Is the Concept of Sex as Crime Important - Case Study Example

Is the concept of ‘sex as crime’ important? Focus on a critical analysis of rape and domestic violence to explain your argument Introduction Theform of criminal behaviour in countries worldwide tends to be differentiated in accordance with the local ethics and culture, the conditions of living and the support of the state. There are however criminal activities that prevent similarities worldwide – no matter the social, educational or racial background of the perpetrator; domestic violence and rape are such criminal activities which are punished by the law in all countries globally; however, the effectiveness of the relevant legislative framework has been strongly criticized. On the other hand, local authorities are likely to fail to control the development of the specific crimes probably because they focus on other criminal actions – like homicide, burglary and so on – that are considered to be more important – if taking into account the rate of their development in both urban and rural areas. Current paper focuses on the examination of the various aspects of sex as crime; two specific aspects of this concept are examined: domestic violence and rape. Through various studies it has been proved that both domestic violence and rape are under the close monitoring of police and legislative bodies in countries worldwide; however, because of the nature of the specific concept, the identification of the criminal aspects of sex can be a challenging task; communities in most countries have developed relevant schemes for the protection of victims. However, perpetrators usually manage to escape the punishment for their crimes – especially due to the lack of evidence for the existence of the crime but also because of the lack of willingness of victims to report the specific crimes. It should be noticed at this point that rape within the context of marriage is quite difficult to be proved; only when physical assault against a woman has been co-developed with race, the latter can be proved and punished by the courts. The identification and the evaluation of the aspects of sex as crime have led to a critical assumption: the measures taken by the governments for the limitation of criminal activities may be well structured and fully justified; however, if there are no appropriate mechanisms for the enforcement of these measures then the development of these activities is likely to be continued. Domestic violence and rape are indicative examples of the above case; both these criminal activities – especially the second one – are difficult to be identified and punished; the treatment of perpetrators but also of the victims – who are treated – quite commonly - as perpetrators also - by the local authorities and the courts usually leads victims to avoid reporting the specific crimes (Brownmiller, 1975) – a phenomenon common in the past decades but also in present. Appropriate adjustments should be made on existing legal framework – in all countries worldwide – in order for victims of these criminal activities to be effectively protected by the state. 2. Sex as crime – critical analysis of rape and domestic violence The characterization of specific human activities as crimes is based on specific criteria. Most commonly human actions that cause damages on humans or objects are considered to be criminal – always in accordance with the relevant terms of law. Sex can be a crime when one of the participants is enforced to take part – at least this is a general aspect of sex as a crime. The above explanation can have certain implications: within the context of a marriage the will of a person to participate in the specific activity is not easy to be identified; most commonly, the identification of this lack of will is achieved through the simultaneous identification of physical abuse against the specific person (Kelly et al., 2005). Another issue that commonly appears when the evaluation of criminal aspects of sex is required is that sex under certain circumstances can be obligatory – within the context of marriage where sex is considered to be a necessary part of the couple’s life (Stanko, 1990). However, even in this case, sex can be a crime when there is the clear opposition of one of the spouses, almost always of the woman – an opposition that is usually proved through the physical abuse against the woman who denies participating. When there is no marriage, then there is no obligation for sex and the punishment of the abuser is easier – however, because of the lack of sufficient legislative texts on the specific issue the handling of the particular cases can be difficult. The willingness of the victim to report the relevant actions is usually not strong enough; perpetrators in the criminal actions of domestic violence and rape are usually not punished – a fact that has led to the increase of other crimes; at a next level, the violations against women can become critical leading even to their murder. The development of domestic violence and rape within modern states has been related with the appearance and the expansion of social inequalities. Indeed, in the study of Sokoloff et al. (2005) it is noted that ‘race, class, gender and sexual orientation can be used in order to understand the experiences and contexts of domestic violence for marginalized women in U.S. society’ (Sokoloff et al., 2005, 38). The above study refers to a specific social context; USA is a well developed country – the increase of criminal activity in the specific country could be thought to be under control taking into consideration the measures of protection taken (CCTV Systems, death penalty and so on); it seems that governments in developed countries – like the USA – have not identified – at least not yet – the methods by which they could control the development of criminal behavious in their territory. On the other hand, it is supported by Mears (2003) that in the area of crime control ‘progress has been made, and practitioners and policy makers increasingly have a wide range of promising interventions from which to select’ (Mears, 2003, 127). However, it is not made clear whether there is a specific sector on which the above view applies. More specifically, the rates of criminal behaviour worldwide present a trend for continuous increase; it seems there is no effective method for controlling criminal activity worldwide no matter the level of technology or skills employed. On the contrary, it seems that as the technology in all industrial sectors is developed, the criminal activity is being increased; more precisely, the rate of development of criminal activity is increased while the forms of this activity are being differentiated – the identification of criminals is becoming more difficult. The effects of punishment in the case of rape and domestic violence need to be carefully explored; in the literature it has been proved that wherever the perpetrator of rape or domestic violence is punished, the continuation of the specific crime is likely to be limited – at least for a specific period of time. The above issue is highlighted in the study of Ventura et al. (2005) where it is supported that ‘convictions reduce the likelihood of domestic violence recidivism; conviction remains significant when the batterers’histories of domestic violence charges and other background variables are introduced’ (Ventura et al., 2005, 255). In other words, it is quite important that the perpetrators of rape and domestic violence are identified and punished; even the specific effort seems to be pointless in the long term its effects are significant. It should be noticed at this point that domestic violence and rape can occur both against the women and the men; women are most likely to suffer from the specific criminal activities; however, men also can be victims of the above crimes. For this reason, the relation between these crimes and the female gender cannot be exclusive – a claim of the feminist unions around the world. In the study of Murray et al. (2009) it is noted that ‘far from simply adopting feminist gendered understandings of domestic violence, however, the development of contemporary policy responses to this issue has been influenced by a number of competing discourses about the problem, its causes, and possible solutions’ (Murray et al., 2009, 532). Even if within the social context, domestic violence and rape are related with women – the measures taken by the state regarding the limitation of the specific criminal activity refer both to women and men. From a different perspective, no influence of the racial, the educational or the social background of the victim on the development of the specific crimes seems to exist. People of all backgrounds are likely to become victims of domestic violence and rape under specific terms and conditions. In accordance with the study of Grossman et al. (2007, 1029) ‘domestic violence occurs across all ethnic and racial groups, profoundly affecting women, who are most frequently the victims’. Despite the fact that the education or the financial status of the victim is not important for the appearance of the specific crimes, there are other aspects, like the gender that seem to have a critical role in the development of domestic violence and rape. As noticed above, gender has been found to be related with domestic violence and rape; indeed, the majority of victims seem to be women. The specific fact is proved in most studies related with the specific field. An indicative example is the study of Lavis et al. (2005) who noticed that ‘medical model of care and its discursive practices position women as individually accountable for domestic violence-related symptoms and injuries’ (Lavis et al., 2005, 441). The findings of the above study have led to the assumption that women are more likely to face domestic violence and rape mostly because of their physical structure. The role of each one of the above criteria on the identification of the rate of expansion of domestic violence and rape within a specific country cannot be standard. It depends each time on the social ethics and beliefs, the responses of justice and the authorities towards similar activities but also on the percentage of the relevant convictions. Various other characteristics of perpetrators and victims related with the specific crimes have been identified in the literature. An indicative example is the study of Collins et al. (2008) where it is revealed that there is a ‘consensus among service providers on how controllable domestic violence factors are and whether they are most characteristic of victims or perpetrators, but diversity with regard to their understandings of the importance of the factors’ (Collins et al., 2008, 362). Similar assumptions are made in the study of Bridges (2008). More specifically, it is noted that there are no differentiations among states that have strict rules against domestic violence and rape and those where the relevant legislative texts are limited. In fact, it is proved that ‘state laws on domestic violence are not related to intimate partner and family homicide rates by state, or the average of the two homicide rates; significant inverse correlations were found between family homicide and intimate partner homicide rates’(Bridges, 2008, 117). It has been made clear above that family related crimes are usually differentiated from those crimes developed outside the family context; this differentiation is not identified on the type of the crime committed but rather on the effects of this crime on the victim as well as on the difficulty in identifying the conditions of the crime and the persons that are involved. The measures taken by states for the limitation of phenomena of domestic violence and rape need to be appropriately updated so that to reflect the current social conditions; the development of technology needs to be taken into consideration when planning the relevant schemes; advanced technological systems could help towards the identification of perpetrators in cases of domestic violence and rape – referring especially in those cases that there is not the necessary cooperation of the victim towards the punishment of the perpetrator. Towards this direction, in the research made by Miller (2003) it is revealed that ‘arrest affected the probability of reoccurring domestic violence; suspect arrest and the victims perceptions of legal power were related to perceptions of safety following police intervention’ (Miller, 2003, 695). The fair punishment of the perpetrator could lead to the limitation of the specific crimes – at least in states where the power of legislative and police authorities is significant. 3. Conclusion The limitation of domestic violence and rape within modern societies is a challenging task; the development of these crimes has been found to be irrelevant with the victim’s educational or social characteristics or with the level of the average living conditions of the particular society. Indeed, the above crimes can appear in all around the world – even if their expansion can be extremely rapid in countries where there is no sufficient monitoring of criminal activities by the police authorities – like in the case of countries where political and military conflicts prohibit the application of fair rules and practices. In the field of empirical research and the literature – see the studies presented above – it has been proved that domestic violence and rape are closely monitored by the legislative and police bodies in modern states; their work is quite important for the limitation of these crimes. However, in some cases, the measures taken are not sufficient – at least if taking into consideration the expansion of these crimes across a specific region. In the research conducted by Lonsway in 2006 regarding the readiness of police forces to effectively support the victims of these crimes it was revealed that ‘a national sample of 78 large police agencies was surveyed, and 23 agencies (29%) indicated that they had such a specific policy; however, a number of factors suggests that this estimate is probably artificially high’ (Lonsway, 2006, 397). Towards a similar direction, it is supported by Kasturirangan (2008, 1465) that ‘programs designed to address domestic violence often name empowerment of women as a major program goal; however, programs do not necessarily define what empowerment for survivors of domestic violence entails’ (Kasturirangan, 2008, 1465). Against, the issue of effectiveness of the measures taken for the limitation of domestic violence and rape appears. Appropriate cooperation needs to be developed between the legislative and the police authorities in each state ensuring that the perpetrators of these crimes are punished – it is necessary however, that incentives are given to victims in order to report these crimes. In accordance with the above, sex as a crime can be an important concept reflecting the power or the weakness of local judicial authorities to communicate with people in the local community. References A. Books Kelly, L. Lovett, J. and Regan, L. (2005) A Gap or a Chasm: Attrition in Reported Rape Cases? London: Home Office Brownmiller, S. (1975) Against Our will: Men, Women and Rape Harmondsworth: Penguin Stanko, E. (1990) Everyday violence: how women and men experience sexual and physical danger Pandora B. Journals Bridges, F. (2008) Domestic Violence Statutes and Rates of Intimate Partner and Family Homicide. Criminal Justice Policy Review, Vol. 19, No. 1, 117-130 Collins, C., Dressler, W. (2008) Cultural Consensus and Cultural Diversity - A Mixed Methods Investigation of Human Service Providers Models of Domestic Violence. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, Vol. 2, No. 4, 362-387 Grossman, S., Lundy, M. (2007) Domestic Violence Across Race and Ethnicity - Implications for Social Work Practice and Policy. Violence Against Women, Vol. 13, No. 10, 1029-1052 Kasturirangan, A. (2008) Empowerment and Programs Designed to Address Domestic Violence. Violence Against Women, Vol. 14, No. 12, 1465-1475 Lavis, V., Horrocks, C., Kelly, N. (2005) Domestic Violence and Health Care: Opening Pandora’s Box - Challenges and Dilemmas. Feminism & Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 4, 441-460 Lonsway, K. (2006) Policies on Police Officer Domestic Violence: Prevalence and Specific Provisions Within Large Police Agencies. Police Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 4, 397-422 Miller, J. (2003) An Arresting Experiment - Domestic Violence Victim Experiences and Perceptions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 18, No. 7, 695-716 Murray, S., Powell, A. (2009) "Whats the Problem?"- Australian Public Policy Constructions of Domestic and Family Violence. Violence Against Women, Vol. 15, No. 5, 532-552 Sokoloff, N., Dupont, I. (2005) Domestic Violence at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender - Challenges and Contributions to Understanding Violence Against Marginalized Women in Diverse Communities. Violence Against Women, Vol. 11, No. 1, 38-64 Stover, C., Rainey, A., Berkman, M., Marans, S. (2008) Factors Associated With Engagement in a Police-Advocacy Home-Visit Intervention to Prevent Domestic Violence. Violence Against Women, Vol. 14, No. 12, 1430-1450 Trujillo, M., Ross, S. (2008) Police Response to Domestic Violence - Making Decisions About Risk and Risk Management. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 23, No. 4, 454-473 Ventura, L., Davis, G. (2005) Domestic Violence - Court Case Conviction and Recidivism. Violence Against Women, Vol. 11, No. 2, 255-277 Read More