Sexual Abuse of Women in the US and Saudi Arabia - Coursework Example

Sexual Abuse of Women in the US and Saudi Arabia Introduction Sexual abuse is a term that is used to label any act intended to coerce or pressure a person into performing any sexual act that they are not willing to do. It encompasses all acts of misdemeanours concerning all ages and gender. Sexual abuse may consist of acts of minimal force that may be frequent over a long time or immediate exertion of force over a small period of time on rare occasions which describes an act of sexual assault. The scope for a discussion of sexual abuse is extensive; however, this paper focuses on sexual against women alone and seeks to provide a comparison on the reactions that sexually abused women receive in two different countries namely the US and Saudi Arabia. Sexual abuse results in both physical and emotional trauma to the victim not being able to just turn the page on the matter. The manner in which society acts in the incident determines the path the victim’s life will take after the trauma. The key determiner of the reaction is the culture of the society. Different societies posses different cultures that have meant that they react differently to different scenarios. This has seen different societies adopt different mitigation reactions to sexual abuse on women. Specifically, a review of the reactions in the US and Saudi Arabia reveals a stark difference. Legal aspect in the US The United States is one of the most democratic nations on the planet with its constitution as well as amendments providing protection to all its victims from any infringement of their rights including sexual abuse on women. With one in every five women in the country claiming to have been a victim of sexual abuse, it was necessary for the nation to have legal measures to deal with the scourge. The Affordable Care Act allows for a comprehensive set of preventive screening and counselling services for women without payment. Victims of these acts are accorded the full protection of the law. The law allows for the victims to be treated with dignity with their mistreatment constituting a crime. It also allows the victims to be accepted into the society without stigmatization or victimization. Any act that may go against this may lead to a civil suit. The Obama administration has been specifically instrumental in the protection of students from sexual abuse against women with the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault coming up with major finding that have helped the development of new and amendment of existing laws. The law also allows the use of discretion in the disclosure of the information concerned with the act. This has to do with the victim’s personal information such as her name, address, profession, etc. No amount of legal proceedings will allow the release of this information if the victim does not allow it. The burden of proof is not relinquished to the victim with the federal government institutions partaking in all investigations that are meant to prove the case of the abuse. The institutions are meant to utilize all resources at their disposal to find out the identities of the perpetrators of these heinous acts, track them down and apprehend them for trial. Suppose that during the course of the trial the victim or any other witness takes to the stand to give implicating evidence that may result in their lives being threatened, the witness protection system ensures that he or she is well taken care of and protected. The end game of all these provisions is to have one of the best legal frameworks against sexual abuse on women, which will have a zero tolerance for the acts. Legal aspect of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia can only be described as a male dominated and may be chauvinistic society. This is a derivation of the way society in the country views women and depicts the acts of sexual abuse perpetrated against them. The nation’s legal framework is among the worst on the planet when it comes to dealing with the acts. It does not provide legal protection to the victims who report the cases. Instead the government institutions meant to protect them, serve them a bitter pill by accusing the victims of partaking in illicit sexual encounters. Under the Sharia Law that is used in running the country, there is no penal code or specific law that makes sexual abuse acts against women such as rape a crime (Kelly and Breslin 427). The burden of proof in this nation is solely carried by the victim with the government adopting a spectator approach to the case. If a woman reports a case, the law requires her to provide at least four witnesses or better yet derive a confession from the accused that says he is the perpetrator. It is after producing any of these that she is eligible to be accorded legal protection or even have a slight chance of winning the case. She will be lucky if she is able to find a judicial authority sympathetic enough to even listen to her (Kelly and Breslin 428). Along the course of the trial, the authorities as well as society as a whole may respond to the woman’s accusations by claiming that it was her fault it happened and that she was asking for it. Even after all this is done, she is still subject to punishment with the court able to sentence her alongside the perpetrator. In what is called Khalwa, a religious law that enforces the segregation of the sexes, a victim who was in the presence of a male she is not related to, may receive a harsh sentence (Kelly and Breslin 438). The sentence may include a jail term or public flogging. In one case the victim received a six month sentence and 200 lashes with the attack labelled as adultery with the victim being blamed for “provoking the attack.” Even a recording of the incident on a phone by one of the perpetrators was not enough evidence to be admissible in court. The reaction of society to women victims of sexual abuse is made even worse by the fact the Sharia Law administered in Saudi Arabia does not have provisions that restrict statutory rape as well as spousal rape (Kelly and Breslin 433 ). This means that if a woman claims that her husband abused her sexually by making her have sexual relations without her consent; she is frowned upon by society as there is no such thing. Clearly, something needs to be done about the legal framework of the country if the rights of omen are to be protected. Support and care in the US However, the contrast of the reactions between the two nations exceeds the legal aspects of the crimes. Even after the legal aspect of the case are taken care of, the society of the United States does not leave the victims like that as the population realizes that sexual abuse scars more than just the physical part of our lives. The victims are provided with free counseling services that aim to reduce the effect of the trauma. This is accompanied by medical services that seek to alleviate the injuries sustained from the incident. During the counseling sessions, the victims talk about their ordeals and are given encouragement to live. They are also encouraged to share their experiences with relatives to provide recovery, healing and a sense of safety. There is also provision of mental health services for the victims to treat any effect the ordeal may have had on the victim’s mental abilities to ensure an efficient recovery process towards a healthy and productive life. Support and care in the US These actions contrast with the case in Saudi Arabia, where being a victim of sexual abuse gives you a criminal like status (Kelly and Breslin 436). First, there is the general view of the society that victims of sexual abuse bring it on themselves. The accusations range from, “she asked for it” and “she broke purdah and khalwa laws” to “she used excessive make up” and “she dressed indecently.” Also the accusation of partaking in illicit affairs is thrown in a few times. Instead of the society coming out to support the victims, their reactions go hand in hand with the Koran that blames the woman for all faults associated with sex. This wrongful approach is further worsened by the fact that the society prohibits the recounting of the ordeal by the victim. This means that she can not talk to anyone about the incident. The result is that it eats them inside affecting their mental abilities and enhancing the trauma due to the psychological effects. Talking about the event may even result in the replication of the act by the relatives or even physical attacks. This is wrong. Conclusion The differences in cultures of the US and Saudi Arabia have seen the society views on different things differ. Specifically the societal views of the two nations on the issue of sexual abuse on women are so much differentiated with Saudi not even having a penal code for rape. The different views have seen the two have different reactions and support structures for the victims. However, the Saudi approach is one that is wrongful and inhumane. It needs to be revisited and corrected to prevent the infringement of women rights. Work cited Kelly, Sanja, and Julia Breslin. Womens Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance. New York: Freedom House, 2010. Print. Read More