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A Research on Sexual Assault
Research on Sexual Assault
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Proposed Research Topic: Sexual molestation and abuse against minors damages the undeveloped body of the victims and their undeveloped mind causing life-long suffering to the unfortunate victims.Introduction
There are categories of crime that affect the community as well as their victims such as rape, sexual assault, and other sex related crimes. In the very way we lead our lives and raise our children, the impact of sexual crime, rape and assault can be seen. This is because these crimes affect our overall sense of safety. The media today is full of constant baggage of violence and sex. For someone to have the trend of what is going on, he only needs to read the newspapers or watch TV. The coverage on sexual assault and crimes can become saturated particularly when the crime is high profile in nature and the offender or victim well known in the community. It becomes even worse if there are multiple victims of sexual assault, and the crimes being committed by serial offenders operating within a particular jurisdiction. It however important to understand that the problems of sexual assault and rape are far much worse than the fear they bring to many and the terrible nature of the crimes themselves. It is the community reaction coupled with the crime itself victim’s stereotypes and many myths which make investigations on these crimes so difficult and prosecute. This is because many people live in denial of the occurrence of these crimes in the society, at times the people involved are well known and respectable figures in the society. Another problem that arises is the general understanding of the term “sexual crime” bringing in a general stereotypical understanding of sex crime. When we think of sex, we think pleasure, warmth, love, emotions and many more of the kind. Prople on the other hand perceive that crime is associated with violence, anger, devastation, and fear and it is associated with theft, burglary, murder and the like.
Definitions
Looking at sexual assault in legal terms, it is a statutory offence in various jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Scotland, Wales, and England and its definition determined by each jurisdiction. There are jurisdictions that use highly technical or detailed definitions of the term sexual assault. Generally, sexual assault refers to any involuntary sexual act where someone is physically forced or coerced to take part or engage against their consent or will. It may also involve non-consensual touching of a person. It includes rape, groping, forced kissing, child sexual abuse and torturing a person in a sexual manner.
It is very important to carry out sexual assault research because statistics carry significant power of persuasion. These researches provide accessible and instant way of grasping the extent as well as nature of social issues. It is worth noting that ant statistical data has a complex methodological history that reflects how it should be used. This research helps in determining barriers to disclosure, low rate of reporting to the police, varying definitions of sexual assault and abuse, the effects of sexual assault to the victims and the factors leading to sexual assault.
To the victims of sexual assault this research seek to educate them on possible ways dealing sexual assault crimes and the steps that should be taken when one has been faces with such an assault. This research encourages sexual assault victims to always make reports to the relevant authorities and also helps educate them on how to live with it.
Thesis Statement
The personal intimate nature of sexual assault and violence has made it very difficult to detect despite being widespread across many societies. Children, relatives, friends and neighbors should be trained to identify and report incidences of sexual assaults and violence if ways of controlling this crime are to be developed and the crime controlled effectively. On the other hand this violence cannot be categorized as personal crime since the victims always suffer from depression, stress, poor health among others. Alcohol and increased use of drugs leads to increase of sexual violence and assault especially in the collage going group. Though there are many proposals of innovative methods of dealing with sexual assault in the US, this problem still persist. Sexual assault makes the sufferer feel rejected, less productive and isolated.
Background
In the past sexual violence was considered to be something only happening to the women during war and peace times especially in the ancient Greek in the 20th century. This contributed to negligence of all indicators of the methods, aims and magnitude of the violence was. It started being considered a minor issue and became criminalized towards the end of the 20th century, with a wider concentration and focus on the victims. There are so many myths about sexual violence and assault. These myths continue to perpetuate in today’s society because they have been socially accepted. Many of these myths have put blame on the victims of sexual assault and minimized the responsibility of the offender. The seriousness of the offence has also been neglected by these myths leading to the victims of sexual assault left feeling isolated and neglected. With this condition, they feel ashamed and have no support to begin the healing process. It is very important to understand these myths on sexual assault as they help in support and treatment of the victims. In order to reach our goal of ending sexual violence, we should dispel these myths surrounding sexual offense and hold the offenders accountable. Some of these myths are: the belief that sexual assault won’t happen to me or to anyone I know; the belief that sexual assault is provoked by the victim’s behavior or by the way they dress; the belief that most sexual assaults occur between strangers; the belief that sexual assault only occur in the dark; the belief that men cannot be sexually assaulted; the belief that most sexual assault occur because of uncontrollable impulsive act; the belief that people who commit such acts are mentally ill; the belief that those that do not fight back have not been sexually assaulted.
Discussions
There have been no or few hard data on sexual assault and violence in the hands of the law enforcement and policy makers to base the responses of sexual violence and assault until of recent. The national Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) has captured a wider range of information and data on the cases on sexual assault that have been reported to law enforcement. There have been two researches extracted from 1991 with the aid of 1991 NIBRS files that has summarized the data collected from 60991 victims of sexual assault and another summarizing the information on 57752 people believed to be the offenders. From the information collected, 67% of the assaults are against juvenile victims and these juvenile victims are more likely to be male. Out of 6 cases of sexual assaults on juvenile victims, 5 occurred in the residents. On the other hand crimes on adults were likely to occur anywhere. Out of the total number of cases in this research 60 % of the offenders were adults offending the underage of 12 years and below and most of the offenders were well known to the victims. According to the research assault on children of age 6 and below are likely to go unreported or the offenders released,( Snyder, 2000)
Though widely condemned, sexual abuses on children have been more prevalent than realized previously and the offenders do not admit to have committed the assaults. In such a situation only the child’s testimony can be the evidence. Children are believed that they cannot participate in such legal proceedings without trauma, and also since they are not adults. This is according to the members of the criminal-justice system. There are barriers effective to successful completin of assault cases against children. Such barriers include the ability of a child not to speak and give the actual scenario, children not able to participate in legal proceedings on the grounds of not being as credible as adults. Organizations such as the Children Aid Society of Ottawa can help bring a case on children sexual assault against the offender. The CAS workers can investigate the allegations based on the information provided to them by the parents of the children. The worker as part of the investigation may involve the police and other authorities to protect the children Berliner (Berliner, 2010).
For the past 20 years or so, different researchers have brought forward reports indicating widespread problem of rape in the American social setup. Many researchers have concluded that nearly one out of four women is raped in their life time. This causes long term health problems and physical distress among women. According to many researches, the assault impacts go far much than the victims. Also affected are their families and friend and also even neighbors. Another group that is also affected is those who help the assault victims like the advocates, therapists and researchers who may experience vicarious trauma. Methods should be developed to prevent sexual assault and focus put on improving community response.(Campbell, 2005)
There have been arguments from some feminists that myths on sexual assaults constrain the reporting of these assaults to the authorities. It is true that myths have been widely accepted by different societies and they play a big role in preventing report to the police. There are many myths that come up with sexual assaults. Some of these myths are: the belief that sexual assault won’t happen to me or to anyone I know; the belief that sexual assault is provoked by the victim’s behavior or by the way they dress; the belief that most sexual assaults occur between strangers; the belief that sexual assault only occur in the dark; the belief that men cannot be sexually assaulted; the belief that most sexual assault occur because of uncontrollable impulsive act; the belief that people who commit such acts are mentally ill; the belief that those that do not fight back have not been sexually assaulted. With the analysis of 186 sexual assault cases at the hospital based sexual assault care in 1994 with the aid of logical regression, a positive association was identified between reporting of these assaults to the authorities and overtly violent components of real rape myth, occurrence of physical injuries and use of physical force. (Mont Du Janice, 2003)
There are sexual assault prevention programs offered by North American Universities that focuses on attitude change. According to these programs, the most effective sexual prevention technique is self-defense training however not considered as an integral component of typical prevention program (Söchting, 2004).
In spite of the fact that the criminal equity framework has experienced change to dispose of sexual assault case steady loss and to enhance the general treatment of rape exploited people, few studies have analyzed the impact of these changes. In this study, the creators look at prosecutorial charging choices over two remarkable purviews: Kansas City, Missouri, which uses a particular unit for rape cases, and Miami, Florida, which does not utilize a specific unit to focus the impact of prosecutorial specialization on case results. The discoveries of the study uncover that, regardless of contrasts in departmental arrangements and rates of supplication dealing and trials, prosecutors’ charging choices and the indicators of charging are comparable in the two locales. The creators reason that, paying little heed to whether choices are made in a specific unit or not, victimized person validity is a genuine “central concern” of the prosecutor in rape cases (Beichner, 2005).
According to the Rennison Marie’s study on the assault cases reported to the police between 1992-2000, on the victims that were injured and treated from completed rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. The research indicates that of all rape, 39 % of attempted rapes and 17% of assaults against females led to injuries. The reports were most likely to be done by the victims. 45 % of injured female victims reported attempted rape as compared to 22 % injured of unreported attempts received medical care (Rennison Marie, 2002).
Meta-examinations of the adequacy of school rape training projects on seven result measure classifications were directed utilizing 69 studies that included 102 treatment mediations and 18,172 members. Five of the result classifications had critical normal impact sizes (i.e., assault demeanor, assault related disposition, assault learning, behavioral aim, and occurrence of rape), while the result regions of assault sympathy and assault mindfulness practices did not have normal impact sizes that contrasted from zero. A critical finding of this study is that more drawn out mediations are more successful than concise intercessions in changing both assault state of mind and assault related mentality. Mediator investigations likewise recommend that the substance of programming, kind of moderator, sex of the group of onlookers, and sort of gathering of people may additionally be connected with more prominent project adequacy. Suggestions for exploration and practice are examined (Anderson,2005).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it has been very difficult to measure the actual and true extent of sexual violence against women. This is because most of the cases of assault go unreported. Approximately 36 per cent of female sexual assault victims usually go unreported to the authorities. Only 19 percent of the sexual assault victims report to the police. The main factors behind the hidden figure of sexual assault are disclosure and issues of prevalence. The most sexual assault victims are female and most assaults occur at home and it is a crime that is on the rise, growing steadily in the US though many studies indicate small decrease in the number of sexual assaults and rape cases in the US.References
Anderson, L. A., &Whiston, S. C. (2005). SEXUAL ASSAULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A META‐ANALYTIC EXAMINATION OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29(4), 374-388.
Beichner, D., &Spohn, C. (2005). Prosecutorial charging decisions in sexual assault cases: Examining the impact of a specialized prosecution unit. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 16(4), 461-498.
Berliner Lucy &Barbieri Kay Mary. (14 APR 2010). The Testimony of the Child Victim of Sexual Assault.Social Issues (40)2, 125-137.
Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. M. (2005).Understanding rape and sexual assault 20 years of progress and future directions.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(1), 127-131.
Mont Du Janice, Miller Lee- Karen &Myhr L. Terri. (April 2003). The Role of “Real Rape” and “Real Victim” Stereotypes in the Police Reporting Practices of Sexually Assaulted Women.Violence Against Women, 466-486.Rennison Marie Callie PH.D. (August 2002). Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention. 1-4
Söchting, I., Fairbrother, N., & Koch, W. J. (2004).Sexual Assault of Women Prevention Efforts and Risk Factors.Violence Against Women, 10(1), 73-93.
Snyder, Howard N. (2000-07-00). Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics. A NIBRS Statistical Report. 1-22
Bird by Maya Angelou
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The Theme of Oppression in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
Published in 1983, Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird describes two opposing experiences of two birds: one bird suffers in captivity while another bird is free to live as it pleases. To cope with the circumstances, the caged birds result in singing, indicating freedom. The author employs the metaphor of two birds to paint a picture of oppression that showcases the simultaneous suffering of the birds. Particularly, the poem portrays the experiences of African American communities in society. This text explores the dominant theme of oppression as `depicted in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou.
The first demonstration of freedom is in the comparison and contrast between the free bird and the bird being held prisoner. Part of the reason behind the justification is that it passes across the message of oppression. The poet uses the term caged bird throughout the text and narrates it is trapped in a narrow cage. The bird has limited mobility and is left with no option apart from singing about freedom (Saputri, 78). Worth noting, the term “caged bird” represents an extended metaphor particularly for the African American community past characterized by systemic oppression in the United States. The poem also portrays the oppression experiences of the African American community. The term ‘caged bird” captures the overwhelming cruelty and agony of oppression of the marginalized group by speaking to the bird’s emotional suffering.
The author, Maya Angelou, employs the metaphor of the caged bird to not only show oppression but also show how physical and emotional limitations affect oppressed people. In line 10 of the poem, the speaker notes that the caged bird could barely see through the bars (Zaini and Mohsin 13). At first, it seems as if the poem will proceed to talk about how the cage stands in the way of the bird’s sight. However, the poem proceeds to talk about the bars that hold the bird captive as bars of rage. The bird is a prisoner and there exist physical bars insight which the bird rarely sees. The reason is that the bird is blinded by rage. Through showing the limits that are imposed by the bars and the emotional effect of those limits, the author makes it clear that anger and the environment cannot be separated from each other. The oppression in the cage is not enough to keep the bird captive because captivity transforms the bird robbing itself of its very self.
The poem’s main point in showcasing the bird singing is to highlight sadness that comes with the oppression. Historically, most people that defended slavery and other forms of oppression among people of color argue that song and dance was part of the black culture. It was an indication that people of color were contented and happy with their oppression situation. The notion that such music might have been an expression of emotional and cultural was ignored. The poem however disputes that the music was a symbol of contentment. On the contrary, the poem does not concede to the racist and convenient interpretation of black songs by their white oppressors. Rather, it insists that anguish forced upon African-American communities must be acknowledged.
In closing, oppression is the main dominant theme in Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird. The speaker uses this the metaphor of the caged bird to push the theme. Unlike the free bird, the caged bird has never tasted freedom and there is nothing that his spirit yearns for more. Maya Angelou insists that music was a symbol of emotional confinement and it is important to acknowledge the oppressions that African-American communities have gone through in the past.
Works Cited
Saputri, Gisa Maya. “Racism towards African American community as reflected in Maya angelou’si know why the caged bird sings: black aesthetic criticism.” rubikon: Journal of Transnational American Studies 8.2 (2021): 78-90.
Zaini, Qudsia, and Mohsin Hasan Khan. “Maya Angelou’s Battle with Alienation in I know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies 5.1 (2021).
Looking For Leroy
Looking For Leroy
Introduction
Issues pertaining to racism and racial stereotypes have always made a popular topic in the contemporary human society. Indeed, it goes without saying that racism is embedded in the United States fabric especially considering its history with slave trade. As much as slave trade may have been abolished more than a hundred years ago, the stereotypes that were created at that time as pertaining to the characteristics, physical attributes and mental aptitudes of individuals on the basis of the color of their skin are yet to be completely eliminated (Tatum 13). Needless to say, individuals of African origin or rather African Americans have been on the receiving end of these stereotypes. There have been misconceptions as to the fact that they have considerably low mental aptitudes and are significantly more emotional than their white counterparts. This, undoubtedly, has had a bearing on the treatment that they receive in the workplaces, their economic situations, earning potential and even the manner in which the criminal justice systems treat them (Tatum 15). Even more demeaning are the stereotypes pertaining to their body structures and what they would mean. Indeed, the society has come up with perceptions as to what a perfect body structure for African Americans entails. In essence, any individual whose body structure does not adhere to these stereotypes would have certain misconceptions formed about him. These misconceptions may revolve around the individual’s sexuality, his nature, temperament, intellectual aptitudes, as well as whether they are criminals or not. This is the topic around which Mark Anthony Neal’s book named “Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities” is centered.
This book makes for an engaging, as well as a provocative analysis pertaining to the complicated manner in which black masculinity has persistently been read and misread by the American popular culture in the contemporary human society. Neal underlines the fact or notion that black boys and men are, in a profound way bound by and to their legibility. The term legible, in this case, would be used to underline undesirable bodies or bodies whose structure would trigger a negative image. In this case, “legible” black male bodies would, in many instances, be rendered as criminal, or rather bodies that are in need of containment, as well as constant policing. Neal, in an ironical twist, argues that this type of legibility comes as a desirable relief to the white America as it offers easily identifiable images pertaining to black men in an era that is characterized by shifts in gendered, sexual, as well as racial identities. Indeed, Neal underlines the far-reaching likelihood pertaining to rendering legible black male bodies, or rather bodies that appear too real to the larger majority of the contemporary human society, as illegible, while, at the same time rendering the illegible black male bodies, the type or side of black masculinity that many would find it difficult to believe are real, as legible.
While varied factors may have played a role in the proliferation and the continued existence of these stereotypes, it is evident that the largest part of the blame would go to the media. Indeed, Neal Notes that there exists a troubling connection between the manner in which the media portrays black males and their lowered opportunities in life. There exist distorted or imprecise portrayal patterns, as well as causal links between the manner in which the media portrays black males and the attitude of the public towards them. Indeed, black males are underrepresented in the corporate media, and in instances where they appear, their positive associations are relegated to the periphery while their negative connotations are amplified in a manner that shapes public imaginations that result in increased antagonism towards African American males especially with the belief that they have violent and criminal inclinations.
In the examination of the role of the media in reinforcing disintegrating these stereotypes, Neal undertakes the analysis of the movie “The Wire” and especially the Bell character in the movie as played by Idris Elba. While there exists many movies that depict black men, “The Wire” distinguishes itself in the fact that it explicitly suggests that the dominant social, economic and political constructs that the contemporary human society has held onto are no viable any more (Neal 88). In fact, this may be the reason as to why the movie performed dismally, as the brilliance that Bell (portrayed by Elba) exudes, criminally or otherwise, is rarely related with characters of black origin on cable television or even network. Indeed, the movie drew its biggest fans from individuals that identified with the characters in question, as well as its critics.
One of the characters that challenge the notions that have been created by the mainstream media is Omar. Neal notes that the movie’s production team went against the grain in coming up with a character whose hypermasculinity and homosexuality is firmly established thereby allowing him to emerge as the ground for numerous projections (Neal 93). He is marked as having a queer identity especially considering the connection across the unfixable and unfixing social and political positioning against “heteronormativity”. Neal acknowledges that the character presses the boundaries pertaining to the portrayal of black masculinity on television (Neal 93). His brilliance especially in court is bound to raffle feathers especially with regard to the mental aptitude of black men. Indeed, this may be portrayed by the fact that he offers some help in the waiting room to a white court officer who is trying to fill a crossword puzzle and gives the correct answer to the question on the Greek god of war. This is definitely bound to ruffle feathers as it may be indicative of the fact that black people have equal if not higher intelligence levels or mental aptitudes than their white counterparts (Neal 94).
In addition, the movie’s depiction of Bell is a challenge to the commonly held conventions. As much as Bell is functioning in the drug world under Barksdale, he comes with a corporate demeanor that is yet to be accepted in the minds of a large number of people in the contemporary human society. He is evidently intelligent, skilled and disciplined, something that is far from the conceptions that are held pertaining to black men. Indeed, the fact that he undertook a business course creates the notion that he has a worldview that cannot be contained by the corners controlled by Barksdale’s empire. Of particular note is the manner in which his capabilities are brought out after the incarceration of Barksdale. The manner in which he takes over the drugs trade gives him the capacity to create an aura of independence in his operations, which safeguards the capacity of the business to grow within a short time. In a dispute where he is admonishing employees who do not seem to be concerned about their jobs, Bell exudes confidence as he applies some theories that he was taught in the business school to create an impression as to how their ineptitude would hurt customers and the business at large in the long-term (Tatum 45). This underlines the fact that black people have the capacity to profitably run businesses just as their white counterparts, as well as grasp economic and academic concepts and apply them in their businesses to safeguard their profitability. His flexibility is underlined by the fact that he has different magnitudes of social and cultural capital that allows him to function and transition rather effortlessly in different spaces (Neal 101). These are all things that may not be expected of black people.
In conclusion, racism and stereotypes have been controversial topics. Blacks, unfortunately have been on the receiving end of these stereotypes, thanks to their root in slavery. These stereotypes are used to determine the mental aptitudes of individuals, with Mathew Neal stating that the bodies of black male may be used to characterize them in line with their sexuality, intelligence or even criminal nature. However, the book undertakes an analysis of varied movies that have challenged these stereotypes that are primarily propagated by the media. Of particular note are the characters in the movie “The Wire” whose mental aptitudes seems to challenge that of their white counterparts. Omar assists a white officer in filling a crossword puzzle, thereby challenging stereotypes on their intelligence. In addition, he comes off as brilliant in the manner in which he presents evidence in court. The managerial skills and business acumen of Bell challenges these stereotypes especially considering the profitability he drives in the company.
Works cited
Neal, Mark A. Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities. , 2013. Print.
Tatum, Beverly D. “why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations About Race. New York: Basic Books, 2003. Print.