According to Merriam Webster statutory rape is the crime of having sex with someone who is younger than an age that is specified by law. Depending on the state the ages vary. The sex could be forcible or not forced. As many know it is considered rape if sexual intercourse is within a four year age difference. However, people may not realize that it is illegal for a seventeen year old and an eighteen year old to have sex under statutory rape laws. Even though the two people are only a year apart it is still considered rape if brought into court. “In the 1970s and 1980s most states adopted rape shield laws designed to limit the extent to which defendants in rape trials could introduce evidence related to the victim 's sexual history.” ( Call, …show more content…
“Recent studies indicate that at least half of all babies born to minor women are fathered by adult men.” (Can Statutory Rape Laws Be Effective in Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy?) The article also includes that these pregnant adolescents could be the cause to the increase in welfare, resulting in the conclusion that if states enforce statutory rape laws. “The concerns of statutory rape are within young adolescents. However small proportions of 13-14-year-olds have had intercourse, the ones who become sexually active at an early age are especially likely to have experienced coercive or forced sex. Seventy-four percent of women who had intercourse before age 14 and 60% of those who had sex before age 15 report having had a forced sexual experience. As the public has become increasingly aware that the sexual partners of minor adolescent women are men ranging from 3-6 year older, concern has grown within society forcing policymakers to increase the enforcement of statutory rape laws to protect these girls.” (Can Statutory Rape Laws Be Effective in Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy?) This portrays that all states should have enforcements on statutory rape laws because it is making an increase in welfare causing more and more people to be broke. Welfare is increasing because all of these young pregnant girls cannot support their children on their own so they seek …show more content…
On the other hand, many other things come into role with enforcing this law. Within the court it is often difficult to determine whether the adolescent is truly a victim or not according to Catherine Elton. She states young girls can also be very manipulative and most likely appear older looking to someone who is 20 years old. (Catherine Elton) Also states that Orange County, California social service worker suggested a 13 year old marry her 20 year old boyfriend. California’s way of enforcing the law is trying to find ways to help or benefit these female victim’s lives rather than punish them in any way. Although, these men who seem to be the defendant are often the ones punished because they lose their significant other sometimes and often have to register as a sexual offender. Another reason why statutory rape laws must be standardized within the states is because the sexes are not being treated equal. It’s often viewed as the girl is the good guy and the man is in the wrong. Also because these adolescents are losing the consent of their parents when these social workers are telling the young people to marry the elder person they had a relationship with. They think by recommending this it is going to solve the adolescent’s skipping school and possible drug issues. Even though enforcement is concerning to
It is typically thought that sex offenders are the type of individual that needs to be tried in our courts and then sentenced because there is really no hope for an individual that harms the most innocent of our society. But there just may be an exception to this way of thinking. Juveniles who at one point themselves may have been victims, and as they have grown into adolescence not knowing why they are thinking the way they are, turn around and abuse others. Then what happens is that these adolescents once found out, are then tried in our courts as adults because in the mind of the court they are committing an adult crime. But there are alternatives for these juveniles that are being placed in our court system. Because at this stage in their development they are more receptive to treatment options and there are treatments available with valid research to substantiate them. Our judicial system just needs to recognize these options in order to try to lessen the amount of trauma inflicted on these already potentially traumatized individuals.
Sexual assault and rape on college campuses is a serious public issue. Before applying to these accredited institutions most students do not look up the school 's past records of sexual assault and rape on their campus.College campuses have failed to keep students safe the system they use has failed to protect and obtain justice for those that have been victims of sexual assault. Society plays a huge part in how young adults view sexual assault. From young age girls are told “if he’s bothering you it 's because he likes you”, and boys aren 't held accountable for their actions because “boys will be boys”. At what time does it stop being a game. At what age is it not acceptable for boys to mistreat girls, when is the line drawn and, what is the punishment for when this line is crossed.
Statutory rape laws and child marriage laws greatly clash. According to Cocca, “of all brides in 1970, 13% were under 18; in 1980, 8.2%, and in 1990 3.7%. Of all grooms 1970 2.1 were under 18; in 1980 1.3% and in 1990 0.6” (Cocca, 2004). Yes over time the percentage of adults and minors getting married has dwindled, but it was not right to go along with in the first place. In some states...
90 percent of the victims of sexual assault are women and 10 percent are men, and nearly 99 percent of offenders in single-victim assaults are men (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2010). According to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault, Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. () Sexual Assault can happen to anyone, not just women it can happen to men and kids as well. Sexual Assault these days are a big trouble and it is not being addressed in good order, and it is
Sexual Assault on College Campus Cause and Effect Essay In general, rape means force or threatening to use force against a potential victim. It includes vaginal but doesn’t exclude other forms such as, anal and oral penetration. Rape tends to get grouped with women, but, there are also men who get victimized as well. It’s not limited to heterosexuals either, there’s also homosexual offenders (“Sexual Assault”).
...sequently arrested and charged with unlawful sex .At the trial, the judge was disparaging of the girl’s position, describing her as ‘a willing participant’ at 12 years of age, ignoring the fact that if the defendant had committed the offence after May 2003 when the new Sexual Offences Act came into force, he would be liable for an immediate charge of raping a child under 13.The defendant was given a two-year conditional discharge, was made to sign the Sex Offenders Register and escaped prison. This case study is evidential that young girls are much more aware of their sexuality and their consent. Many young girls participate in weekend socialising, drinking and using drugs with men, who consequently believe these girls are at the legal age of consenting in both sexual intercourse and drinking alcohol, only when do these young girls go too far is when rape is cried.
It is very troubling to hear that 1 in 5 women in University will be victims of sexual assault, and even more so that less than 60% of cases get reported. The purpose of my paper is to put emphasis on how important it is that more people be informed about rape culture, but to also explain how men are just as important in working towards prevention as are women.
At the 2016 Academy Awards, Lady Gaga took the stage for her performance of “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground – a documentary highlighting the nature of rape and sexual assault on college campuses in the United States. This powerful performance featured dozens of sexual assault survivors joined hand-in-hand, and was introduced by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who brought light to his previously launched campaign against sexual assault called It’s On Us. The aforementioned celebrity engagements are only a piece of the larger conversation about rape and sexual assault on college campuses that has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Whereas this discussion has brought significant attention to the issue of these crimes
When someone who is eighteen years or older has sexual intercourse with a minor it is considered rape regardless to if the sex is consensual or not. In most cases, but not all, the male is the adult and the female is the minor. In different places, the law varies. For instance, in some counties, if the difference in age is not at least five years, the court will not even bring the case to trial. But all of the laws everywhere are bias towards men. There is even a saying that says “sixteen will get you twenty.” “Sixteen” is the age of the girl, and “twenty” represents the amount of years a man would be sentenced to serve in jail if he was to have sexual intercourse with her.
Many teenagers engage in sexual activities. Teenagers also drink and do drugs. When most teenagers go to college they go to parties, and there is drinking and sex everywhere. Sometimes at the parties there is non-consensual sex. Non-consensual sex is a horrible thing that happens to a lot of females, and sometimes men. Non-consensual sex is the same thing as rape. Getting raped is a traumatic even that causes a great deal of stress in many ways, and is also hard to convict the rapist.
Rape is one of the most intimate crimes in the world. According to nolo.com legal encyclopedia rape in nonconsensual sexual intercourse that is forced upon someone that is not wanted. Statutory rape is when a person disregards the under 18 consent law and forcefully has sex with them. According to ular.edu there are many different types of rape such as anger, power, sadistic, stranger, acquaintance, and martial rapes. These different groups show that rape can happen to anyone at any time.
A question among researchers is what type of force is required to constitute sexual assault. Does non-physical sexual coercion count as sexual assault? Russell (1982) found that women described sexual coercion as different than sexual assault, showing that there is a major distinction in their minds of these types of sexual violence. Thus, her research team distinguished between use of physical force and non-physical coercion, even to the point of determining which actions constitute physical force. Their criteria for use of force included “such acts as pushing, pinning, and being held down by a husband’s weight so that the woman couldn’t move,” (p. 48). In chapter five of their seminal work License to Rape (1985), Finkellhor & Yllo present
What is sexual assault? Sexual assault is, “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape” (Sexual Assault).
...young girls from sexually abused relationships. According to one study stated in Taking Sides (Issue 17), “seventy-four percent of women who had intercourse before age fourteen and sixty percent of women who had sex before fifteen report having had a forced sexual experience.“ Another hope is that with statutory rape laws, society will decrease the teen pregnancy rate and the number of young families who are fatherless.
Believe it or not, one in three women have experienced being raped at a party while being intoxicated or unconscious. Because of the recent events involving sexual assault all over the world, many conversations and controversies have come to light, showing a disturbing lack of clarity about the topic of consent. Sexual assault is when someone is coerced into a sexual act or forced. Consent is when someone basically gives you permission or they agree to do something with you, in this case they agree to have sexual intercourse with you. But, if someone were to give you consent while they are intoxicated then that is actually not consent. With so many people not knowing what consent is or how to clarify it, a group of young people, ages 18 and