7 of 9)
Unique Issues for Immigrant Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Regain control and power.
Strain against traditional roles.
High levels: verbal, physical, sexual abuse.
Ethiopian-immigrants: violence is accepted.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
16
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Unique Issues for Immigrant Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Regain control and power:
Men in immigrant communities often batter their partner to regain control and power in their lives.
Battering becomes a way in which these men regain their sense of masculinity.
Strain against traditional roles:
Many immigrant women are faced with the need to work, which many immigrant men find to be in opposition to traditional cultural roles and a threat to their status within the family.
This strain against traditional roles leads to violence.
Many men blame the American culture for the gender clash occurring in their relationships and accept the violence as part of the relationship.
Violence is accepted behavior in Vietnamese cultures, wherein men are seen as aggressive warriors and women are seen as passive and meek.
High levels: verbal, physical, sexual abuse:
Research on intimate partner violence within this community reveals high levels of verbal (75%), physical (63%), and sexual abuse (46%), with 37% experiencing both physical and sexual abuse.
Within immigrant Asian communities, feelings of shame significantly impact the help-seeking behaviors.
Ethiopian-immigrants: violence is accepted:
For Ethiopian-immigrant women, the violent behavior of men is also accepted within the community, making it difficult for women to understand that battering is a crime.
Help seeking is seen as a complaint by women, and in such cases, members of the community turn to support the perpetrator, not the victim.
16
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (8 of 9)
Unique Issues for Immigrant Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Russian-immigrant women.
Fear of deportation.
Negative experience of law enforcement.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
17
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Unique Issues for Immigrant Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Russian-immigrant women:
Intimate partner abuse is a normal part of relationships for Russian-immigrant women.
These cultural expectations may inhibit women from seeking out assistance, because it would bring shame on the victim and her family, both immediate and extended.
Fear of deportation:
Many perpetrators use the fear of deportation to prevent victims from leaving an abusive relationship.
Latina immigrants are less likely to seek out help for intimate partner abuse compared to Latina nonimmigrants.
Negative experience of law enforcement:
Perpetrators often build on a negative experience of law enforcement from their home country in an effort to create a sense of distrust of the U.S. legal system.
Most victims did not want to have their partner arrested or prosecuted for domestic violence but rather they wanted to send a message that the abuse was wrong.
17
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse (9 of 9)
Unique Issues for Immigrant Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Language barriers.
Lack of understanding of the American legal system.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
18
4.4. Distinguish between the different types of IPA and how it impacts victims.
Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Unique Issues for Immigrant Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Language barriers: Language barriers may affect victims’ ability to communicate with law enforcement and court personnel, particularly when resources for translators may be significantly limited.
Lack of understanding of the American legal system:
Can prevent an immigrant/refugee woman from leaving her violent relationship.
In 2001, California amended its domestic violence laws to ensure that legal documents in domestic violence cases would be made available in multiple languages.
Today, paperwork to request a restraining order and other related documents is available in five different languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean.
18
Barriers to Leaving an Abusive Relationship (1 of 2)
Financial limitations.
Leaving the abuser and returning to them.
Children: a major factor.
Other negative relationship characteristics.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
19
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Barriers to Leaving an Abusive Relationship
Financial limitations:
Women who lack economic self-sufficiency are less likely to report intimate partner abuse and less likely to leave the relationship.
The support from extended family and friends can play a critical role in a victim’s ability to successfully depart from an abusive partner.
Leaving the abuser and returning to them:
The average battered woman leaves seven to eight times before she is successful in leaving for good.
Violence does not always end when women report their crimes or leave their abuser.
Acts of violence can involve not only the initial victim but can spread out, placing children, friends, and extended family members of woman at risk.
Children:
For some women, their children are the reason why they leave an abusive situation and seek help.
For some women, the desire to provide their children with a happy childhood was their motivation to leave.
For others, it was to demonstrate that abusive and violent behaviors are not normal parts of a healthy relationship.
Other negative relationship characteristics: Negative relationship characteristics such as emotional abuse or difficulties in communication could lead to the ending of the relationship.
19
Barriers to Leaving an Abusive Relationship (2 of 2)
Acceptance by parents and peers.
Religious institutions.
Struggle to leave an abusive relationship.
Pressure outside of the family unit.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
20
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Barriers to Leaving an Abusive Relationship
Acceptance by parents and peers: Those whose significant other was viewed favorably by their family and friends were more likely to stay, while negative perceptions were more likely to influence the decision to leave the relationship.
Religious institutions:
Some women may turn toward religious institutions for assistance in leaving a relationship characterized by intimate partner abuse.
For many women, their faith gives them strength to leave.
Unfortunately, for some of these women, their spirituality may hinder their abilities to leave.
Congregations encourage women to forgive the violence that their partners display.
Struggle to leave an abusive relationship:
Some women may still love their partner, despite the violence that exists within the relationship.
Others may hope that their partner will change and believe the promises made by their loved one for a different life.
Pressure outside of the family unit:
In some multicultural communities, there is a greater pressure outside of the family unit to return to one’s batterer.
Members of these communities often place significant pressures on victims to reunite with their batterer.
For many women, they fear what their lives will be like without their partner.
20
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections (1 of 6)
Asking for assistance involves the police.
Gender of the responding officer.
The proceeding of the case.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
21
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections
Asking for assistance involves the police:
The first step in asking for assistance often involves the police.
The victim can either request the presence of the police or the police may be summoned on behalf of a victim.
Women who felt that the officer listened to their concerns and provided information and referrals for help were most satisfied with their experience with the police.
Gender of the responding officer:
Victims indicated that female officers were more receptive to their concerns overall and were not just focused on facilitating an arrest.
These positive experiences can encourage victims to seek out police assistance in the future should they need it.
The proceeding of the case:
If a perpetrator has a history of violent behavior, both the prosecutor and the victim are more likely to want to see the case move forward.
First-time offenders are more likely to have their charges dismissed or to be handled informally.
21
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections (2 of 6)
Justice system not an effective deterrent
Discretionary arrest policies.
Mandatory arrest policies.
Varying state laws.
Clarified roles for officers.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
22
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections
Justice system not an effective deterrent:
If an offender is let off with a “slap on the hand,” victims may experience increased risks of violence in the future.
Victims often minimized the severity of the verbal violence in order to discourage the police from making an arrest.
Negative experiences with the police can also contribute to experiences with posttraumatic stress disorder for victims of IPV.
Discretionary arrest policies: Police officers have the option to arrest or not arrest the offender based on their free choice within the context of their professional judgment.
Mandatory arrest policies:
Refer to the legal duty of a police officer to make an arrest if the officer has reason to believe that domestic violence has occurred.
The laws vary from state to state, but most state laws recognize both current and previous spouses or cohabitants as protected categories under the law.
Currently, 22 states have some form of mandatory arrest policy in place.
Laws vary when a mandatory arrest can be made.
Laws in Alaska and Missouri require that a report be made within 12 hours of the assault, whereas Mississippi and Nevada extend the time frame to 24 hours.
Washington State and South Dakota represent some of the most narrowly defined time frames and require that the police make an arrest within 4 hours of the assault.
Washington State law is also unique in that it limits cases to individuals who are 16 or older.
Clarified roles for officers:
The movement toward mandatory arrest clarified roles for officers when dealing with domestic violence calls for service.
Women believed that an arrest would decrease levels of violence and send a message to offender that battering is a crime and he would be punished.
They acknowledged that the decrease in violence was only a temporary measure and that there existed a possibility of increased violence after an offender returned to the family home following an arrest or court proceedings.
22
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections (3 of 6)
Some unintentional consequences.
Dual arrests.
Arrests has implications for women.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
23
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections
Some unintentional consequences:
Victims can feel disempowered by the mandatory arrest process, because it takes away their decision-making abilities.
In many cases, a victim’s call to the police for help resulted in her own arrest, leaving many victims feeling betrayed by the system that they sought help from.
Other victims may be less likely to call for intervention knowing that their batterer (or themselves) would be arrested.
Dual arrests:
When state laws or policies do not include a primary aggressor designation, officers are required to determine who the “real” offender is.
Officers may lack the training or experience to make a professional judgment about whom to arrest, resulting in both parties being arrested.
These dual-arrest practices result in women being arrested for domestic violence with their partner.
Many women victims find themselves labeled as offenders of IPA by police and the courts for engaging in acts of self-defense.
Same-sex couples were more likely to be involved in dual-arrest situations (female-to-female = 26.1% and male-to-male = 27.3%) compared to heterosexual couples (3.8%).
Arrests has implications for women:
The increase in arrests has far-reaching implications for women, including the refusal of help by shelter services and challenges in child custody battles as a result of their “criminal” history.
Therapeutic options should focus on the rationale and factors behind women who engage in IPA.
23
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections (4 of 6)
No-drop policies.
Subsequent victimizations.
Specialized courts.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
24
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections
No-drop policies:
Evidence-based practices that would allow the prosecutor to present a case based on the evidence collected at the scene of the crime are employed.
Such policies were developed in response to a victim’s lack of participation in the prosecution of her batterer.
When victims feel that their voice is not being heard by criminal justice system, they may be less likely to report incidents of abuse.
Subsequent victimizations:
When victims feel that the criminal justice system does not meet their needs in a case of intimate partner violence, they are less likely to seek assistance for subsequent victimizations.
Several victims were concerned about how contacting the police could lead to potential negative consequences for themselves or their families.
Victims expressed concerns over the possibility of mandatory arrests or dual arrests, custody battles, and fear of how the offender would respond.
Specialized courts:
Many jurisdictions have developed specialized courts that deal exclusively with cases of domestic violence.
The professionals in these specialized courts (prosecutor, judges) often have specific training on issues such as the cycle of violence and the role of power and control within an intimate partner relationship.
Evaluation of a domestic violence court program in South Carolina: collaborative courtroom environment between the prosecutor, victim advocate, and judge had a significant effect on victim satisfaction levels.
24
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections (5 of 6)
Programming Concerns for Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Substance use.
Criticism of battering intervention programs.
Culturally diverse and reflect unique issues.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
25
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections
Programming Concerns for Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Substance use:
Given the high correlation between substance use and intimate partner abuse, most programs also include substance abuse treatment as a part of their curriculum.
Group therapy: cost-effectiveness and can serve as an opportunity for program participants to support and mentor one another.
Criticism of battering intervention programs:
One criticism is that they generally assume that all batterers are alike.
This approach does not offer the opportunity for programs to tailor their curriculum to address the differences among men who abuse.
Culturally diverse and reflect unique issues:
Intimate partner abuse attacks every community, age, religion, race, class, and sexual identity.
Need for culturally relevant programming also extends to shelter programs for victims of domestic violence.
Feeling culturally connected to program practitioners helped survivors understand what they were going through.
25
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections (6 of 6)
Programming Concerns for Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Based within the targeted community.
Need to be proactive.
Need to attack the systems.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
26
4.5. Identify the barriers to leaving abusive relationships.
Victim Experiences With Police and Corrections
Programming Concerns for Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse
Based within the targeted community: If programs are difficult to access geographically, women are less likely to seek out services as a result of time, money, and transportation limitations.
Need to be proactive: Programs also need to be proactive and engage in prevention efforts with young women and men in the community.
Need to attack the systems:
Intervention efforts need to attack the systems that create social inequalities—racism, sexism, classism, and so on.
Legal system and program providers need to understand how these issues are interrelated and not dominated by a single demographic factor.
26
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence (1 of 5)
Stalking: conduct at a specific person.
Harassment: acts that are indicative of stalking behaviors.
Acts that constitute stalking.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
27
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence
Stalking: A course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.
Harassment:
Acts that are indicative of stalking behaviors but do not ignite feelings of fear in the victim.
The 2016 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS) indicate that more than 3.8 million persons age 16 or older experience behaviors defined as stalking or harassment over the past year.
Women are more than twice as likely to experience stalking compared to men, and younger persons (ages 20–24) are experience higher rates of stalking compared to individuals age 35 and older.
Acts that constitute stalking:
Sending letters or gifts, making phone calls, and showing up to visit, are not inherently criminal.
These acts appear harmless to the ordinary citizen but can inspire significant fear and terror in victims of stalking.
24% of victims noted that they were stalked for two years or longer.
27
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence (2 of 5)
Actions of John Hinckley Jr. in Taxi Driver.
Madonna’s stalker Robert Dewey Hoskins.
Social understanding of stalking.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
28
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence
Actions of John Hinckley Jr. in Taxi Driver:
John Hinckley Jr. who became infatuated with Jodie Foster when she first appeared as a child prostitute in the film Taxi Driver.
Hinckley’s obsession with Foster continued, but he failed to gain her attention.
In 1981, Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress Foster.
He was found not guilty by reason of insanity for his crimes and was committed to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for treatment.
Madonna’s stalker Robert Dewey Hoskins:
He was convicted in 1996 for making threats against the star.
During one event, he successfully scaled the security wall of her home and was shot by one of her bodyguards.
Social understanding of stalking:
The attention to stalking limited the social understanding of the crime to celebrities and the Hollywood circuit.
Many of these cases involved perpetrators who suffered from mental disease or defect.
28
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence (3 of 5)
Stalking Behavior, number and percent of victims:
Total traditional stalking.
Total stalking with technology.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
29
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence
Stalking Behavior:
Total traditional stalking:
Number of Victims: 2,472,440.
Percent of Victims: 100%
Percent of all persons: 1.0%
Followed victim around / watched victim:
Number of Victims: 1,450,740.
Percent of Victims: 58.7.
Percent of all persons: 0.6.
Showed up at / rode by/ drove by places victim was when the offender had no business being there:
Number of Victims: 1,283,540.
Percent of Victims: 51.9.
Percent of all persons: 0.5.
Harassed/repeatedly asked victim’s friends/family for information about their whereabouts:
Number of Victims: 996,710.
Percent of Victims: 40.3.
Percent of all persons: 0.4.
Waited for victim at home/work/school/any other place when the victim did not want them to be there:
Number of Victims: 901,480.
Percent of Victims: 36.5.
Percent of all persons: 0.4.
Left/sent victim unwanted items/ cards/ letters/ presents/ flowers:
Number of Victims: 604,000.
Percent of Victims: 24.4.
Percent of all persons: 0.2.
Sneaked into victim’s home/ car/ any other place and did things to let victim know they had been there:
Number of Victims: 472,990.
Percent of Victims: 19.1.
Percent of all persons: 0.2.
Total Stalking with Technology:
Number of Victims: 3,085,550.
Percent of Victims: 100%
Percent of all persons: 1.2%
Made unwanted calls to victim/left voice messages/ sent text messages/ used telephone to excessively contact victim:
Number of Victims: 2,070,400.
Percent of Victims: 67.1.
Percent of all persons: 0.8.
Sent victim unwanted emails/ messages using the internet or social media apps/ websites like Instagram/ Twitter/ Facebook:
Number of Victims: 1,542,570.
Percent of Victims: 50.0.
Percent of all persons: 0.6.
Monitored victim’s activities using social media apps/websites:
Number of Victims: 1,067,800.
Percent of Victims: 34.6.
Percent of all persons: 0.4.
Posted-threatened to post inappropriate/ unwanted/ personal information about victim online:
Number of Victims: 818,550.
Percent of Victims: 26.5.
Percent of all persons: 0.3.
Spied on victim/ monitored victim’s activities using technologies such as a listening device, a camera, or computer/ cellphone monitoring software:
Number of Victims: 585,770.
Percent of Victims: 19.0.
Percent of all persons: 0.2.
Tracked victim’s whereabouts with electronic device/ application such as GPS/ app on victim’s cell phone:
Number of Victims: 283,630.
Percent of Victims: 9.2.
Percent of all persons: 0.1.
29
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence (4 of 5)
Relationship begins in an ordinary sense.
Self-blaming.
Not reporting their victimization.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
30
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence
Relationship begins in an ordinary sense:
A victim’s relationship with her future stalker began in a very ordinary sense.
Victims described these men as attentive, charming, and charismatic.
Once these endearing qualities disappeared, their interactions became controlling, threatening, and violent.
Self-blaming:
Many women blamed themselves for not recognizing the true colors of their stalker earlier.
This pattern of self-blaming affected their ability to trust their own judgment and led these women to be hesitant about their decision-making abilities in future relationships.
Not reporting their victimization:
Victims of stalking often do not report their victimization to police.
For many victims, their decision to not report these crimes stemmed from a fear of intensifying or escalating the stalking behaviors.
Others dealt with their victimization in their own way, believing that their experience was a private and personal matter.
Many believed that stalking was not a serious enough offense to warrant intervention from the criminal justice system
Some victims felt that nothing could be done to stop the behavior.
30
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence (5 of 5)
Self-reflection.
Victims avoid community events.
Renegotiating definitions of relationship.
Victims moving against their attackers.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
31
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence
Self-reflection:
Some victims attempted to solve the trauma through self-reflection and sought out therapeutic resources.
Women also made significant changes to their behavior patterns.
Victims avoid community events:
Might avoid community events out of a fear that their stalker would show up at the same function.
Other women moved out of the area yet still expressed fear that their stalker would find them.
Renegotiating definitions of relationship: Some victims tried to renegotiate the definitions of their relationship with their offender through bargaining, deception, or deterrence.
Victims moving against their attackers: Some victims moved against their attackers by issuing warnings or pursuing a legal case against them.
31
Victims and Offenders of Stalking (1 of 2)
Female victims: 74.59%.
High in victims of abuse.
Abusers use drugs and alcohol.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
32
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Victims and Offenders of Stalking
Female victims:
A meta-analysis of 22 studies on stalking found that female victims made up 74.59% of stalking victims, while 82.15% of perpetrators were male.
In most cases, perpetrator was someone known to victim, with 30.3% of all cases occurring as a result of a current or former intimate relationship.
High in victims of abuse:
Stalking is a common experience for victims of intimate partner abuse.
Degree to which victims are stalked is directly related to the levels of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse that they experienced with their intimate partner.
Women who are no longer in a relationship with their abuser are more likely to experience stalking compared to women currently involved in an IPA relationship.
Domestic violence abusers who are more controlling and physically violent toward their victims are more likely to stalk them.
Abusers use drugs and alcohol:
Abusers who use drugs and alcohol are more likely to stalk their partners.
Almost three fourths of women who had moved on to new relationships indicated that their new partner was harassed, threatened, or injured by their stalker.
32
Victims and Offenders of Stalking (2 of 2)
Impact of economics.
Effect on a woman’s mental health.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
33
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Victims and Offenders of Stalking
Impact of economics:
Many victims find that they do not have the economic resources or abilities to move out of their communities to escape their stalker.
This lack of mobility made it easier for their perpetrators to continue to stalk and harass their victims.
Close-knit nature of many of these communities led to cases where a batterer’s friends and family members were able to help the offender harass and intimidate their victim.
Effect on a woman’s mental health:
Rates of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder are higher for women who blame themselves for the behaviors of their perpetrator.
Victims indicate feelings of powerlessness, depression, sleep disturbances, and high levels of anxiety.
Likely to develop a chronic disease or other injury in response to the high levels of stress that victims of stalking experience.
33
Cyberstalking
Use of technology as a tool.
Anonymity used to create fear.
Youth and young adults at greater risk.
Use information to publicly post information
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
34
4.6. Define stalking and discuss its impact on victims.
Cyberstalking
Use of technology as a tool:
The term cyberstalking was created to address the use of technology as a tool in stalking.
As the use of technology continues to expand in our social world, so will its use to stalk, harass, and engage in acts of violence against individuals.
Anonymity used to create fear:
Cyberstalking involves incidents that create fear in the lives of its victims.
Anonymity under which cyberstalkers can operate creates significant opportunities for offenders to control, dominate, and manipulate their victims, even from a distance, because there are no geographical limits for stalking within the domain of cyberspace.
In cases of intimate partner abuse, technology and cyberstalking is a way in which abusers can continue to control and harass victims from afar.
Some perpetrators text and phone repeatedly, creating dread and fear in the victim that the harassment will never end.
Youth and young adults at greater risk:
Youth and young adults appear to be particularly at risk for these forms of victimization, given their connections to the electronic world through the Internet, blogs, text messaging, and social networking sites, such as Facebook.
Participation in activities such as sexting can increase the likelihood that one will be victimized online.
Research indicates that 38% of study participants had either sent or received sexually explicit texts or photos.
Participation in these activities increases the likelihood of cybervictimization.
Use information to publicly post information: Stalkers can use information to publicly post information that is not only embarrassing but could jeopardize their relationships with friends, family, and employers.
34
Laws on Stalking
Murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer.
Victims experiencing fear.
Not perceived as a significant event.
Victim blaming.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
35
4.7. Assess the legal remedies and policy implications for IPA and stalking cases.
Laws on Stalking
Murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer:
The first law criminalizing the act of stalking was created in 1990 by the state of California following the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989 by an obsessed fan.
Robert Bardo had become obsessed with “Patti,” the character played by Schaeffer on the show, and made several attempts to contact her on set.
On contacting Schaeffer at her residence, he shot her in the chest, killing her.
Bardo was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Majority of state laws on stalking include details on stalking via electronic methods.
Experience fear:
To prosecute someone for stalking, many state laws require victims to indicate that they experienced fear as a result of the offender’s actions.
Fear levels are also predicted by the severity and frequency of the contact.
Not perceived as a significant event:
The challenge with stalking is that many do not perceive stalking to be a significant event.
Perceptions about stalking vary based on the gender of the victim and the offender and the type of relationship as well as the gender of the study participant.
Men are more likely to view stalking as a minor event and to engage in victim blaming toward stalking victims.
Victim blaming:
Victim blaming can be predicated by the type of relationship between the victim and the offender.
Victims are the least blameworthy if the offender is a stranger but are considered culpable if the stalking results from a casual sexual relationship, such as a one-night stand.
35
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition
Chapter 5: Gender-Based Violence
1
Introduction
Common forms of gender-based violence.
Patriarchy and status of women.
Forces affecting victimization experience.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
2
Introduction
Common forms of gender-based violence: human trafficking, femicide, and sexual and gender-based harassment.
Patriarchy and status of women in their communities:
The crimes against women and gender expansive individuals are related to the role of patriarchy and status of women within their communities.
Change is rooted within a shift of gendered normative values and treatment of women in these societies.
Forces affecting victimization experience:
These include patriarchy and cultural context of women’s lives.
These forces can alter how these crimes are viewed by agents of social control and the community. They help determine how (and if) these crimes are reported and any response that may arise.
It can be dangerous to apply a White, male, middle-class, gender-normative, or an “Americanized identity” to these issues.
2
Human Trafficking (1 of 12)
Forced labor of individuals.
Occurs on an immense scale.
Mostly women.
Challenges in estimating extent.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
3
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking: the exploitation and forced labor of individuals for the purposes of prostitution, domestic servitude, and other forms of involuntary servitude in agricultural and factory industries.
Occurs on an immense scale:
Human trafficking is the world’s second largest criminal activity and the fastest growing criminal enterprise.
International Labor Organization estimates 40.3 million victims of modern slavery globally; includes victims from all 50 states and 127 countries.
The U.S. State Department reports that 600,000 to 820,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year; not including those trafficked within their homelands.
Mostly women: Women and girls are disproportionately impacted, making up 71% of victims.
Challenges in estimating extent:
Victims often do not have access to legal or social services.
Fear of retribution from their traffickers.
Fear or distrust of law enforcement.
Victims may not self identify as being trafficked.
3
Human Trafficking (2 of 12)
Sex trafficking.
Prevalence of sex trafficking.
Method of manipulating victims.
Reasons for trafficking young minors.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
4
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Human Trafficking
Sex trafficking:
Occurs when a commercial act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age;
Or the recruitment, harboring, transportation provision, or obtaining a person for labor or services through use of force, fraud or coercion [is] for purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Prevalence of sex trafficking:
Trafficking involves cases within country’s borders as well as transport across international boundaries.
Thailand is a well-known location for sex trafficking from other Asian countries as well as from U.K., South Africa, Czech Republic, Australia, and U.S.
In 2019, 65% of victims in U.S. were victims of sex trafficking.
Method of manipulating victims:
Traffickers prey on their poor economic standing and desires for improving financial status, offering employment, marriage, and travel.
In some cases, women may be kidnapped or abducted, but majority of cases involve lies, deceit, trickery to collect victims.
Reasons for trafficking young minors:
They may be recruited by family friends or community members or intentionally sold into servitude by parents.
Some grew up in foster care system or had a history of emotional and sexual abuse in childhood.
For some, it is an extension of their experiences of survival as a result of running away or being homeless.
Youth who identify as LGBTQ may be at a greater risk for trafficking in these situations.
4
Human Trafficking (3 of 12)
The lifestyle of the victims.
Struggles of international victims.
Intervention required for escape.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
5
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Human Trafficking
The lifestyle of the victims:
The work in a variety of settings such as brothels, strip clubs, and sex clubs.
They may appear in pornographic films, live Internet sex chats, and on the streets where they solicit money in exchange for sexual services.
They become dependent on traffickers for food, shelter, clothing, and safety.
Struggles of international victims:
They may be in a region where they do not speak the language, limiting access to assistance.
There may be a concern for safety of family members; traffickers use threats against loved ones to ensure cooperation.
Girls in brothels are often beaten and threatened to obtain compliance; constantly reminded of the debts they need to work off; most have little contact outside the brothel or with family members.
Intervention required for escape:
While some victims escape on their own, most require intervention of friends, family, police or social workers.
In Nepal, rehabilitation centers provide health and social welfare assistance to victims. Their intent is to return girls to their homes.
5
Human Trafficking (4 of 12)
Challenges faced by survivors.
Failure of jurisdictions.
Varying laws across the U.S.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
6
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Human Trafficking
Challenges faced by survivors:
They may be looked on as damaged goods when they return home and be shunned and stigmatized by society and family members.
Even on disclosing their experiences to family members, they may not be believed. Husbands may accuse wives of marital infidelity, not understanding they were victimized.
Staying silent out of stigma of trafficking can complicate outreach and recovery efforts.
Failure of jurisdictions:
While many countries have criminalized sale and exploitation of humans, many have yet to enact antitrafficking laws.
Some countries may have laws but limited resources or priorities for enforcing them.
Other countries punish victims, often charging them with prostitution when they seek assistance.
Varying laws across the U.S:
New York became first to provide pathway for survivors to clear criminal record of any cases picked up while being trafficked.
Most states now have similar legislation on the books, but the process is often difficult to navigate.
6
Human Trafficking (5 of 12)
Labor Trafficking
Provision of person for labor.
Gender of victims.
Migration and risk factors.
Debt bondage.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
7
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Labor Trafficking
Labor trafficking:
Recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Forced labor generates more than $30 billion annually.
Gender of victims:
Men are more likely to be victims.
Women make up around one-third of victims.
Certain types of labor trafficking, such as domestic servitude, are more likely to have female victims.
Migration and risk factors:
In Southern California, 30% of undocumented workers were victims of labor trafficking. More than half had experienced exploitation and abuse by employers.
In domestic work, recent migration to the area, economic hardship, and housing insecurity are risk factors.
In international settings, temporary migration programs, like guest worker programs, often place individuals at risk for exploitation.
Debt bondage:
Requires victims to pay off a debt through labor.
Debt may be inherited from actions of family members or acquired in response for employment, transportation, and housing or board.
In some cases, debts are so high that it is impossible for the victim to ever depart the situation.
Women are disproportionately presented in these cases.
7
Human Trafficking (6 of 12)
Labor Trafficking
Control tactics.
Difficulty in identifying forced labor.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
8
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Labor Trafficking
Control tactics:
Most common tactic involves withholding pay by employer.
Emotional abuse, excessive working hours, poor working conditions, destruction of legal documents, and denial of basic needs (food, transportation, health care) are other tactics used by labor traffickers.
Difficulty in identifying forced labor:
Many times, cases are hidden within legal forms of employment.
Agencies have limited training on how to identify cases and lack adequate resources to pursue cases.
These jurisdictions tend to lack services targeted for victims of trafficking.
8
Human Trafficking (7 of 12)
Responses to Human Trafficking
Common themes across jurisdictions.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
T-visa.
Tire ranking system.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
9
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Responses to Human Trafficking
Common themes across jurisdictions:
Prosecution of traffickers.
Protection of victims.
Prevention of human trafficking.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000:
Enacted by Congress in 2000.
Traffickers can be sent to prison for up to 20 years for each victim.
In 2008, Department of Justice got 77 convictions in 40 cases, over two-thirds of which involved sex trafficking.
42 states currently have antitrafficking legislation and are active in identifying offenders and victims.
While this act includes protection and assistance for victims, these provisions are limited (e.g., T-visa).
T-visa:
Under T-visa, victims are eligible for temporary visa, but only 5,000 are available and issuance is limited to “severe forms of trafficking (such as) involving force, fraud or coercion or any trafficking involving a minor.”
Applications for permanent residency are conditional on victim’s participation as witness in a prosecution.
Two years following implementation, only 23 visas had been granted, a far cry from the demand.
Tire ranking system:
The U.S. Department of State assesses efficacy of their policies and practices, ranking countries into 3 tiers to make funding decisions.
Countries who cannot demonstrate they are working to prosecute offenders and protect victims, are classified as Tier 3, to which U.S. provides only humanitarian and trade-related assistance.
9
Human Trafficking (8 of 12)
Responses to Human Trafficking
Criticisms of tier ranking system.
Prioritizing prosecution over victims.
Limited success of prosecutions.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
10
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Responses to Human Trafficking
Criticisms of tier ranking system:
Few policy recommendations implemented as a result of findings of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
Over past decade, antitrafficking efforts remained stable despite introduction of tier ranking. Country’s efforts may not be enough to impact ranking.
Tier system has not always led to decision making in terms of grant allocation process as intended.
Prioritizing prosecution over victims:
Like TVPA, European Union policies prioritize prosecution of offenders; visas are granted only for purposes of pursuing charges against traffickers.
There is no encouragement by E.U. for states to develop programs to address needs of victims.
Limited success of prosecutions:
Few prosecutions have succeeded in jailing offenders.
Even successful convictions result in short sentences and small fines, which does little to deter offenders from future crimes.
10
Human Trafficking (9 of 12)
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Jail the offender and protect victim models.
Protect, do not prosecute victim.
Develop community awareness.
Address social and economic reasons.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
11
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Jail the offender and protect the victim models: Prioritization is given to the prosecution of offenders over the needs of the victims; however, these models are widely criticized due to their limitations and inability to deter individuals from participating in the offenses.
Protect, do not prosecute victim:
Punishing victims by charging them crimes inhibits additional victims from coming forward out of fear.
Legislation must ensure they will not be prosecuted for actions engaged in as part of their trafficked status.
Victims need to be provided with shelter and care for immediate needs following escape from a trafficker.
Develop community awareness and educational public service campaigns:
Effective media campaign could inform on how to recognize an exploitative situation, avenues for assistance, and long-term planning support like information on immigration.
Can also help educate general public on how traffickers entice victims and on reporting potential victims.
Recent efforts include billboard campaigns, a national hotline, and public service announcements in several languages.
Address social and economic reasons for vulnerability to trafficking:
Poverty and economic instability causes women to migrate from their communities in search of a better life.
Traffickers seek out these women and promise them employment opportunities only to trap them.
Increased understanding of how and why women leave could inform educational campaigns to relay information about dangers of trafficking and provide viable options for legitimate employment and immigration.
11
Human Trafficking (10 of 12)
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Prosecute traffickers and who aid them.
Create immigration solutions.
Implement the laws.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
12
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Prosecute traffickers and those who aid and abet traffickers:
Bribery and corruption in the legal system limits assistance to victims.
Police are known to tip off suspected traffickers, supply false papers, or turn a blind eye.
Police and courts need to eliminate corruption from their ranks.
Agents of justice need to pursue cases in earnest and address flaws within the system.
Create immigration solutions for trafficked persons:
An effective immigration policy can provide victims with legal residency rights and protections and help pursue criminal prosecutions, as effective prosecutions rely heavily on victim testimony.
Victims who are offered visas contingent on their participation in a prosecution run the risk of jeopardizing potential convictions. Defense may argue that promise of residency has encouraged perjured testimony.
Limited opportunities to obtain permanent visa status often involve complex applications and long waiting periods.
Implement the laws:
Laws must be vigorously pursued and enforced.
Convictions need to carry stern and significant financial and incarceration punishments.
12
Human Trafficking (11 of 12)
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Pass a federal bill of rights.
Provide funding for legal advocacy.
Create opportunities for financial freedom.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
13
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Recommendations of Polaris Project (2018):
Pass a federal domestic workers bill of rights: Target overtime work protections, fair working conditions, protection from sexual harassment.
Provide funding for legal advocacy: Recent legislation barred federal agencies from using federal grant funds to represent trafficking victims in cases of criminal record expungement.
Create opportunities for financial freedom: Help survivors set up no or low-fee bank accounts and apply for credit building loans.
13
Human Trafficking (12 of 12)
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Develop training programs.
Invest in transitional housing options.
Eliminate the need for migration.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
14
5.1. Identify the types, causes, and responses to human trafficking.
Promising Solutions to End Human Trafficking
Recommendations of Polaris Project (2018):
Develop industry-targeted training programs to help identify and respond to cases of trafficking:
Train employees of hotels, airlines, rental car companies, ride-share, and public transportation on how to recognize signs of trafficking and response/reporting options.
Similar protocols should be developed for health care professionals.
These industries should post information and resources in prominent public areas.
Invest in emergency and transitional housing options for trafficking survivors:
Creating subsidized housing options through government funding and private foundations can help support survivors escape trafficking.
These options can also incorporate trauma-informed services.
Eliminate the need for migration:
Focus on eliminating need for people to migrate to improve their economic condition.
Ecological perspective: Address causes like poverty, economic inequality, dysfunction within family, gender inequality, discrimination, and demand for victims for prostitution and cheap labor.
Trafficking deprives people of human rights, increases global health risks, fuels growing networks of organized crime and can sustain levels of poverty and impede development.
Until these issues are addressed, trafficking will endure.
14
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (1 of 12)
Sexual Harassment
Harassment of a sexual nature.
Perpetuates inequalities against women.
Historical cases of legal enforcement.
Significant social problem.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
15
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.
Can also involve remarks that target a person’s gender or sexual identity.
Perpetuates social inequalities against women:
Catharine MacKinnon argues that sexual harassment “perpetuates the interlocked structure by which women have been kept sexually in thrall to men and at the bottom of the labor market.”
Two forces converge: men’s control over women’s sexuality and capital’s control over employees’ work lives.
Historical cases of legal enforcement:
Began with Barnes v. Costle 1977: Supreme Court held that it is discrimination on the basis of sex for a woman to lose her job because she refused to engage in sexual favors.
Alexander v. Yale 1980: Protests by several female students led to creation of grievance procedures at Yale and college campuses nationwide.
Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson 1986: Supreme Court held that “sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that is actionable under Title VII.”
Significant social problem: The sexual harassment has significant direct and indirect effects on victims’ lives.
15
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (2 of 12)
Sexual Harassment
Avenues of harassment.
Offenders and forum of harassment.
Youth as vulnerable target.
Presents in a variety of ways.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
16
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Sexual Harassment
Avenues of harassment: Workplace, education, housing, and public spaces.
Offenders and forum of harassment:
Offenders range from known people to strangers.
New forums of harassment are introduced every day, especially with the Internet.
Youth as vulnerable target: Youths have become a vulnerable target, as peer sexual harassment is a growing problem for adolescents.
Presents in a variety of ways:
Not just verbal comments made of sexual reference or inappropriate physical touching.
Derogatory looks/gestures.
Sharing sexually based jokes/stories; displaying sexually graphic pictures/writings.
Commentary about a person’s clothing, behaviors, or body.
16
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (3 of 12)
Sexual Harassment
Gender-based harassment.
Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia.
Difficulty in identifying harassment.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
17
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Sexual Harassment
Gender-based harassment:
Defined as any hostile or offensive behavior based on someone’s gender or perceived gender-identity.
Includes slurs, taunts, stereotypes, or name calling as well as gender-motivated physical threats, attacks, or other hateful conduct.
Example: undermining someone’s work or denying an educational opportunity because gender.
Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia:
Supreme Court held that to discriminate against someone because of their sexual or gender identity is the equivalent of discriminating against them based on their sex, a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Federal law prohibits harassment in workplace for LGBTQ+ individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Difficulty in identifying harassment:
Many do not acknowledge themselves as victims.
Harassment acts can be easily discarded by both offenders and victims as a minor issue.
Victims are uncertain about how to label their experiences, finding the sexual harassment label too legalistic, political, or combative.
Victims may be confused or embarrassed by the events; blame themselves for causing it; or be in denial.
Myths about sexual harassment suggest that women bring about their own victimization by choosing to work outside the home or in male-dominated occupations.
17
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (4 of 12)
Sexual Harassment
Difficulty in understanding prevalence.
Industry patterns in filing reports.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
18
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Sexual Harassment
Difficulty in understanding prevalence:
While the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides a definition, this may not represent all cases.
Many victims and perpetrators may not understand what it means to engage in such acts.
Victims may be reluctant to report these incidents, often due to fear or shame.
Industry patterns in filing reports:
Women file majority of cases against male counterparts; this pattern is particularly in male-dominant industries.
EEOC data shows that women are 27.1 times more likely to report harassment than men in an industry that is 91% male.
In transportation and warehouse (men are 76.9% of workforce), women are 10.3 times more likely to file reports than men.
In healthcare and social assistance (men are 21.4% of workforce), reports tend to be made equally by men and women. .
18
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (5 of 12)
Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
Four offending typologies.
Persistent harassers.
Malicious harassers.
Exploitative harassers.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
19
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
Four offending typologies:
Highlighted in research by Lucero, Middleton, Finch, and Valentine.
Persistent, malicious, exploitative, and vulnerable.
Persistent harassers: They enjoy the rejection that they experience from victim’s denial.
Malicious harassers:
This type of harasser shares many of the same characteristics as persistent harasser.
They are quite aggressive in their harassment and experience pleasure by making their victims uncomfortable.
But, they transfer blame for their behavior to victim, saying they provoked the harassment.
Exploitative harassers: Exploitative harassers are those whose position holds power and control over their target.
19
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (6 of 12)
Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
Vulnerable harassers.
Power player.
Opportunist.
Mother figure.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
20
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
Vulnerable harassers:
Vulnerable harassers are whose harassment stems from a desired romantic relationship with their target.
They are significantly different from the other typologies, as they tend to suffer from lower self-esteem.
They focus their attention on a single target and harassment tends to persist over time.
Additional harasser identities:
Power player: quid pro quo harassment where superior threatens victim’s employment status or credibility. Victims can ensure their “safety” by succumbing to perpetrator’s sexual demands.
Opportunist: takes advantage of power differentials to exert the harassment.
Mother figure: seeks to mentor or guide a troubled colleague or student as a way to earn trust and exploit them in times of crisis.
20
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (7 of 12)
Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
Confidant.
One of the gang.
Comedians.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
21
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
Additional harasser identities:
Confidant: seeks to gain trust by sharing similar stories of victimization.
”One of the gang” or “group membership rituals” rely on peer pressure and group acceptance to justify, maintain, and perpetuate sexual harassment.
Victimization becomes a bonding experience between perpetrators.
Being part of a group allows members to diffuse cries from victims deemed to be “overreacting.”
Comedians: engage in such acts because they believe it is entertaining to do so.
21
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (8 of 12)
Workplace Sexual Harassment
Impact on health.
Differentiation by the Supreme Court.
Quid pro quo.
Hostile work environment.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
22
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Workplace Sexual Harassment
Impact on health:
Sexual harassment is linked with job-related stress and decreases in personal mental health, job performance, and general job satisfaction.
Research indicates that employees who experience workplace sexual harassment report higher levels of illness, injury, and assault.
Differentiation by the Supreme Court:
The U.S. Supreme Court has distinguished two forms of sexual harassment in the workplace: quid pro quo and hostile work environment.
In both forms, offender’s acts must be severe and pervasive in order to be identified as sexual harassment.
Quid pro quo:
Form of harassment where a power differential exists between the two parties.
Involves tangible examples of employment status. Superior might threaten employee’s employment status if he/she does not engage in sexual conduct.
Hostile work environment: Commentary or attitudes in workplace by coworkers, customers, or supervisors creates an inappropriate, gender-biased, or sexually charged environment that causes discomfort for victim.
22
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (9 of 12)
Workplace Sexual Harassment
Reporting linked to class status.
Protecting women at work.
Difficult to deter by reporting.
Need for training programs.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
23
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Workplace Sexual Harassment
Reporting linked to class status:
Working-class individuals may be less likely to report, particularly if faced with limited opportunities outside current employment or have limited experience or training.
They may be more likely to endure harassment rather than deal with perceived ramifications of going public.
Women often have to choose between participating in misogynistic cultures at work or resisting, leaving little chance for growth in their companies.
Data notes that women in supervisory positions report higher rates of harassment. They were 137% more likely to be harassed compared to women not in managerial positions.
Protecting women at work:
Women who experience harassment early in their careers see the effects throughout, with increased financial stress, lower earnings due to job displacement and reduced opportunities.
Training supervisors to be supportive, facilitating work-group solidarity, and creating a supportive work-group culture (aside from implementing explicit policies) can serve as protective factors.
Difficult to deter by reporting:
Some research indicates that reporting harassment may not halt the behavior, as these individuals were 6.5 times more likely to experience subsequent incidents.
These findings indicate that any censure or reprimanding may do little to curb future behaviors of offenders. .
Need for training programs:
Having a policy against sexual harassment alone is not enough for companies to avoid culpability.
Supreme Court has held that corporations may not be liable as long as they provide harassment training prevention programming for employees.
Several state legislatures have recognized the importance of training and have made laws requiring companies to provide this.
California’s law mandates topics for training programs, including federal and state laws, remedies available, applied examples on prevention, and how to prevent retaliation against victims who file complaints.
23
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (10 of 12)
Housing-Related Sexual Harassment
Widespread occurrence in U.S.
Women and poor at greatest risk.
Quid pro quo claim.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
24
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Housing-Related Sexual Harassment
Widespread occurrence in U.S.:
Housing-related sexual harassment is a significant issue; rebuffing landlord’s sexual advances have direct consequences on housing status of victims.
From 1988 to 2000, over 8,500 acts were reported to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and affiliated agencies.
Yet limited research exists on this topic.
Women and poor at greatest risk:
This is because of the unequal distribution of power between landlord and tenant and limited options of affordable housing.
Women with children may be targeted, forced to deal with uncomfortable living situations and offensive landlord-tenant relationships.
Quid pro quo claim: includes cases where a tenant is evicted for refusing sexual advances of landlord or property manager.
24
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (11 of 12)
Housing-Related Sexual Harassment
Claim of hostile environment.
Greater fear than workplace harassment.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
25
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Housing-Related Sexual Harassment
Claim of hostile environment: involves significant sexual or derogatory comments by landlord or property manager over time, which creates a hostile residential setting.
Greater fear than workplace harassment:
Home is considered a sanctuary and safe environment. Landlords have access to a residence at any time, day or night, creating safety concerns for women.
Many women endure it because they believe they have no other options. Landlords, aware of their position of power, use it to obtain sexual favors.
Workplace harassment is limited to the workday but women who experience harassment in housing are unable to escape it at the end of the day.
25
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment (12 of 12)
Policy Implications
Need to understand problem’s extent.
Need for greater understanding of issue.
Title IX guidance.
Protections needed to support victims.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
26
5.2. Discuss the effects of sexual and gender based harassment.
Gender-Based and Sexual Harassment
Policy Implications
Need to understand problem’s extent:
There is a need for nationally representative data.
Questions regarding sexual harassment should be a regular component of federally funded agencies that engage in research on the workplace, educational system, and social services.
Funding must be made to access data on harassment within high-risk communities, like women who work in male dominated occupations (blue and white-collar positions).
Need for greater understanding of issue:
There is a need for a greater understanding of the issues of sexual harassment for all members of the workforce.
Many college students do not grasp its significant nature or believe it can affect the workplace environment.
Some women acknowledge the possibility of workplace harassment but believe it couldn’t happen to them personally.
Training and education is imperative to effectively combat the risks and prevalence, and should begin during the college career.
Title IX guidance:
Obama administration issued guidance that Title IX prohibited discrimination against LGBTQ+ students. These protections included requirement that campuses provide access to bathrooms matching gender identity.
Trump administration rolled back this guidance, so the Department of Education would be unlikely to provide support for students and families discriminated against due to gender identity.
President Biden’s Executive Order 13988 reinstated and expanded regulations to include prohibitions against discrimination due to gender identity and sexual orientation.
Protections needed to support victims:
Like rape-shield laws and whistleblower protections, victims need protection from potential revictimizations on pursuing claims against employers or institutional organizations.
Consistent enforcement of policies, like in workplaces, is a must. This sends a clear message that such acts will not be tolerated.
The best protection is to create an environment where women are viewed as equal to their male counterparts.
26
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (1 of 2)
Significant issue but underreported.
Institutionalized violence.
Abuse of Indigenous children in schools.
Lasting impact of history.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
27
5.3. Explain the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and its effects on First-Nations communities.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Significant crisis but underreported:
Issue of missing and murdered indigenous women is a humanitarian crisis for Native and First Nations communities.
Yet, it is significantly underreported by mainstream media.
Institutionalized violence:
Indigenous women have experienced high rates of violence and genocide since discovery of lands like the Americas. Rape was a common tool of European settlers to gain control over Native communities and their land.
Such acts were institutionalized by Federal governments in U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand through colonization.
Effects of colonization included taking of native lands, development of social, legal, and justice systems that punished traditional cultures, and institutionalization of patriarchy into these communities.
Abuse of Indigenous children in residential schools:
From the late 19th through much of the 20th centuries, these schools run by Christian churches were set up to assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream White culture.
In Canada, over 150,000 children were forcibly sent to these institutions and subjected to abuse. In Australia, it was 1 in 3 Indigenous children between 1910 and 1970.
Many passed away due to abuse, disease and neglect (over 4,100 Indigenous Canadian children).
Lasting impact of history even in modern day:
First Nations communities are disproportionately impacted by violence, addiction, and intervention by child protections, youth justice and criminal justice systems.
In Australia, they are 17 times more likely to be under child protection supervision than non-Indigenous families.
Deaths in police custody are more likely to happen.
Such practices have also led to high rates of violence against Indigenous women and children.
27
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (2 of 2)
Victimization rates.
Cases unsolved or not registered.
National inquiry by Canadian government.
Initiatives in U.S.A.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
28
5.3. Explain the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and its effects on First-Nations communities.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Victimization rates:
Indigenous females are significantly more likely than non-Native counterparts to be victims of family violence, sexual assault, and murder.
Indigenous women make up only 4% of Canada’s population but murdered at 6 times higher rate than non-Indigenous women.
High homicide rates are linked to intergenerational domestic violence. Over 80% of Maori women face domestic violence; they are 3 times more likely to be victims of family or intimate partner homicide than non-Maori women.
In U.S., homicide is third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women between ages 25–34; they are 10 times more likely to be homicide victims compared to national murder rate.
Cases unsolved or not registered:
In New South Wales, Aboriginal women (less than 3% of population) are 10% of unsolved missing persons cases.
U.S. National Crime Information Center reports 5,295 cases (missing and murdered) in 2020, but only 725 were in Department of Justice’s database.
National inquiry by Canadian government:
Established in 2015, the commission, over 2 years, heard from over 2,380 family members, survivors, experts, community elders, and officials.
Conducted review of all forms of violence and harm, individual and institutional.
Offered 231 calls for justice focusing on reforms for governments, institutions, social service providers, and general public highlighting need for culturally responsive approaches of healing and combatting colonization and patriarchy.
There have been similar calls for an inquiry in Australia.
Initiatives in U.S.A:
2019: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Initiative and Presidential Task Force on “Operation Lady Justice.”
2020: Savanna’s Act that directs the Department of Justice to review, revise, and develop protocols to address the issue of missing and murdered Native Americans.
State level legislation with Hanna’s Act in Montana: Her birthday May 5th was designated as national day of awareness.
28
Honor-Based Violence (1 of 4)
Murder of a woman by family member.
Double-standard rooted in patriarchy.
Perception of honor.
Carried out with high degree of violence.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
29
5.4. Assess the role of culture and patriarchy for cases of honor-based violence.
Honor-Based Violence
Honor-based violence (HBV):
Involves murder of a woman by a male family member.
Includes practices like honor killings, bride burnings, customary killings, and dowry deaths.
Killings are in response to belief that the women have brought shame to the family unit.
The notion of honor is one of the most important cultural values for these communities. It controls every part of a woman’s identity.
Double-standard rooted in patriarchy:
This dictates that women should be modest, meek, pure, and innocent, and follow rules set by husbands and fathers.
Women’s right to life is conditional on obeying social norms and traditions.
Women are viewed as property that holds value based on purity, which can be tainted by acts that many Western cultures view as normal.
The crime can be that a woman wants to become “Westernized” or participate in modern-day activities or is rooted in a sexual double standard where a woman should maintain her purity for her husband.
The men are never criticized for their acceptance of Western culture.
Perception of honor:
Even victims of sexual assault are at risk because their victimization is considered shameful for the family.
Simple perception of impropriety is enough to warrant an honor killing.
Women accused of bringing dishonor are rarely afforded the opportunity to defend their actions. The distinction between a woman being guilty or alleged to be guilty is irrelevant.
Carried out with high degree of violence:
Women are subjected to torture, and their deaths are often slow and violent.
Violent killing is expected in certain cases because it shows a man’s power and ability to protect his honor.
29
Honor-Based Violence (2 of 4)
Support from women in community.
Estimates of honor killings.
Nature of honor killings.
Reasons for killings.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
30
5.4. Assess the role of culture and patriarchy for cases of honor-based violence.
Honor-Based Violence
Support from women in community: Research indicates that the women in the family support these acts of violence against other female family members as part of the shared community understanding about honor.
Estimates of honor killings:
The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 honor killings each year around the world, but true numbers are closer to tens of thousands of women.
Many of these crimes go unreported, making it difficult to develop an understanding of the true extent.
Nature of honor killings:
95% of victims are young women (mean age = 23).
In 42% of cases, multiple perpetrators were involved (distinguishing these crimes from single-perpetrator femicides most commonly reported in Western countries).
Over half of these women were tortured to death and killed by stoning, burning, beheading, strangulation, or stabbing/bludgeoning.
Reasons for killings:
42% of cases involved acts of infidelity or alleged sexual impropriety.
Remaining 58% were murdered for being “too Western” and defying expectations set through cultural and religious normative values.
30
Honor-Based Violence (3 of 4)
Occasionally occurs in Western world.
Challenges in punishing perpetrators.
Areas of reform.
Legal measures.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
31
5.4. Assess the role of culture and patriarchy for cases of honor-based violence.
Honor-Based Violence
Occasionally occurs in Western world:
Cases are exclusively linked to an immigrant culture/community where honor killings are a more accepted practice.
Perpetrators generally maintain that their actions were culturally justified.
January 2012 conviction of Shafia family in Ontario, Canada is one such example.
Challenges in punishing perpetrators:
Perpetrators are rarely identified and even more rarely punished.
Victim’s family members are quick to dismiss the deaths as “accidents.”
In Turkish communities, the task of murder is often given to the youngest male member who are usually under the age of criminal responsibility, which further reduces likelihood of punishment.
Areas of reform suggested by Amnesty International:
Legal measures.
Preventive measures.
Protective measures.
Legal measures:
Legal system in many of these countries does little to protect victims. Women have few, if any, legal rights. Perpetrators are rarely subjected to punishment.
First step is recognizing that violence against women is a crime and needs to be enforced by the legal communities.
Legal reforms must address women’s status and provide them with opportunities for equal protection under the law. Provide remedies for survivors of attempted honor killings.
International law needs to enforce sanctions against governments that fail to act against offenders.
31
Honor-Based Violence (4 of 4)
Effectiveness of legal measures.
Preventive measures.
Protective measures.
Road to reform.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
32
5.4. Assess the role of culture and patriarchy for cases of honor-based violence.
Honor-Based Violence
Effectiveness of legal measures:
Turkish activists did not feel that increasing punishments would serve as effective deterrent, particularly in regions where the practice is more common and accepted.
Punishments would not change the social necessity to kill and are seen as less important than lifelong loss of honor.
Preventive measures:
Education and public awareness is the first step.
Attempts to change these practices require time and resources aimed at opening communication on these beliefs; no easy task given the normative cultural values that perpetuate these crimes.
Sensitivity-training programming for judicial and legal personnel may help them respond in an impartial manner.
It is important to develop a sense of the extent of the problem: Enhanced understanding of data on these crimes will help shed light on the pervasiveness of honor-based violence.
Protective measures:
Given the limited escape options, additional resources for victim services need to be made available, including shelters, resources for women fleeing violence, legal aid, provisions for protection of children, and training to increase economic self-sustainability.
Agencies that offer refuge need to be protected from instances of backlash and harassment.
Road to reform:
Many agents working in affected regions indicate feelings of hopelessness that such changes are even possible.
Cultural traditions present significant challenges for change.
First step in reform involves creating the belief that success is possible.
32
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition
Chapter 3: Women, Gender, and Victimization: Rape And Sexual Assault
1
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault (1 of 4)
Rape.
Laws prohibiting rape.
Rape was a property crime.
Sexual assault.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
2
3.1. Summarize the historical perspectives on the sexual victimization of women.
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault
Rape:
Sexual intercourse under force, threat of force, or without the legal consent of the individual.
In many jurisdictions, the term rape specifically applies in cases of penile-vaginal forced intercourse.
Laws prohibiting rape:
One of the first laws prohibiting the crime of rape can be found in the Code of Hammurabi from Babylon.
Ancient Greek, Roman, and Judaic societies also criminalized the act of rape under various circumstances.
Some laws distinguished between the rape of a married versus an unmarried woman, and the punishments for these crimes varied based on the status of the victim.
Rape was a property crime:
Instead of violent sexual offense, rape was viewed a property crime in the earlier times.
If the victim was an unmarried woman, the rape tainted her status and value for potential marriage.
As a result, many fathers negotiated to have their daughters marry their rapists.
Sexual assault:
All forms of unwanted sexual activity other than rape, sexual assault includes acts such as penetration other than vaginal-penile penetration, penetration by objects, sodomy, forced oral copulation, sexual touching, and other lewd acts.
It brought shame to the victim, because the acknowledgment of a rape was an admission of sexual activity.
2
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault (2 of 4)
Blaming of victims.
Model Penal Code in 1955.
Limitations of Model Penal Code.
Same-sex sexual assault.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
3
3.1. Summarize the historical perspectives on the sexual victimization of women.
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault
Blaming of victims:
Women were blamed for tempting offenders into immoral behaviors.
During criminal rape trials, in an attempt to discredit in front of a jury, a woman’s sexual history was often put on display.
The responsibility of an offender’s actions was mitigated by portraying women victims of sexual assault as complicit.
Such a practice represented a double standard because the courts did not request similar information about a man’s sexual history.
Model Penal Code in 1955:
The definition of rape included in Model Penal Code in 1955 says that rape is an activity where a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman not his wife is guilty if:
He compels her to submit by force or by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain or kidnapping, to be inflicted on anyone.
He has impaired her power to appraise or control her conduct by administering or employing drugs, intoxicants without her knowledge.
The woman is unconscious.
The woman is less than 10 years old.
Limitations of Model Penal Code:
The definition of rape is reduced to the act of intercourse, excluding other acts of sexual assault, such as oral sex, sodomy, or penetration by a foreign object.
It limits the victim-offender relationship to a man perpetrator and a woman victim.
Same-sex sexual assault: often refers to man-on-man assault, because of the limited research on woman-on-woman sexual violence.
For an act to qualify as rape, this definition requires that force, or the threat of force and focuses on violence and brutality as proof of the crime.
Marital status exemption such that men could not be prosecuted for raping their wives.
Failure to acknowledge attempted rapes as a crime and its traumatic effects.
3
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault (3 of 4)
Positive influences from Model Penal Code.
Perception of false accusations.
Contemporary definitions of rape.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
4
3.1. Summarize the historical perspectives on the sexual victimization of women.
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault
Positive influences from Model Penal Code:
It acknowledges that the absence of consent for sexual intercourse (including intoxication or unconsciousness) constitutes rape.
It acknowledges that sexual acts involving children are a crime.
Perception of false accusations:
Judges and juries were very skeptical towards allegations of rape and sexual assault.
There was a strong bias against the perception of false accusations.
In California, jury were instructed to examine the testimony of the woman named in the information with caution.
Due to this law, many victims of sexual assault never saw justice in their cases.
White victims were often believed with very little evidence, particularly if they were upper class.
If the attacker was a woman of color, or was deemed to be poor, her claims were highly questioned and often dismissed.
Contemporary definitions of rape:
Most laws broadly define sexual victimization as sexual behaviors that are unwanted and harmful to the victim.
Most emphasize the use of force or coercion displayed by the offender rather than focusing on the response or conduct of the victim.
The law itself does not require victims to demonstrate physical levels of resistance.
4
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault (4 of 4)
Development in contemporary rape laws.
Punishment for sexual assault, rape.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
5
3.1. Summarize the historical perspectives on the sexual victimization of women.
Historical Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault
Development in contemporary rape laws:
The development involves the abolishment of the marital-rape exemption clause.
Historical acceptance of the marital-rape exception is rooted in biblical passages.
Every state has laws that identify rape within the context of marriage as a criminal act.
The term sexual assault is often used to identify forms of sexual victimization that are not included under the traditionally narrow definition of rape.
The definitions of sexual assault expanded beyond penile-vaginal penetration and include sodomy, forced oral copulation, and unwanted fondling and touching of a sexual nature.
Age of consent laws have led to the development of statutory rape laws.
Sex offender registration laws, such as Megan’s Law and Jessica’s Law, require the community receive notification of sexual offenders and the placing of residential, community, and supervision restrictions on offenders.
Punishment for sexual assault, rape:
Historically, the crime of rape was punished by death.
In 1925, 18 of the 48 states and the Federal Government authorized the use of the death penalty in cases of rape of an adult.
Only three states retained the use of the death penalty when Furman v. Georgia abolished the current laws around capital punishment.
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court in Coker v. Georgia held that the use of the death penalty was a disproportionate punishment for the rape of an adult.
In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court extended its decision in Coker v. Georgia to abolish the use of the death penalty in cases of child rape.
5
Defining Sexual Victimization
(1 of 2)
Definitions by Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).
Definition by National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).
Definitions of crimes in states.
Limited clarity on legal definitions.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
6
3.1. Summarize the historical perspectives on the sexual victimization of women.
Defining Sexual Victimization
Definitions by Uniform Crime Reports (UCR):
UCR considered only cases of forcible rape.
It did not account for cases of attempted rape/sexual assault.
Definition by National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS):
The NCVS defines rape as the forced sexual intercourse including vaginal, oral, or anal penetration by offender(s).
The NCVS collects data from cases of penetration with a foreign object as well.
Definitions of crimes in states:
States vary significantly on their own definitions of these crimes.
Some states limit rape to penile-vaginal penetration and use sexual assault as a catch-all category of other crimes, while other states use multiple statutes to distinguish between different forms of sexual assault.
Some states combine multiple forms of assault under a single penal code definition.
Limited clarity on legal definitions:
The lack of clarity on rape and sexual assault definitions and personification of crimes in popular culture and media have significant effect on victims.
Victims may not label their encounter as rape or sexual assault and as a result, they do not report to the police, nor seek out therapeutic resources.
Since their experience differs from their personal definitions of rape and sexual assault, women do not define themselves as victims.
6
Defining Sexual Victimization
(2 of 2)
Low chances of stranger rape.
Lack of understanding for offenders.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
7
3.1. Summarize the historical perspectives on the sexual victimization of women.
Defining Sexual Victimization
Low chances of stranger rape:
Stranger rape: The perpetrator is unknown to the victim and is usually associated with a lack of safety, such as walking home at night or not locking the doors.
The NCVS data demonstrate that cases of stranger rape with women victims account for only 22% of all sexual assaults.
Therefore, the majority of rapes and sexual assault are perpetuated by people who are known to the victim.
Lack of understanding for offenders:
Many people who admit to engaging in behaviors that meet the legal criteria for rape or sexual assault generally do not define their own actions as criminal.
A survey on rape and sexual assault was taken among 2,971 college men regarding self-reported conduct that met the legal definitions of rape, attempted rape, sexual coercion, and unwanted sexual contact.
The results indicated that 1,525 acts of sexual assault had occurred, including 187 acts of rape.
84% of the “perpetrators” believed that their acts did not constitute rape.
7
Prevalence of Rape and Sexual Assault
Data from Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN).
Data from NCVS.
Underreporting and challenges in research.
Prevalence studies in the U.S.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
8
3.2. Identify the prevalence of rape and sexual assault.
Prevalence of Rape and Sexual Assault
Data from Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN):
Though rape and sexual assault are underreported, these crimes pervade our society.
A rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault occurs approximately once every 2 minutes.
Data from NCVS:
There were 459,310 victims of rape and sexual assault in 2019.
There are 1.6 victims per 1,000 individuals aged 12 or older.
In 2018, 24.9% of victims reported these crimes to the police while in 2019, this increased to 33.9% of cases.
Underreporting and challenges in research:
The stigmatizing nature makes rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault some of the most underreported crimes.
While attempting to estimate the prevalence of sexual assault, researchers face challenges, including differences in defining sexual assault, the emphasis on different sample populations, or different forms of data.
Sexual assault affects most individuals in some way at some point in their lifetime.
Prevalence studies in the U.S.:
The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey notes that 43.6% of women experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime.
1 in 5 women experience a completed or attempted rape (21.3%) and over a third of women (37%) are subjected to unwanted touching.
These results demonstrate an increase in the number of rape cases compared to the Violence Against Women survey in 1996, which noted that 15% of all women experience crimes of rape.
Recent data suggests that more than one in four American women will be victimized by rape or sexual assault within their lifetime.
8
Rape Myths (1 of 3)
Justification of sexual aggression.
Common myths about rape.
Contributing factor in victim blaming.
Excuse and justification for rape.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
9
3.3. Evaluate the impact of rape myths and rape myth acceptance.
Rape Myths
Justification of sexual aggression:
Rape myths are attitudes and beliefs that are generally false but are widely and persistently held, and that serve to deny and justify sexual aggression of men against women.
Common myths about rape:
A woman who gets raped usually deserves it, especially if she has agreed to go to a man’s house or park with him.
If a woman agrees to allow a man to pay for dinner, then it means she owes him sex.
Acquaintance rape is committed by men who are easy to identify as rapists.
Only women can be raped or sexually assaulted by men.
Women who do not fight back have not been raped.
Once a man reaches a certain point of arousal, sex is inevitable, and he cannot help forcing himself on a woman.
Most women lie about acquaintance rape because they have regrets after consensual sex.
Women who say “No” really mean “Yes.”
Certain behaviors such as drinking or dressing in a sexually appealing way make rape a woman’s responsibility.
If she had sex with me before, she has consented to have sex with me again.
A man cannot rape his wife.
Only bad women get raped.
Women secretly enjoy being raped.
Contributing factor in victim blaming:
The acceptance of rape myths by society is a contributing factor in the practice of victim blaming.
The presence of rape myths allows society to shift the blame of rape from the offender to the victim.
We can avoid confronting the realities of rape and sexual assault in society.
This denial serves as a vicious cycle.
As we fail to acknowledge the severity of rape and sexual assault, which leads to victims not reporting their crime to authorities, this results in greater acceptance that the crime is not taken seriously by society as a whole.
It supports the notion of a just world hypothesis, suggesting only good things happen to good people and bad things happen to those who deserve it.
Excuse and justification for rape:
Offenders use rape myths to justify their actions.
Excuses occur when offenders admit that their wrong behavior but blame their actions on external circumstances outside of their control.
Justifications occur when offenders admit responsibility for their actions but argue that their behavior was acceptable under the circumstances.
Miscommunication appears to play a significant role for men.
The responsibility of rape is transferred from the offender back to the victim by suggesting men “misunderstand” their victim’s refusal for sexual activity.
9
Rape Myths (2 of 3)
Impact how victims are viewed.
Victims accept excuses or justifications.
Prevalence, acceptance of rape myths.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
10
3.3. Evaluate the impact of rape myths and rape myth acceptance.
Rape Myths
Impact how victims are viewed:
While victim blaming occurs across all racial and ethnic groups, the degree of blame can vary between groups.
Victims who were identified as either African American or Latina received harsher judgements.
Victims who were identified as white were less likely to be seen as responsible for their own trauma and victimization.
Victims accept excuses or justifications:
It minimizes or denies the responsibility of their offender.
In cases where the man offender “got carried away,” women victims often accept the actions of the offender as a natural consequence of sexuality of men.
Victims feel that they deserve their victimization as a result of their own actions.
Many victims argue that “they should have known better” or that “they didn’t try hard enough to stop it.”
Prevalence, acceptance of rape myths:
These myths permit us to believe that stranger rape is “real” rape, whereas acquaintance rape is interpreted as less serious, less significant, and less harmful because the offender is known to the victim.
They perpetuate the belief that women should be more fearful of the symbolic assailant.
They suggest that in order for a woman to be raped, she needs to fight back against her attacker and leave the scene with bruises and injuries related to her efforts to thwart the assault.
They also suggest that real rape victims always report their attackers and have evidence collected and that an offender is identified who is then arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to the fullest extent under the law.
The majority of cases involve victims who know their offender, and victims who do not report these cases to the police.
The consequence of these myths serves to limit the public’s understanding about the realities of rape, which can limit the victim’s opportunity for justice.
10
Rape Myths (3 of 3)
Acquaintance rape.
Symbolic assailant.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
11
3.3. Evaluate the impact of rape myths and rape myth acceptance.
Rape Myths
Acquaintance rape: The victim knows the perpetrator; it usually accounts for the majority of rape and sexual assault cases.
Symbolic assailant:
A perpetrator, often of minority ethnicity, who hides in dark shadows awaiting the abduction, rape, or murder of unknown innocents.
He or she attacks at random, is unprovoked, and is difficult to apprehend.
11
Acquaintance Versus Stranger Assault
More prevalence of acquaintance rape.
Low reporting rates of acquaintance rape.
Trauma due to acquaintance rape.
Rape culture in society.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
12
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Acquaintance Versus Stranger Assault
More prevalence of acquaintance rape:
Stranger rape is the least common type of sexual assault.
Many prevention efforts that advise women on what they can do to keep themselves safe from sexual assault often focus on situations of stranger danger.
These tools fail to acknowledge the reality of sexual assault.
Acquaintance rape accounts for 90% of all rapes of college women.
60% of all rape and sexual assault incidents occur either at the victim’s home or at the home of a friend, neighbor, or relative.
Cases of acquaintance rape and sexual assault tend to entail lower levels of physical force by the offender and involve less resistance by the victim.
Low reporting rates of acquaintance rape:
According to research by Millar, Stermac, and Addison, 61% of acquaintance rapes are not reported to the police.
According to Rickert, Wiemann, and Vaughan, only one of 86 study participants made a report to law enforcement authorities, and four victims sought services from a mental health professional.
Society tends to discount the validity of acquaintance rape, suggesting that it is a lesser criminal act than stranger rape.
Trauma due to acquaintance rape:
Victims suffer significant mental health trauma as a result of their victimization.
This trauma is exacerbated by victims by blaming themselves for their own victimization.
These victims are less likely to seek assistance from rape crisis or counseling services.
Rape culture in society:
Cases such as Steubenville, Dietrich, and Brock Turner highlight the role that rape culture continues to play in our society.
These forms of violence contribute to a culture of rape whereby offender actions are minimized and blame for these events is often diverted.
12
Drug-Facilitated/Incapacitated Sexual Assault (1 of 2)
Drug-facilitated rape.
Incapacitated rape.
Involuntary drugging of victims.
Substances used in drugging.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
13
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Drug-Facilitated/Incapacitated Sexual Assault
Drug-facilitated rape: An unwanted sexual act following the deliberate intoxication of a victim.
Incapacitated rape: An unwanted sexual act that occurs after a victim voluntarily consumes drugs or alcohol.
Involuntary drugging of victims:
A rise has been seen in incapacitated rapes through the involuntary drugging of victims.
The terms date rape drug and drug-facilitated sexual assault are used to identify how the involuntary consumption of substances have been used in sexual assault cases.
Substances used in drugging: GHB, ketamine, rohypnol, and alcohol.
13
Drug-Facilitated/Incapacitated Sexual Assault (2 of 2)
Underreporting due to little recollection.
Laws to control drug-facilitated rape.
Voluntary intoxication of alcohol.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
14
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Drug-Facilitated/Incapacitated Sexual Assault
Underreporting due to little recollection:
These drugs are generally colorless, odorless, and/or tasteless when dissolved in a drink and result in a rapid intoxication that renders a potential rape victim unconscious and unable to recall events while intoxicated.
Many cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault go unreported, because victims may be reluctant to report a crime due to little recollection.
Laws to control drug-facilitated rape:
Under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the possession of controlled substances (GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate, ketamine, and Rohypnol) is a federal offense.
Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996 provides penalties for up to 20 years for the involuntary drugging of an individual in cases of violence.
Many states have enacted laws that provide specific sanctions in cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault.
The Colorado state law provides an assessment of a victim’s ability to consent to sexual relations and holds that the level of intoxication, combined with the resulting mental impairment of the individual, must affect the victim’s ability to exercise reasonable judgment.
Drug-facilitated sexual assault is considered a class 3 felony and calls for a punishment range of 4–12 years.
Voluntary intoxication of alcohol:
Sexually assault following voluntary intoxication of alcohol make up majority of drug-facilitated sexual assaults.
Alcohol was involved in 79% of cases of nonforcible rape.
The use of drugs and alcohol places women at a greater risk for sexual assault.
Due to their incapacitated state, women have a reduction of their inhibitions and inability to resist their attackers.
Since they chose to use intoxicating substances recreationally, these victims are often held as the most responsible of all sexual assault victims.
As a result, the actions of perpetrators in these cases are most likely to be excused or diminished.
14
Spousal Rape (1 of 2)
Nonconsensual sexual intercourse.
Marital rape exception and legality.
Emotional coercion over physical force.
Battering rape.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
15
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Spousal Rape
Spousal rape: It involves emotional coercion or physical force against a spouse to achieve nonconsensual sexual intercourse that can often lead to domestic violence.
Marital rape exception and legality:
In 1978, only five states defined marital rape as a crime.
Several states still have exceptions in the law that limit how marital rape is defined.
Marital rape is still legal in many countries around the world.
Nigerian criminal law has criminalized rape in general but does not acknowledge rape by a spouse as a crime.
India also provides legal immunity in cases of rape when the victim is their wife.
Emotional coercion over physical force:
Majority of marital rape involve cases of emotional coercion rather than physical force in the assault.
Examples of emotional coercion:
Social coercion: Wife’s duty to engage in sex with her husband.
Interpersonal coercion: Use of power by a husband to exert sexual favors from his wife.
Wife engaging in sex for fear of unknown threats or damages that may occur if she refuses.
Battering rape:
Cases of marital rape by the use of physical force are referred to as battering rape.
In cases of battering rape, the sexual assault is an extension of the physical and emotional violence that occurs within the context of the relationship.
The physical effects of marital rape are generally greater compared to cases of stranger and acquaintance rape.
15
Spousal Rape (2 of 2)
Marital rape: hidden from view.
Challenges in reporting and punishment.
Viewed as least serious rape.
Cultural acceptance of marital rape.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
16
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Spousal Rape
Marital rape: hidden from view:
Marital rape is as prevalent as other forms of rape, but this victimization is generally hidden from public view.
7% to 14% of women experienced completed or attempted rape within the context of marriage, cohabitating, or intimate relationship.
Challenges in reporting and punishment:
There is a perception that marital rape is not real rape.
Acts of sexual assault such as oral sex without consent are less likely to be viewed as a form of marital rape.
Women are more likely to view nonconsensual acts such as vaginal and anal penetration, penetration with an object, as marital rape.
Viewed as least serious rape:
Marital rape is viewed as the least serious form of rape, compared to rape by a stranger or acquaintance.
It is only viewed as a serious act when there is a history of violence in the relationship, and victims receive greater levels of blame.
Such perceptions impact other’s view and can also lead to self-blaming behaviors by the victim.
Cultural acceptance of marital rape:
The cultural acceptance of marital rape fails to identify the women as victims.
This leaves the victims with the belief that their experiences are not considered real rape.
Also, these women are less likely to seek assistance for their victimization.
16
Campus Sexual Assault (1 of 2)
Occurs during collegiate experience.
Variables increasing risk of assault.
High risk during first year.
Title IX from Education Amendments.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
17
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Campus Sexual Assault
Campus sexual assault:
Refers to acts of rape and sexual assault that occur during the collegiate experience.
Can involve, but is not limited to, crimes that occur on a college campus.
Estimation says that 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed or attempted rape at some point during their collegiate career.
Variables increasing risk of assault:
A “party” atmosphere, easy access to alcohol and drugs, increases in freedom, and limited supervision by older adults.
Majority of sexual assaults against university women occurred between the evening and early morning hours during or after a party.
Alcohol plays a major role in these cases where the victims knew their attackers.
Victims are also more likely to be younger and less knowledgeable about the dangers of sexual assault.
The more students engage in substance use, the greater the risk for victimization.
High risk during first year:
During the first year of the university experience, the risk of sexual assault among college-age individuals is highest.
One in six women students experience either an attempted or completed incapacitated or forcible sexual assault during this year.
Women who have previously experienced sexual violence during adolescence are more likely to be revictimized in college.
Title IX from Education Amendments:
It ensures that women have equal access to programs such as law school and medical school or to provide support and access for women’s programs within college athletics.
The scope of Title IX covers 17,600 local school districts and over 5,000 higher educational institutions.
Title IX covers all areas of educational programming, including admissions, programming, athletics, financial assistance, and sexual harassment and violence.
It is Title IX’s purvue to provide inclusive curricula and creating a safe school environment for K-12 schools.
17
Campus Sexual Assault (2 of 2)
Addressing LGBTQ+ youth bullying.
New rules of campuses.
Prevention efforts and accountability factor.
Changes due to new programs.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
18
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Campus Sexual Assault
Addressing LGBTQ+ youth bullying:
LGBTQ+ youth bullying in schools in 1989 was addressed by Massachusetts to improve school safety and reduce suicide rates.
Schools implemented anti-bullying programming, safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students and gay-straight alliance student groups.
There are still regions around the country where students feel unsafe at school, impacting their physical, emotional and academic development.
One in four adolescent LGBTQ-youth attempt suicide.
New rules of campuses:
Directives such as the 2011 Dear Colleague letter initiated many changes on college campuses.
This call to action, coupled by the creation of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, resulted in increased requirements for schools to both respond to current acts of harassment and sexual violence, and take steps to prevent similar acts in the future.
These new rules required campuses to establish offices to investigate any claims and to provide a dedicated staff to handle these cases.
It also involved changing the burden of proof in these cases to the “preponderance of the evidence” standard.
In 2017, the Secretary of Education under the Trump administration reversed this requirement and implemented additional changes that increased protections for those accused of sexual assault and harassment, required live hearings provided by a neutral party outside of the campus’s Title IX unit, and allowed for cross-examination of all students in 2020.
Prevention efforts and accountability factor:
One of the challenges facing colleges has been that campuses must find a way to support these new or enhanced infrastructures.
To support enhanced infrastructures, the focus is expanded from a responsive framework to one that includes prevention efforts and addition of an accountability factor.
These include requirements created by campuses for training employees, procedures for reporting cases, and processes for responding to complaints.
Campuses are required to adopt prevention curriculum for students as well as provide support systems and resources for victims.
Most campuses have options for both confidential and anonymous reporting.
Victims have the option to pursue through campus disciplinary structures and to report the case to local authorities for criminal processing.
Changes due to new programs:
Students remain unfamiliar with the available resources despite a renewed focus on education about campus resources.
Bystander education programs show positive effects in changing attitudes about sexual assault and increasing bystander effectiveness.
There is significant variation between institutions of higher education on how allegations of sexual assault are managed.
Adversarial trial-like models are used where there is a cross-examination between evidence presented and testimony provided by witnesses.
18
Statutory Rape (1 of 2)
Sexual activity prohibited by statute.
Victimless crimes.
Types of statutory rape laws.
Tennessee state law conditions.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
19
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Statutory Rape
Statutory rape: Sexual activity that is unlawful because it is prohibited by statute or code; it generally involves someone who is not of legal age to give consent.
Victimless crimes:
While statutory rape laws were initially introduced to protect adolescents from adults, in cases where there was a age difference, these laws have also been used against adolescents and their peers.
Individuals in these cases often do not define themselves as a victim but see themselves as willing participants in sexual activity.
It is the legal distinction of who can, and who cannot, consent that makes these acts a crime.
Types of statutory rape laws:
States where the age of consent is considered a minimum age and sex with anyone under that age is considered a crime.
States that define an age range between the individuals.
Tennessee state law conditions:
It considers statutory rape a criminal act if:
It involves sexual penetration;
The victim is at least 13, but younger than 18; and
The offender is at least 4 years older than the victim.
Tennessee requires that offenders under the age of 18 be tried as juveniles.
19
Statutory Rape (2 of 2)
Prosecution to reduce teen pregnancy.
Collateral consequences for offenders.
Exception: Romeo and Juliet laws.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
20
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
Statutory Rape
Prosecution to reduce teen pregnancy:
Several states have increased their prosecution of statutory rape cases in an effort to reduce teen pregnancy and the demand on welfare.
In passing The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), legislators noted a significant increase in the number of unwed teen mothers were more likely to apply for welfare benefits.
Vertical prosecution units generally yield a higher conviction rate because of likely participation of victims.
Mississippi passed a law that requires the collection of DNA from babies born to mothers under the age of 16 in case the evidence is needed in statutory rape criminal cases.
Collateral consequences for offenders:
The increased prosecution of statutory rape cases leads to collateral consequences for offenders.
The conviction of statutory rape requires that offenders to be registered as a sex offender, which can significantly limit academic standing and employment.
The minimum age of consent laws and state registry requirements doesn’t distinguish between two immature high school kids hooking up at a party and a pedophile molesting the toddler next door.
One suggestion is for states to adopt age-gap provisions to their statutory rape laws.
Exception: Romeo and Juliet laws:
Romeo and Juliet laws maintain the age-gap provision but do not include the sexual registry requirement.
In Florida, the offender can petition to have the registration requirement removed if a victim is 14 years old and consented to sexual activity with someone 4 years older.
Yet, many states do not provide exceptions for cases of same-sex statutory rape.
LGBT youth be protected in the same ways under the law, and states should work to close these gaps.
20
LGBTQ Sexual Violence (1 of 3)
Theories rooted in heterosexist ideology.
Prevalence in LGBTQ population.
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
Psychological, social challenges of lesbians.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
21
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
LGBTQ Sexual Violence
Theories rooted in heterosexist ideology:
Much of the existing research on rape and sexual violence involves a man offender and a woman victim.
Many of the theories to explain rape involve the use of violence by men to exert power and control over women.
Our laws, which in many states identify the crime of rape as the unlawful penetration of a penis into a vagina, do not allow for us to legally identify these same-sex cases as rape.
Prevalence in LGBTQ population:
Among bisexual women, 63% report a completed rape or sexual assault, and 21% report an attempted rape of sexual assault.
Two-thirds of lesbian women report sexual violence (49% completed rape/sexual assault and 20% attempted rape/sexual assault).
Racial differences in victimization are also prevalent with Latina and Asian American LGBT women experiencing higher rates of adult sexual violence compared to white women.
Lesbian women are more likely to be abused by a family member.
A significant portion of the LGBTQ population experience some form of sexual victimization.
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey:
The survey estimates that 46% of lesbian women and 75% of bisexual women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
Similar results are noted for gay men (40%) and men who identify as bisexual (47%).
Transgender women are more than two and a half times more likely to experience sexual violence compared to cis-gender women.
Trans- and cis-gender LGBTQ women are also more likely to be victimized than cis-gender LGBTQ men.
LGBTQ individuals experience sexual violence at significantly higher rates compared to heterosexual individuals.
Psychological, social challenges of lesbians:
Bisexual or lesbian women report higher levels of psychological and social challenges as a result of their victimization.
Dealing with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder was the most common psychosocial outcome for all victims, yet women who identified as bisexual or lesbian reported significantly higher levels of PTSD compared to heterosexual women.
Bisexual and lesbian women also report higher levels of problem drinking, drug abuse, and depression, compared to heterosexual women.
Black bisexual women reported higher levels of problem drinking compared to white bisexual women.
21
LGBTQ Sexual Violence (2 of 3)
Violence in transgendered community.
Underreporting among LGBTQ population.
Inclusive language in criminal statutes.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
22
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
LGBTQ Sexual Violence
Violence in transgendered community:
The National Center for Transgendered Equality notes that nearly half (47%) of all transgendered individuals are sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime.
For many transgendered individuals, violence begins at a young age with 13% of individuals reporting sexual violence in K–12 as a result of being transgendered.
Such rates are particularly high for trans women (21%) and crossdressers (18%).
Rates of violence significantly increase for individuals who engage in prostitution and other acts of sex work (72%).
Nearly one quarter (22%) of transgender women arrested for sex work and other criminal violations believed that their identity as transgender influenced the officer’s decision to make an arrest.
Transgendered men and women are significantly more likely to attempt suicide, compared to transgendered individuals who do not have a history of sexual violence.
Underreporting among LGBTQ population:
Only 23.2% of cisgender individuals and 15% of transgendered victims report their victimization to the police.
LGBTQ individuals who report same-sex sexual violence are confronted by homophobic views.
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that only 35% of people felt that they would seek out the police for help.
Unfair treatment and sexual assaults by the police in the past can prevent victims from seeking legal remedies and social services.
Many victims state that their cases are mishandled by authorities when reporting crimes to law enforcement.
Inclusive language in criminal statutes:
Federal law states that crimes against someone on the basis of their “actual or perceived gender-related characteristics.
Laws should reflect gender-neutral and inclusive language in their criminal statutes to combat homophobia and transphobia within the criminal justice system.
This could support marginalized victims feel and therefore increase reporting rates.
Police and other agents of the criminal justice system should expand training opportunities to include materials on LGBTQ+ victimization rates and trauma processing.
22
LGBTQ Sexual Violence (3 of 3)
Dispelling myths about LGBTQ experiences.
Programs need to be adapted.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
23
3.4. Discuss the different types of sexual assault victims.
LGBTQ Sexual Violence
Dispelling myths about LGBTQ experiences:
The simple act of consciousness-raising and dispelling myths about LGBTQ+ experiences with sexual assault can help improve the process for victims.
When university campus climates are more inclusive for LGBTQ+ populations, it can reduce the prevalence of sexual violence for gender-minority populations.
Programs need to be adapted:
Given the unique intersectionality between sexual identity and sexual violence, programs need to consider how programs need to be adapted to deal with these multiple marginalities.
While the recent reauthoritization of the Violence Against Women Act includes provisions for the LGBTQ community, some community service providers express a fear that offering services to the LGBT population could potentially restrict their donations from government or socially conservative individuals and organizations.
These conflicts limit the opportunities to identify same-sex sexual assault as a social problem.
23
Racial Differences in Sexual Assault (1 of 3)
Different experiences of colored women.
Two issues related to statistics.
Blaming of women of color.
Discrimination on race of perpetrator.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
24
3.5. Discuss how rates and responses to sexual violence differ by race, ethnicity, genderm and identity.
Racial Differences in Sexual Assault
Different experiences of colored women:
Compared to white women, women of color have different experiences of sexual assault.
These differences can be seen in prevalence rates, reporting behaviors, disclosure practices, help-seeking behaviors, and responses by the justice system.
Research indicates that 18% of white women, compared to 19% of Black women, 34% of American Indian/Alaska Native women, and 24% of women who identify as mixed race report a rape or sexual assault during the course of their lifetime.
Two issues related to statistics:
We already know that rape generally is underreported, so it is possible to assume that the true numbers of rape and sexual assault within different races and ethnicities may be significantly higher than these data indicate,
Given the unequal distribution of these statistics by race and ethnicity, it is reasonable to conclude that women of color are victimized at a disproportionate rate compared to their white sisters.
The experience of rape and sexual assault within communities of color is significantly understudied in the scholarly research.
Blaming of women of color:
Black women have been historically misrepresented in the understanding of sexual assault.
From early Western colonization, the sexualization of Black women was used to justify their enslavement, lack of reproductive rights, and their victimization by white men.
Women of color were dismissed by the legal system and were often blamed for tempting white men into such immoral behavior.
Black women were not viewed as legitimate victims and rarely saw their cases brought to justice.
Discrimination on race of perpetrator:
White men were rarely punished under the law, particularly in cases where the victim was a Black woman.
Black men were subjected to a discriminatory system which charged, convicted, and in many cases, sentenced them to death.
24
Racial Differences in Sexual Assault (2 of 3)
Different experiences of sexual assault.
Rape within American Indian and Alaska Native population (AIAN).
Data on Asian Americans.
Limitations on reporting the incident.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
25
3.5. Discuss how rates and responses to sexual violence differ by race, ethnicity, genderm and identity.
Racial Differences in Sexual Assault
Different experiences of sexual assault:
Black women were significantly more likely to have a weapon used against them during the attack than to white women (42% vs. 16.7%).
The intoxication of the victim and offender varied by race.
White women were more likely to be under the influence of alcohol as were their perpetrators.
The use of illicit drugs prior to the assault was more common among Black victims compared to white victims (28.7% vs. 12.5%).
There were no racial or ethnic differences in the reporting of the assault to police or of the offering or acceptance of counseling resources.
Rape within American Indian and Alaska Native population (AIAN):
Statistics by Tjaden and Thoennes highlight the extreme rates of rape within this population.
The American Indian and Alaska Native population (AIAN) is a small minority in the population.
National Crime Victimization data indicates that compared to other racial and ethnic groups, AIAN women are most likely to experience rape within an intimate partner relationship, versus stranger or acquaintance relationships.
They were more likely to have a weapon used against them and to be physically assaulted as part of the attack.
Alcohol and drugs also play a stronger role in the attacks of AIAN women.
Majority of reports come from people (family, officials, others) on behalf of the AIAN victim rather than the victim herself.
Data on Asian Americans:
Data is limited on the Asian American/Pacific Islander experience with sexual violence.
Women from these communities report lower rates of rape and sexual assault.
Women from these communities are unlikely to believe that rape can occur within a relationship.
Asian American men and women are more likely to engage in victim blaming in cases of rape and sexual assault.
Since Asian American victims are less likely to disclose their victimization, the reporting rates are low.
Many victims also fail to seek support due to feelings of shame.
It can have long-term consequences, such as increases in alcohol use as a way to cope with their victimization.
Limitations on reporting the incident:
Less than half of the women interviewed had disclosed their victimization; they did so to friends or family members within 24 hours.
Most of these women experienced incidents of victim blaming as a result of their disclosure.
As a result of historical personal and cultural experiences with law enforcement, most of these women did not seek out the police to make an official report.
Many of the Black women talked about not reporting as a cultural expectation of keeping their business to themselves.
They also mentioned not wanting to perpetuate additional racist views against members of the African American community, particularly if their assailant was also Black.
25
Racial Differences in Sexual Assault (3 of 3)
Assumption of being strong Blacks.
Limitations due to cultural expectations.
Stereotypes on hispanic/latino community.
Services from rape-crisis centers.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
26
3.5. Discuss how rates and responses to sexual violence differ by race, ethnicity, genderm and identity.
Racial Differences in Sexual Assault
Assumption of being strong Blacks:
Cultural expectations limited the help seeking for some African American victims.
These women assumed the identity of the “strong Black woman,” which restricted women from seeking out therapeutic resources.
Rather than share their victimization, which could make them appear weak, victims would not disclose their assaults.
The lack of support often led to psychological challenges for many survivors.
Finding someone that they could trust and talk to about their victimization proved to be a healing experience
Limitations due to cultural expectations:
Cultural expectations also can inhibit the official reporting practices of women within the Asian American and Pacific Islander population (AAPI).
There is a high level of distrust of public officials as well as a cultural expectation to keep personal issues in the private sphere.
Many AAPI women fail to understand the definitions of rape and sexual assault.
Concerns over immigration status and language barriers also limit victim reporting.
These same factors also affect the use of therapeutic resources because AAPIs have the lowest utilization of mental health services of any racial or ethnic people of color.
Stereotypes on hispanic/latino community:
Within the hispanic/latino community, Latina women have the highest rates of attempted sexual assault of all ethnic groups.
Stereotypes of Latina women as passionate and sexual women can lead to victim blaming by the victim herself and therefore limits the likelihood that they will report.
It is important for agencies in hispanic/latino communities to dismantle the stereotypes and attitudes that can inhibit reporting and help-seeking behaviors.
hispanic/latina women are more likely to seek out informal resources (68.9%) versus make a report to the police (32.5%).
Informal resources included seeking medical attention (34.7%) and disclosing their victimization to a parent (26.6%).
The rates of disclosure were significantly reduced if the victim had a history of childhood victimization.
Services from rape-crisis centers:
Women of color are less likely to engage in help-seeking behaviors from traditional models of assistance.
They may be hesitant to call rape-crisis centers for fear that these organizations would be unable to understand their experiences.
Many victims may be unaware that such services are available, given the potential language barriers and may turn to sympathetic leaders and women within their own communities.
To increase the accessibility of these services to women of color, services need to be culturally sensitive and address the unique considerations that women of various racial and ethnic identities face as victims of sexual assault.
26
The Role of Victims in Sexual Assault Cases (1 of 3)
Lack of clarity on rape.
Factors increasing likelihood of reporting.
Reasons for not reporting victimization.
Incarceration rates of rapists.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
27
3.6. Assess the treatment of sexual assault victims by the criminal justice system.
The Role of Victims in Sexual Assault Cases
Lack of clarity on rape:
According to a national survey of college women, 48.8% of women who were victimized did not consider the incident to be rape.
Victims may not understand the legal definition of rape.
Others may be embarrassed and not want others to know.
Some women may not want to identify their attacker as a rapist.
Factors increasing likelihood of reporting:
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 33.9% of victims of rape and sexual assault reported their victimization to the police.
Factors that increase the likelihood that a victim will report the crime to the police are injury, concern over contracting HIV, and their identification of the crime as rape.
Reasons for not reporting victimization:
Victims are less likely to report the crime if the offender is a friend or if they were intoxicated.
For college-age women, less than 5% of completed and attempted rapes were reported to the police.
Belief that the incident was not harmful or important enough to report.
Not wanting family members or others to know about the attack.
Concerned that the criminal justice system would not see the it as a serious incident or that there would be insufficient proof for crime.
Incarceration rates of rapists:
Victims who do report their crimes often do so to prevent the crime from happening to others.
Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey show that only 43% of reported rapes resulted in an arrest.
Only 37% of these cases were prosecuted.
Fewer than half (46.2%) of those prosecuted were convicted, and 76% of those convicted were sentenced to jail or prison.
Only 2.2% of all rapists are incarcerated taking unreported rapes into consideration.
Of those who reported their rape, less than half indicated that they were satisfied with the way their case was handled by the authorities.
27
The Role of Victims in Sexual Assault Cases (2 of 3)
Withdrawal of cases by victims.
Report to increase community awareness.
Hardships after disclosure.
Long-term physical and emotional needs.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
28
3.6. Assess the treatment of sexual assault victims by the criminal justice system.
The Role of Victims in Sexual Assault Cases
Withdrawal of cases by victims:
It is evident where assault experience does not reflect stereotypical notions of what rape and sexual assault look like to the average individual.
Cases where there are witnesses to the attack are also more likely to encourage victim participation in the criminal justice process, particularly in cases where the witness can corroborate a victim’s story of the assault.
Due to discouragement by the criminal justice process some withdraw their participation, particularly when victims are aware of the low conviction rates.
Report to increase community awareness:
Victims decide to report their assaults in an effort to increase community awareness and attention by the criminal justice system to crimes of sexual violence.
They also acknowledge that the small number of successes in these types of cases may mean that traditional avenues of justice may not be available to them.
Victims talk of wanting to protect future victims from their assailant, even if nothing came of their report personally.
Hardships after disclosure:
Many victims make these reports knowing that people and officials may not respond favorably or that family members may reject them, particularly where the offender is a close relative or family friend.
These are significant hardships that influence many victims to not disclose their victimization.
Some victims believed that reporting the crime helped in their survival because it validated their victimization experience.
Long-term physical and emotional needs:
Victims of rape and sexual assault have both immediate and long-term physical and emotional health needs.
Over half of the victims of sexual assault experience symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point during their lifetime.
Emotional trauma can lead to significant mental health effects, such as depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, and fear for personal safety.
Women with a history of sexual assault are more likely to attempt suicide and engage in behaviors including risky sexual behaviors with multiple partners, extreme weight loss measures, and substance abuse involving alcohol and illegal drugs.
Women who are victimized by strangers may experience anxiety and fear about their surroundings.
Women assaulted by a family member, acquaintance, or date, may experience issues with trusting people.
Limitations of community services:
They lack adequate resources to effectively combat all needs for victims of sexual assault.
Efforts in help seeking through friends, family members, community agencies, and criminal justice personnel may actually enhance the trauma.
Victims also experience lack of support, judgment, and blame by support networks.
As part of the official processing of the assault as a crime, victims experience further trauma by being forced to relive their trauma.
28
The Role of Victims in Sexual Assault Cases (3 of 3)
Limitations of community services.
Difficult to prove in court.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
29
3.6. Assess the treatment of sexual assault victims by the criminal justice system.
The Role of Victims in Sexual Assault Cases
Limitations of community services:
Rape crisis movement was developed in response to the perceived need for prevention, community awareness, and amelioration of victims’ pain.
The best community services are limited and lack adequate resources to effectively combat all needs for victims of sexual assault.
Efforts in help seeking through friends, family members, community agencies, and criminal justice personnel may actually enhance the trauma.
Victims also experience lack of support, judgment, and blame by support networks.
As part of the official processing of the assault as a crime, victims experience further trauma by being forced to relive their trauma.
Difficult to prove in court:
Cases of rape and sexual assault can be very difficult to prove in a court of law.
Convictions are rare, and many cases are plea-bargained to a lesser charge.
The acceptance of rape myths by police, prosecutors, judges, and juries limits the punishment of offenders in cases of sexual assault.
29
The Role for Restorative Justice in Sexual Violence Cases
Opportunities in criminal justice.
Core principles of restorative justice.
Efficacy of restorative justice programming.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
30
3.6. Assess the treatment of sexual assault victims by the criminal justice system.
The Role for Restorative Justice in Sexual Violence Cases
Opportunities in criminal justice:
Restorative justice is an alternative model or justice that provides increased opportunities for victims to have a voice in the criminal justice process.
These victim-centered programs also provide offender-sensitive responses to crime and its resulting trauma.
The modern-day practice for restorative justice began in the 1980’s in New Zealand.
This approach provides an opportunity for victims to describe how the crime impacted them and allows the offender to hear it.
It also can provide offenders with an opportunity to explain their behavior, take responsibility for their actions, and offer an apology to the victim.
Restorative justice is more flexible to the individual needs of the parties involved.
Core principles of restorative justice:
The process must be voluntary, and all sides should come with a commitment to healing and repair.
Statements during the process are to be kept confidential and not used against an individual in a future civil or criminal case.
RJ facilitators should have specialized training in facilitating conferences and addressing specific issues surrounding cases of sexual violence.
Restorative justice conferences require significant preparation for all parties involved.
Efficacy of restorative justice programming:
It shows promising results, particularly in cases of sexual violence.
The restorative justice process may be less likely to result in secondary victimization.
Restorative justice can reduce recidivism.
Participating in vicarious restorative justice programming can have a significant impact on both the victim as well as the offenders.
Being able to hear from a survivor provides an opportunity for perpetrators to hear about how such crimes can impact victims.
30
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Achiever Papers is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Dissertation Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, if anything is unclear, you may always chat with us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download