Sexual Crimes Committed Under the Influence: Analytical Essay

• What is Rape?

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability or is below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.

Consent or lack thereof, is one of the main elements of the crime of rape. Statutory rape is committed even when a minor under the age of consent willingly engages in a sexual act with the adult, because the minor is unable to legally give consent. An intellectually disabled person is also legally incapable of giving consent to sex. In the context of other types of rape, whether or not there was consent to sexual penetration will be derived by the facts particular to each case.

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Many rapes happen when there are drugs and alcohol involved. Whether a victim was heavily under the influence of drugs or alcohol can also have an effect in whether or not the victim consented to the sexual penetration. Date rape drugs, drugs that are used by some individuals to sedate a victim in order to have sex with them, are odorless and tasteless, usually mixed with alcohol, and can render a person unable to prevent a sexual assault. Date rape drugs can also cause a person to fall unconscious. However, just because the individual did nothing to stop the sexual act does not mean that they consented to it. Further, sexual penetration with someone who is unconscious or asleep is virtually always deemed a rape, as there is no way for the individual to give their consent to the act.

• Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale

A series of six studies were conducted to explore the structure underlying rape myths and to develop the 45-item Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA). In the first study, 604 participants (average age 18.8 years, 53% women) rated their level of agreement with 95 pretested rape myth statements. Exploratory and confirmatory multivariate analyses revealed a structure consisting of both a general myth component and seven subcomponents. This structure was replicated in a second study using a new sample and paired comparisons methodology. Study 3 details the development procedures for the IRMA and presents statistics demonstrating its good psychometric properties. Finally, Studies 4-6 support the construct validity of the IRMA. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, measurement, future research, and intervention.

• Majority of People Says That the Rape Happens Because Of Dressing Style of Women?

Really, can what a woman wear lead to rape or is this just a myth? Let me share the conclusions of some research I found. I will be including links so that if you choose you may read the entire research. Let me start by pointing out that most of the research I found can be categorized (I’m sorry but the word is here again) in two: rape by strangers, which in my article I referred to as sociopathic rape and date rape which I called opportunistic rape. This is what Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Andrea Parrot’s contributes to this issue from her book, “Coping with Date Rape and Acquaintance Rape”: Unlike stranger rape, most acquaintance rape is not premeditated for the purpose of doing violence to a woman and degrading her acquaintance rape is premeditated or planned sex and ends as aggression only if the victim does not comply with the rapist’s demands. Her views are supported by this study shows that “the majority of the sexual attacks (55-61%) committed by these men were premeditated across their first, middle, and last rapes, while fewer rapists reported their crimes as being impulsive (15-22%) or opportunistic (22-24%).”

• What Are The Reason of Rape?

A different rapist commit rape for different reasons, and any one rapist may rape for different reasons at different times . Thus, no one theory can explain all rapes. However, many cultural factors seem to contribute to rape.

Commonly held myths such as these contribute to date and marital rape:

• A man must have sex to prove his masculinity;
• When women say no to sex, they really mean yes, so men should ignore women's refusals;
• If a woman engages in kissing or petting, she is obligated to engage in sexual intercourse;
• What goes on between a husband and a wife is no one else's business; andThe man should be head of the household.

These are dangerous myths that can lead to rape.

Traditional gender roles prescribing female submission and male dominance are linked to rape. In Australia, Germany, and Japan, rates of violent sexual offenses were related to national levels of dominant masculinity (Neapolitan 1997). Studies in several countries have suggested that rigid gender roles and promotion of an ideology of male toughness are related to violence against women.

Characteristics of the culture and gender role socialization, however, do not explain why most men do not rape, why some women rape men, or why rape occurs in gay and lesbian relationships in which both people have experienced similar gender role socialization. Individual differences are also important.

Some people hold beliefs justifying rape more strongly than others. Men who rape tend to believe more strongly in myths about rape, and they are more likely to engage in fantasies about coercive sex. Compared with other men, rapists drink more heavily, begin having sexual experiences earlier, and are more likely to have been physically or sexually abused as children.Women Mostly Uses False Rape Accusations.Let’s start with the idea that false rape accusations ruin lives, and are therefore a universal risk to men. Generally, feminists dismiss this idea by arguing that false accusations are rare only between 2% and 10% of all reports are estimated to be false. What’s equally important to know, however, in false rape accusations almost never have serious consequences.

This may be hard to believe, especially considering that rape is a felony, punishable with years of prison. However, to start with this worst-case situation it’s exceedingly rare for a false rape allegation to end in prison time. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, since records began in 1989, in the US there are only 52 cases where men convicted of sexual assault were exonerated because it turned out they were falsely accused. By way of comparison, in the same period, there are 790 cases in which people were exonerated for murder.

In every academic study, one of the most common kinds of false accuser is a teenage girl who tells her parents she was raped to avoid getting in trouble. Unwanted pregnancy is sometimes cited by such girls, but the reason can also be trivial; the phrase “missed curfew” shows up with disturbing frequency in these cases. As a rule, it’s the parents who insist on getting police involved. Two different studies have found that almost half of all false rape complaints are lodged by someone other than the alleged victim, usually a parent.

Another kind of case which evaporates rapidly is that of a person who falsely reports a rape in the hope of getting needed medical care or psychiatric medication; in one study, six of the 55 reports classified as false by a police department in one year fit this description. Like the teens that missed their curfew, these false accusers have no interest in pursuing charges after the lie has served its purpose.

• Preventive Measures.

No action or inaction by a crime survivor makes that person responsible for his or her victimization. Perpetrators are responsible for crimes and their effects. The following suggestions may help reduce the possibility of experiencing a crime, or may improve opportunities to receive prompt assistance.

• Rape and sexual assault are never the fault of the survivor. It is the behavior of the perpetrator that is wrong.
• 80% of sexual assault and rapes are perpetrated by someone known to the survivor, and on college campuses 90% of survivors know their attacker.
• Sexual assault and rape can happen to people in all contexts, including marriage, dating relationships, friendships, child-parent interactions, employer-attendant relationships and stranger interactions.
• Date rape drugs are extremely potent drugs that are used to make victims unaware of sexual attacks. When under the influence of date rape drugs, the victim will be unable to fight off an attack and generally have no idea that they have been drugged. Often the details of the attack will also be quite fuzzy, making it difficult to catch criminals that use them.If a friend starts to exhibit symptoms of a date rape drug, seek medical help immediately. Signs to look for include: dizziness and /or nausea, memory loss, breathing or motion difficulties, and acting disproportionately intoxicated relative to the amount of alcohol consumed.Date rape drugs can be a small pill, liquid or powder. It completely dissolves in any liquid, so it is easy to slip into an unattended drink. Once administered and the victim has completely succumbed to the effects of the drug, the victim is defenseless against unwanted advances.Get verbal consent from your partner. Consent at its most basic level means everyone involved wants to participate. Consent Cannot be Given If someone is under the influence of alcohol or other drugs If someone is passed out, unconscious, asleep, or coming in or out of consciousness Under direct or implied threat of bodily harm or other forms of coercion

If any party is under 18 years of age If someone has a physical, developmental or mental disability that impairs their ability to understand the actConsent at its most basic level means everyone involved wants to participate. Consent cannot be given if someone is under the influence of alcohol or other drugs; if someone is passed out, unconscious, asleep, or coming in or out of consciousness; under direct or implied threat of bodily harm or other forms of coercion; or if any party is under 18 years of age.Always seek consent. Don't assume you know what the other person wants. Stop your sexual advances if the other person indicates no interest or if they say 'no'. Engaging in any type of sexual activity without the explicit consent of your partner is sexual assault. If either party is under the influence of alcohol, consent cannot be given.

• Conclusion

Sexual crimes involve complex dynamics that call for detail-oriented investigations and statutory analyses. Rape offenders often employ unique, manipulative, and murky methods in order to victimize. Victim behaviors and responses to rape and sexual assault crimes are often counterintuitive to what laypersons and others without field expertise expect. Unfortunately, experts in sex crimes and offender and victim behavior are rarely sought out for collaboration with legal professionals or legislators regarding the development of legislation and protocols. Although some jurisdictions’ laws have evolved to incorporate our ever-¬‐expanding knowledge of rape and sexual assault and offender behaviors, in other jurisdictions, the laws remain sadly outdated in either language or content. The disconnect between the law and reality can play a crucial role in individual victims’ perception of whether or not they were victims of a crime and whether they believe they will receive some measure of justice in the legal system. As a result, the ability to develop questions that will most accurately and successfully reveal a victim’s experience will be invaluable to understanding the incidence and prevalence of rape and sexual assault. It will also play an important role in helping allied criminal justice professionals improve their understanding of rape and sexual assault, their responses to reports of such crimes and their ability to stop serial predators.