The issue of situational relativity is recognized within the article ‘No capacity to consent, judge rules in sex assault case’. The article discusses how a young woman was sexually assaulted, and how it is difficult to prove to a court that an assault took place. The article points to how the context of a given situation makes for a more difficult case to prosecute on the grounds of ethical and criminal behaviour. It is argued throughout the article that Mr. Tariq, the accused in this case, crossed the ethical line but given the elusive concept, it is an insurmountable task to come to a consensus and prosecute on legal ground due to situational relativism. Within the subjectivist approach, deviance is seen as relative, and there are four types
Since the second wave of feminism in the 1960’s women have demanded for equality rights. The R V. Ewanchuck case created many disagreement’s with feminists on the topic of rape myths. It has not only been seen as a precedent for the criminal law but as well an eye opener for the society to create awareness for this act. Since society continues to support most rape myths, it overlooks the act itself and puts the blame and responsibility on the victim as opposed to the perpetrator. This has created a rape culture within society. The term rape culture was created to demonstrate the ways in which victims were blamed for sexual assault, and how male sexual violence was normalized. Feminists are exploring the world of rape myths in Canadian law
Gender is predominating in the criminal justice system and sexual assault exemplifies the contrast found between the traditional and non-traditional justice systems employed over time. Sexual assault poses a social threat to all aspects of community, spreading insecurity in 43400 victims across Australia and 13300 victims in NSW alone as indicated in the recent Australian Bureau of Statistics Crime Victimisation Report. (ABS 2011, p. 40) There has also been an increase of sexual assault by 51% since 1995 with an average of 4% every year. (ABS 2010) Another major issue within the boundaries of sexual assault is that it holds one...
To appear as a witness in a criminal trial has been described as a terrifying, intimidating, difficult and stressful ordeal. It is not an easy experience for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses when the issue of giving evidence about the incident they were involved in is in question. This is because while the witnesses are giving evidence in court they are most likely to re-live the incident and the pain they suffered, and psychologically, this is very damaging. There are a range of measures enshrined in statute to protect victims of sexual offences in court, although these are now interpreted in light of Article 6 of the Human Rights Act, which provides the defendant with a right to a fair trial. Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA) restricts the circumstances in which evidence or questions about the sexual behaviour of a complainant outside the circumstances of the alleged offence can be introduced. Moreover, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 introduced a range of measures that can be used to facilitate the gathering and giving of evidence by vulnerable and intimidated witnesses which are collectively known as "Special Measures". Nevertheless, the cross-examination of vulnerable and intimidated witnesses is a significant issue, as Andrew Norfolk, chief investigative reporter of The Times has underlined in his articles.
According to RAINN, (2009) approximately 10 per cent of all victims of sexual assault and abuse are adult and juvenile males. In terms of the nature of assault, real figures include a compendium of reported incidents ranging from unwanted sexual touching to forced penetration. To qualify this statement, it must be understood that the percentage does not reflect a vast number of crimes that go unreported due to issues that will be discussed in the present paper.
This essay will examine Susan Estrich’s and Lois Pineau’s discussion on rape. Both contribute insights on our society’s negligence when it comes to the protection and justice for women. Estrich provides a peak into the legal system on how it determines rape. We will see that the law is shaped in a way that continues to oppress women and leave them unprotected. Pineau furthers the conversation on placing responsibility on the victim to prove the crime. She narrows her focus on date rape and raises an objection to the model of consent that shapes our culture’s attitude and our country’s law. Pineau proposes a communicative model of sex. From this proposal, I will conclude my essay with an objection of her model and will ultimately defend her model against such an objection.
When the victim does not fit the ideal victim attributes which society has familiarised themselves with, it can cause complications and confusion. Experts have noticed there is already a significant presence of victim blaming, especially for cases involving both genders. The fear of being blamed and rejected by the public is prominent in all victims. Victim blaming proclaims the victim also played a role in the crime by allowing the crime to occur through their actions (Kilmartin and Allison, 2017, p.21). Agarin (2014, p.173) underlines the problem of victim blaming is due to the mass of social problems and misconceptions within society. The offender can have “an edge in court of public opinion” if victim blaming exists, resulting in the prevention of the case accomplishing an effective deduction in court (Humphries, 2009, p.27). Thus, victims will become more reluctant to report offences because of their decrease in trust in the police and criminal justice system, leading to the dark figure of
Statutory rape laws are valuable in protecting the rights of minors. Possibly, if the laws were revamped to suit the changing attitudes’ of modern society, the law would be more effective. In place of worrying about the misinterpreted claims of statutory rape, prosecutors can focus on the more crucial cases. With more defined modern guidelines, society would be aware of the laws regarding statutory rape and some more pleased. Statutory rape laws are no longer used to prohibit teenagers from having sex. Instead, the regulations are to make certain that the teenagers who are having sexual intercourse are not unknowingly being emotionally forced into it by their significantly older partner’s power. Ideally, statutory rape laws can only improved the lives of teenagers.
Am I a relativist or an objectivist? Well, to be an objectivist, that means I believe that what is right and wrong is decided on what kind of act was committed and what the consequences would be to it. To be a relativist, that means I believe what is right or wrong is decided on what I think of the act committed. After thinking about that, I’ve decided that I am, for sure, a relativist. I understand that people believe in different things and I accept those people from believing in things differently than I do, like Pojman says. I also have my own set of morals, but I am interested to learn about other people’s morals and being accepting of that also. I believe that if someone were to be an objectivist, they aren’t accepting of this concept of people being different and having different ethics and morals, and that’s where there are many issues and arguments. They believe that everyone should believe in the same ethics or morals as they do and are not accepting to the idea of people having different ethics or morals as they do. There are many reasons why I am a relativist and where I think morals come.
The subjective definition of recklessness is where the defendant takes an unjustified risk and was actually aware of the consequence, has been seen here to be the best approach when understanding reckless behaviour. Although within criminal law, the term recklessness has a second definition which is known to be objective recklessness. The objective definition argues that a person is reckless when the defendants take an unjustified risk and was actually aware or should have been aware. This essay establishes that the subjective definition of recklessness takes into account the individuals characteristics, the mental state of a defendant but also help to understand certain cases like rape. It has also been established here that elements of the objective definition is an extension from the subjective definition of recklessness, which therefore allows the subjective side holds greater weight and in terms of looking at if the reasonable man may have be incapable of foreseeing a consequence. Thus, it has been argued here that the subjective definition of recklessness in criminal law must be maintained.
Metaphysics can be defined as an attempt to comprehend the basic characteristics of reality. It is in fact so basic that it is all inclusive, whether something is observable or not. It answers questions of what things must be like in order to exist and how to differentiate from things that seem real but are not. A common thought is that reality is defined as what we can detect from our five senses. This type of philosophy is called empiricism, which is the idea that all knowledge comes from our senses. An empiricist must therefore believe that what we can see, touch, taste, smell, and hear must be real and that if we can not in fact see, touch, taste, smell, or hear something, it is definitely not real. However, this is a problem because there are things that are real that cannot be detected by our senses. Feelings and thoughts can not be detected, so according to a true empiricist, they must not be real. Another example that is listed in the textbook is the laws of gravity (Stewart 84). This is something that is in fact proven and we can see the effects of it, but we can not see gravity itself. Once again, this would not be considered to be “real.” However, there are certain things that some people consider to be real, and others consider them not to be. This typically comes into play when discussing religion. Some people consider God to be real although they can not “sense” Him and others say that He is not real, possibly because of the fact that they can no...
In the article “Sexual Violence is a Crime, Sometimes”, the author is Maya Mikdashi who is well known for writing about gender and sectarian issues occurring in Lebanon. The author addresses a very touching and interesting topic, sexual violence, which should be everyone’s because anyone, no matter what is his or her gender, could be subjected to sexual violence. Marital rape has been a very prevalent issue in Lebanon, and the civil law exempts the husband who attempts marital rape. Although marriage grants both partners rights to each other’s bodies, this doesn’t mean that the man has the right to sexually abuse his wife without being punished.
In this essay, I will describe the elements of a criminal act, address the law of factual impossibility, the law of legal impossibility, and distinguish whether the alleged crime in the scenario is a complete but imperfect attempt or an incomplete attempt. I will address the ethical or moralistic concerns associated with allowing a criminal defendant to avoid criminal responsibility by successfully asserting a legal defense such as impossibility. The court was clearly wrong to dismiss the charge against Jack of attempted murder of Bert.
Rape is such a difficult crime to prove because it usually comes down to the victim’s word against the perpetrator’s word. In the United States, anyone who is charged with a crime is innocent until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In order to prove that the crime did indeed happen, a victim is usually humiliated and she is forced to re-live the h...
“Rape and Sexual Violence Are Serious Problems.” Opposing Viewpoints in Context. 2008. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Victims who were under the influence may feel as though their report won’t be validated since they chose to go out and chose to get drunk. Judge Lindsay Kushner made the claim that, “yes, you can drink yourself daft and you can use your body how you want, but if you do you are more likely to get raped.” But what must be noted is that the victim did not choose to get raped and the intent of rape ultimately lies with the perpetrator. This point of view emphasizes the traditional ideology of gender roles in sexual assault cases when women are the