Gender, Crime and Justice - Essay Example

? Topic: Gender Crime and Justice The problem of attrition regarding sexual violence against women normally arises when the police deny the case and do not consider it as a crime mainly because it is a male-orientated department and prefers not to lodge complains of men involved in sexual assaults. It becomes a matter of favoritism or ego. Then the police may not refer the case further to CPS to take action upon. Or the CPS chooses not to proceed with the case or deliberately reduces charge to lesser offence if they feel that there is not enough evidence or it is not worth the money. Or the court may dismiss the case and the trial will not begin. This is unethical and the case of rape ends even before it begins. Even in such modern societies of today, women are constantly being subjected to gender inequality and injustice. Gender injustice can be described as any kind of bias or discriminating behavior done on the origin of gender, be it male or female, just like discrimination is done on the grounds of race, religion, color or creed. However, the issue of gender injustice to women is given great importance by feminists around the world, presently, as compared to male gender injustice. Many laws and regulations have been produced to protect women’s rights from human rights abuse. Crime is defined as any act contrary to law, human or divine, an offence or breach of regulation, a wrong doing, and a sin that is punishable by law. In most cases a crime is a product of free-will, the choice of an individual or group who has weighed the consequences and then committed the act. Crime can also be the result of a mental deficiency, emotional disorder or due to cultural and biological factors. 44% of drug users are said to be involved in crime. International criminals generate almost $10 billion as foundation businesses of international criminal networks. Crime can be classified into various types but what we are most concerned about the most and what we are going to deal with in this essay is a form of social crime. Social crimes include human abuse, robbery, cannibalism, kidnapping, smuggling, murder and sexual assault. Our topic of interest is all forms of sexual assaults. Rape and sexual harassment comes under this division and women are the subject of this gender crime. The reasons that accounts for committing crimes like rape and juvenile delinquency are mainly opportunity, dare-devilry, and feelings of bravado, breakdown of values, greed, peer pressures, personal motives, easy access to guns, weak or extreme hold of religion and drug/alcohol addictions. It is observed that people who live with an inferiority complex are more likely to be criminals and also those who desire for power or authority, wanting to attract attention, enjoying risks, who desires revenge or have grown up in violent atmospheres. People who get brainwashed or have no fear of accountability or being caught are also likely to be criminals [Agha: 2006]. However, the rate of women committing crimes is also increasing since the last century. Women are generally thought to be of a kind, loving and gentle nature. They are usually not assumed to be associated with crimes. But the constant race and demand for gender equality, and new face of violent women being shown on television and movie screens has led to the recognition and acceptance of women committing crimes. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report of 1996 showed that a surprising research that 93% of women were arrested for doing crime compared to only 43% of men arrested for being involved in crimes in the time span of last 10 years. These crimes included rape, prostitution and sexual assaults. Men were arrested more for murders, for which only a small number of women were responsible. Both men and women are responsible for the prevailing crime rate in a country and should be punished equally on same grounds and principles with no favoritism or biasness. Lately, a lot of evidences have been presented to proof the fact that more number of women is involved in crimes today rather than men. But it is disagreed that they are not as violent as men. Men tend to commit more violent crimes. A recent survey conducted by the UK’s National Family Violence Survey concluded that a slightly bit more number of women assault their spouses compared to men who assault their female spouses a little less. While some studies also show that the number equals when it comes to sexual assaults on partners, but men happen to give more injuries to women when assaulting. The numbers of reported sexual offence cases made by men are also fewer as they feel embarrassed to report for such a case because of their egoistic nature. We are all aware of the increasing crime rates around the world and the problems and consequences it have on an individual and society, but little action is taken to overcome it. The problem of attrition still remains high. The laws and legislation must be equally strict for all criminals to give rise to a fair justice system in a society. There must be proper trial and legal process to confront such issues. More and more cases of rape are reported yearly but attrition remains problem. Myths and theories also exist and a big justice gap prevails [Coleman: 2007]. Sexual assault includes various forms of sexual offences like sexual harassment or being pressured to have sex against the will of the woman. Domestic violence as well as threats of violence all comes under this category. Obscene and disturbing phone calls, coercive sex, flashing, rape, incest and molestation can all be reported as forms of sexual assaults. A woman subjected to any kind of these crimes must not hesitate in reporting the discrimination to authentic departments of law. Rape is defined as any physical, visual, verbal or sexual act that is experienced by the woman or girl at the time or later as a threat invasion or assault that has the effect of hurting her or degrading her and to take away her ability to control intimate contact [Kelly 1989:41]. In UK, it was estimated that about 47,000 adult women are raped each year [Kelly, Lovett & Regan: 2005]. What is more astonishing is that in 85% or rape cases that get recorded every year, the victim knows who the suspect is, but again not much action is taken against it. It is also believed that 75 to 95% of rapes never get reported to the police. Mainly women are more subject to the crime of rape and whatever little number of cases that got reported in the UK police in 2008-2009, 12,129 victims were women while 964 were men. There are of course certain criteria and laws that define and differentiate between abusive and non-abusive behavior. According to the Sexual Offence Act of 2003, a person (X) does an offence if he deliberately penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (Y) with his penis, a part of his body or with something else (assault by penetration) and touches a person sexually on purpose (sexual assault) and Y does not approve to the penetration and that X does not realistically believe that Y approves of this forced behaviour. Although, violence does not come under this definition as it has much wider meanings. The Sexual Offence Act of 2003 was a revamp of the rape law since SOA 1956. The law was reviewed and revised with more reasonable allowance like considering oral rape as sexual assault crime and specific punishments for rapists of children. Much of the case is dependent on the consent of the victim or complainant. It must be made sure that victim had his consent in the rape and there must be authentic evidence to support the view. Otherwise it leads to investigations and interrogation on part of the offender on the reasonable steps that he took if the consent of the victim was involved. The case of rape must be analyzed in detail keeping all aspects in mind rather than just the sexual violence of men and helpless cry of the victim. There could be many causes and consequences involved. Who knows the victim herself was involved in the crime and she could have various purposes in mind for doing so. Maybe she did it to take revenge of some sort old rivalry between the two and wanted to punish him by law. She might have simply seduced him to blackmail and take favors from him later on. Either of the two could be so drunk, or unconscious to be aware of what is happening and could have led them to do such a criminal act. So what I mean to say is that the victim-survivors and their interactions cannot be judged without proper investigation of the matter so that the curtain over the myth of rape shall be raised and denuded to all. Most common type of rape is stranger rape which is the real rape done using physical violence or force. Then sometimes, the victims ask for it meaning that they could also have possibly avoided it by any kind of self-defense act like shouting or fighting back but did not do so. This is called victim precipitation or contributory negligence. Victim participation in rape occurs when victims secretly enjoy the feeling of getting raped. It becomes a sex fantasy for them and they continue to be raped like this without being bothered or offended by it. Other myths that are attached to rape are as follows. The offenders defend themselves by saying rape is not a crime and what they do is not rape in the first place but simply ‘bad sex’. Meaning a sexual intercourse that just got a little wild or violent than the victim might have expected due to whatever circumstances. They also believe that male sexuality is ‘naturally’ uncontrollable and leads them to doing unacceptable actions without the consent of others but they must not be blamed for this as they are helpless in front of their so called uncontrollable hormone tendency. It is argued that 3% of women rape victims lie and report false allegation. Women lie for reasons and sometimes, for no reason at all. It is quite known that in sex cases, omen also tend to imagine many things which has not really happened. These unfair accusations and false allegations also prevail in rape cases just like in other crimes [Kelly: 2005]. Such false allegations can be easily mistaken as being taken in for truth as women are typically considered to be pure and innocent as compared to men, who are generally thought to be corrupt and impure. Feminists argue and support the view that rape of women is an action of male gender power. It is an act of physical violence and not just sexual desire. Not all men who rape girls are psychopaths and mentally disturbed but these men are like normal people like the rest of us. Majority of rapist men are from amongst us only and many of these men are well known to the women who get abused by them. They just want to satisfy their sexual desires by any possible way that they get their hands on. This is simply unfair, unjust and unacceptable. They cannot justify their frustration by raping innocent people on streets when they don’t have a lawful way of doing it. And in majority of cases they do have lawful means like spouses at home with whom they are allowed to satisfy their worldly pleasures but still look for sinful ways of doing it. Most religions simply do not permit of it. Prostitution is a completely different matter and should not be used to justify the sexual crime of rape. According to the Amnesty International UK (2005), there are some other situations where women can be held responsible for getting raped, be it wholly or partially. Those women who are flirtatious tend to get raped often accounting for 34% of rape cases recorded. 26% of rapes happen to those women who wear sexy or revealing clothes. This makes them appear seductive whether done purposely or not, can only be known to the woman doing it. And 30% of women are drunk who get raped having no consciousness of the matter and later realize the harm that has been done. These types of women are present in all societies and cultures [DeKeseredy; 2007]. Now we will look into the problem of the legal system, the trial process, attrition and the justice gap of laws that are not neutral and objective. Once the rape case has been reported, the legal process begins at the police station that takes the matter in their hands and is officially allowed to investigate and take decisions. The CPS has the decision to prosecute and the trial begins not knowing how long it will last. The department of police is known for its culture of skepticism and tends to consider all almost all allegations as false, initially. When the rape trial begins, judge, defense, jury, lawyers and complainant are all present at the scene. In addition to forensic, the trial normally focuses on discrediting the complainant or victim and giving credibility to the offender. Many of the rape victims especially women, feel their reputation is put on trial and privacy is invaded as they are asked personal questions by the police and also in the court regarding their sexual and living practices, sexual partners, menstrual cycle, the underwear they were wearing at the time of rape, any previous case of abortion and drugs. All this makes them feel embarrassed and lower their self-confidence. In fact they must show resistance and stand by their lodge of complain. They must not feel shy in showing physical injuries as signs of evidences and give clear recount of the scenario. They must also try to cover any signs of hysteria or emotional distress and look respectable. Although the department of police has undergone many positive and significant changes for the better, but the negative cultural mindset of officials is still present. They must remove the feelings of gender based inequalities and favoritism and keep their ego issues aside, to give rise to a just and fair judicial system. They must on all costs improve their investigation and service and take more interest in sexual assault cases. The police must concentrate on their particular role of finding the culprit, taking him to the court and providing security to victims and not waste their time and skills in trying to do other tasks such as counseling them as it is not their job. The police must make fair judgments without any biased attitude and avoid disorderly conduct. In our country, the police and government institutions are corrupt and unfair. In majority of rape cases the police are involved, and as these institutions are male-oriented, they prefer not to take any actions against it. There are worst forms of sexual violence experienced by female prisoners in prisons. They are abused, gang-raped and harassed by police officials. Moreover, the high frustration levels of prisoners lead them into crimes of sexual assaults with one another and the take a sense of pride in it. We have seen how only a small number of sexual offence cases get to the criminal justice system and they have to face many obstacles in between. Only a few of these cases result in charge, prosecution or conviction. This slow process of attrition becomes a problem. There have been policy changes and reforms in the procedure to help these cases to proceed further. There have been much research and awareness done on sexual assault which makes it difficult to measure the extent of sexual assault. The statistics of sexual violence cases is obtained from police reports, crime victimization surveys or more personally targeted investigations or surveys. They can provide limited data as there is under-reporting of such cases, which again leads to inaccurate results and attrition. The police are mainly responsible for attrition but there are also some prosecutors who contribute to it. It is clear that the number of assault cases has been increasing in the past years but there seems to be an unequal rate of conviction. The number of guilty defendants in such cases are also low than in any other offence case. Similarly, the rate of assault cases entering the judicial system is also low than any other crime cases. Limited availability of statistics leads to haphazard conclusions but of course authentic figures and rates prove to be useful to carry out investigations, prosecution and trial stages. Following are such facts and figures which supports this view. Victorian study of 2000-2003 evidently showed that with more than 60% of sexual assault investigations, the police did not purposely proceed further. In only 15% of cases the offenders were charged or punished. New South Wales research showed that only 28% sexual assault and molestation cases on children reported to the police were cleared in six months [Fitzgerald: 2006]. The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) concluded that, less than one in six reports to police of rape, and less than one in seven reports of incest, carried on to prosecution in rape cases from 1997-1999. A research study by the VLRC in 2004 showed that, even if a sexual offence gets reported and the offender gets prosecuted, guilty pleas and conviction rates are less than of other crimes. With the lack of interest of government officials and police intervention, there has been an ever increasing problem of attrition and this will not be overcome unless there is a significant change in the policies to provide legal sanction against perpetrators of sexual violence. The attrition rates for sexual violence in Australia and UK are reaching as high as 90% [Carrington: 1997; Chambers and Miller: 1987; Lees: 1997]. In the year1996, people who reported for rape cases and required justice, two third of those did not result in any charges to the offenders. And whatever cases that entered the court, caused an acquittal for the accused. In the same year 2802 cases were reported in the NSW and only 289 persons were claimed guilty [NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 1997a, 1997b]. The proposition of increasingly high attrition rates is that sex criminals can expect a good enough level of impunity. Other than that most victims or those abused can expect to be unprotected. This sad dilemma has led to the need of basic prevention so that the positive and negative impacts of past can be looked upon and such mistakes cannot be reported in the future. The political goals and policies must be revised and new strategies must be developed to understand violence against women [Carmody and Carrington: 2000]. It is very important to provide primary prevention against sexual violence because the problem of this crime is that it is difficult to detect or punish by police. The public must be made aware through education programmes in institutions. Regal reforms must be established and practiced upon. Specialized courts must be established. There is completely inadequacy in investigation and prosecution in sexual violence cases apparently leading to high attrition and low conviction rates. The police usually report a rape case as ‘no crime’ report, meaning the crime does not even get reported in the statistics terming them as false allegations. National experts claim that high attrition and low conviction rates occur due to a gap in between the law on books and law in practice. This can be because of limited expertise of professionals, police inefficiency, stereotyping based on gender and under-reporting of rape cases as it being a private problems becomes a barrier in between. I personally believe that laws and policies are not the problem of attrition but the lack of proper implementation is. There have been shocking cases from police forces in terms of their service and accountability. They hardly look into the matter and victims have to struggle to get their concerns heard. There must be improvement in the data collection of sexual offence reports. If there is more comprehensive statistics obtained on attrition rates and results of such cases then problems of attrition can be identified and monitored in a much better way. The way sexual assault cases are dealt in criminal justice system will also improve considerably. The state and NGO’s working for human rights should play an important part to urge the policy makers in making reasonable policies and develop evidence-based strategies that react to, and eventually decrease the incidences of rape. The Commission must also insist on the view to collect relevant data through a consistent methodology and also stress upon the need to identify reasons for attrition. Last but the least, we as normal civilians must care about preventing sexual offences as it does not only harm the victim or offender involved but, is detrimental for the society as a whole. Sexual assault is social problem, a global health crisis and a worldwide plague and just an individual problem that affects the victim and their closed ones. One out of five women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes around the world. So, one might come across a sexually assaulted woman at some place or the other. It is a sad fact that sexual violence occurs everywhere, in all societies, cultures and religions. Women from the age of 15-44 are at more risk of rape and sexual violence than from major epidemics like cancer or malaria. The most common forms of human right abuses have become sexual violence against women around the world. Sexual crime is a destructive crime and can have long-term physical, psychological, social, and financial consequences. A woman’s self-esteem and self-worth are damaged, not contributing productively to the society. She may suffer from physical and mental impairments all her life. It is a human rights abuse and requires protection from such cruel or inhuman treatment. Sexual violence is mostly done on the basis of gender biasness and a clear sign of gender inequality. The least prosecuted crime of all offences has become the crime of sexual violence. It can be termed as a form of pervasive terrorism, as the violent nature of it instills fear in people. Sexual violence must be ended and controlled before it is too late. It is possible by respecting people and engaging in only lawful sexual activities. Rape must not be the answer to any kind of sexual desires. 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