Sexual Assaults and Other Sexual Crimes - Case Study Example

of the of the of the Drugs and Female Victims of Sexual Assault Sexual assault on young women canlead to an increased incidence of drug abuse and crime. Sexual assault occurs when a person intentionally and forcibly indulges in sexual activity with another person. Such an assault may occur during several situations, like date rape, violence by partner or a stranger’s violence (HealthCare Proffessionals). Drug – facilitated sexual assault involves mood elevating drugs or ecstasy drugs, which are administered to victims, without their consent, in order to render them defenseless against sexual assault (HealthCare Proffessionals). The use of drugs in sexual assaults is not a new development. Alcohol is extensively employed to disorient a person, prior to launching a sexual assault and this is common knowledge amongst law enforcement professionals. The near ubiquitous consumption of alcohol consumption renders it the drug of choice for those desirous of committing sexual assaults. However, the situation has become much more dangerous for women, due to the advent of a number of drugs, like Rohypnol or roofies, which make the task of the sexual assaulter much simpler. Another drug that is commonly employed is GHB or gamma hydroxyl butyrate (Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime). In drug – facilitated cases, the victim could suffer a loss of memory, resulting in the creation of doubt as to whether sexual assault had taken place. Some victims are of the opinion that the police would not believe their words. Other victims want to forget whatever had taken place. Girls under the influence of drugs or alcohol could be considered as easy targets by offenders. That is why in most cases offenders commit such crimes against a girl whom they have dated or a close acquaintance. Women are making themselves victims of drug – facilitated sexual assaults, in this fashion. When mixed with alcohol some drugs are rendered fatal. Date – rapes often occur during recreational parties (Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault). Sexual assaults and other sexual crimes not only result in drug abuse but also they create negative social health issues. According to health professionals, the crimes of rape and sexual assaults produce long – term physical and psychological trauma to the victims, which last for the rest of their lives. Some of the examples of such physical trauma are injuries to the body, continual pain, infection with sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Moreover, the psychological effects of sexual assault and rape are Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD and Acute Stress Reduction Disorder (American Medical Association) Rape and the post rape trauma of the victim come under sexual assault (Fisher, Cullen and Turner). Sexual assault has an adverse effect on victims, not only physically but also psychologically; and results in severe emotional disturbances. Rape and other sexual assaults are despicable crimes. They result in adverse and damaging effects on the victims. Therefore, sexual victimization may generate numerous economic and social issues. Sexual assaults cause mental illness to the victims, serious physical injuries, transmission of diseases, and increase the risk of crimes being committed by the victims. Victims of sexual assaults often tend to indulge in drug abuse (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control). Victims of rape and sexual assault are vulnerable to mental illness or mental disorders. They are six times more prone to Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder than others, and they are three times more prone to psychological depression. They experience social exclusion, strained family relations, sleep disorders, are more likely to make suicide attempts and experience changes in sexual behavior (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control). Post – rape psychological disorders, consumption of alcohol, drugs and intoxicating substances are interlinked. Drug and substance abuse may not exist prior to rape or sexual assault; however, they are present to a greater extent after such incidents. If the victim suffers from anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders prior to rape; then these qualities get intensified after such assaults (Acierno, Resnick and Flood). There have been various surveys with regard to sexual victimization. Surveys have been conducted by sociologists with regard to public health care. The data available with rape crisis centers provides substantial information about the occurrence of sexual assault. However, none of these surveys and reports provides a clear and comprehensive picture of the prevalence of such sexual assaults and rapes. This is due to the fact that these surveys do not discuss various important aspects of these incidents. Moreover, the information they provide is restricted to specific types of such incidents (Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety). These surveys were conducted in the context of sexual crimes. They do not elaborate other significant factors of these incidents. There are certain important thresholds which are often ignored by these reports. Some of these are the relationship between the victims and the perpetrators; whether the reports to the police are influenced by this relationship; and the nature of the force employed by the perpetrator against the victim. In order to have better knowledge with regard to the sexual assaults, these issues require elucidation. Otherwise, there can be no clarification regarding the contextual factors of the incidence of a rape or sexual assault (Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety). The crime of rape imposes certain negative economic consequences on its victims and society. The National Institute of Justice or NIJ conducted a study in the year 1996, in which it was revealed that the victims of rape or sexual crimes were subsequently, more prone to drug abuse. The study of the National Women’s Study found in 1992 that more than fifty – two percent of rape victims had abused marijuana; sixteen percent of rape victims had abused cocaine; and twelve percent of the victims were addicted to heroin (Kilpatrick, Edmonds and Seymour). The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act details the chemicals and plants that cannot be grown, bought, sold, desired or consumed by the people of Canada. Any violation of this act results in arrest, fine or incarceration. Section 462 of the criminal code makes it an offence to knowingly import or export from Canada; produce, promote or sell devices that aid the illicit use of drugs. On conviction, the offender could be fined between a hundred thousand dollars to three hundred thousand dollars, imprisonment between six months to a year or both (The Criminal Code of Canada). Sexual assault has been designated as a distinct offense. It includes the use of a weapon in such assault; threatening a third party so as to enable this offense and sexual assault that involves physical harm (Section 272(1) ). The Criminal Code of Canada punishes, although much more severely, the offense of aggravated sexual assault, which entails wounding, disfigurement or danger to the life of the victim, on account of the sexual assault (273(1)). Despite these stringent laws, the crime of sexual assault is on the increase in Canada, indicating that the law is not having sufficient deterrence effect. The government of Canada had enacted the Bill C-127 in the year 1983 in order to reform the laws relating to rape, attempted rape and indecent assault. The Bill categorized sexual crimes in three categories, first, Level 1 Sexual assault, which results in minor physical injuries or no injuries at all to the victim for which an imprisonment of ten years is the maximum punishment. Second, Level 2 sexual assault, in which the perpetrator uses a weapon for threats or physical harm for which the maximum punishment is fourteen years of imprisonment. Third, level 3 aggravated sexual assault, in which the perpetrator causes wounds, maiming, and bodily disfigurement of the victim or puts the life of the victim at risk. The punishment for this type of crime is life imprisonment for the perpetrator (Sutton). In the 1991case of R v Seaboyer and Gayme, the Canadian Supreme Court quashed the rape – shield provision on the basis that the provision attempted to violate the rights of the accused person (R. v. Seaboyer; R. v. Gayme). More than twenty –five percent of women had conceded that drugs had been a major factor in rape or sexual assault. Girls aged between sixteen and nineteen were found to be more vulnerable to sexual assaults. Similarly, adult women aged between twenty and twenty – four were more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted, in comparison to women in other age groups. In most cases, the accused proved to be an acquaintance or date of the victim. Most of the rapes were committed by either a date or an acquaintance. Thus the issue of rape or sexual assault had proved to be a complex and intricate problem (HealthCare Proffessionals). The victims, in most of the cases, do not undergo crisis counseling, to avert psychological trauma and disorders consequent to such assault. However, many victims seek medical care after being subjected to such crimes. This facilitates the forensic professionals to collect evidence; and makes it possible to provide victims with psychological remedies. Hence, interventions during the medical care period are required (Acierno, Resnick and Flood). Forensic medical examination would further escalate stress and depression of the victim. In order to mitigate this increased distress, victims are likely to abuse drugs and intoxicating substances. The forensic examination demands that the victim to give a detailed description of the incident, followed by invasive physical examinations (Acierno, Resnick and Flood). Victims feel embarrassed at this detailed inspection and often fail to describe some significant aspects of the crime committed against them. Therefore, it is essential to develop new techniques, in this regard, to avoid the distress produced by forensic examination. The victims should be provided with competent psychoanalysis based education to mitigate stresses that could arise at a later date (Acierno, Resnick and Flood). Most of the substance abuse reduction programmes fail to address the problem adequately. This could increase the risk of continued drug abuse by the victims of rape. In a study, a hundred and fifty patients of drug addiction were selected at random. Of them fifty – nine were women and ninety – one were men. The study was conducted in a methadone detoxification center, which provided intensive follow up treatment (Clark, Masson and Delucchi). All the participants in the study were given counseling and questionnaires to detail their substance abuse; the severity of such abuse; issues pertaining to mental condition, such as depression and increased desire to commit suicide; and Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms on a monthly basis for one year. The results of the study revealed that twenty – nine percent had fulfilled the criteria for PTSD syndrome. Fifty – five percent of those who had met the criteria for PTSD had reported its symptoms, within six months of the occurrence of the rape or assault. Analysis of this information revealed that past PTSD symptoms had a great influence on the severity of drug abuse (Clark, Masson and Delucchi). In a research study, semi – structured interviews were used to examine the relation between drug abuse, and sexual and physical violence. Twenty – six women who had been convicted on felony drug charges and thirty staff from probation offices and other enforcement agencies participated in the study. This study revealed that all the convicted women had abused drugs to overcome the trauma caused by the violence that they had been subjected to. Most of them had been stabbed with a knife, shot at with a gun or manhandled during their pregnancy. Sixty – nine percent of female drug addicts were prostitutes. Five percent of female college students had been raped or a sexually assaulted. Of these, seventy – two percent had faced rape, when they had been intoxicated and unable to consent or refuse (Hirsch). In addition, schools with a high record of consuming alcohol showed a high record of rapes or sexual assaults. In rural areas, intoxicated school students were more likely to experience rape than those in the urban areas. School students in the Southern and the North Central regions had a higher record of being raped, while being intoxicated. The number of such incidents was less in the schools of the Western region (Hirsch). It is also an established fact that most of the cases relating to sexual assaults had been unrecognized, unreported, unsolved, or unproven. If victims were under the influence of drugs then the drug – facilitated sexual assault cases were hindered by the inability of the victim to clearly recall what had happened. Moreover, such victims could be hesitant to report the crime, fail to recognize the perpetrator or make a report to the police within time (HealthCare Proffessionals). Persons indulging in the immoral traffic of women and pimps, forcibly convert prostitutes into drug addicts, in order to obtain control over them. In an analogous manner, those who commit sexual crimes against children, utilize drugs to disorient their victims in space and time, prior to committing sexual offences against them. This reveals that drug abuse results in sexual crimes. In other words, drugs facilitate sexual assaults. In general, it is assumed that most of the prostitutes had taken up this activity, in order to defray the expenses incurred in connection with drug addiction. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Several research studies have disclosed that the amount of drugs abused by women reaches addiction levels, subsequent to their taking up harlotry. These studies have revealed that in thirty – nine percent of the cases, drug abuse had taken place after prostitution; whereas only in eight percent of the cases, drug abuse had transpired prior to prostitution. Moreover, it was shown in another research study that six tenths of a group of Venezuelan prostitutes had commenced to abuse intoxicating substances and alcohol after becoming prostitutes (Prostitution). This clearly indicates that sexual assault and drug abuse are interrelated. In some cases, drug abuse facilitates sexual assault; whereas in other instances, in order to pay for their drug addiction, some women undertake prostitution. Rohypnol is dissolved in the drinks of unwary females and on being imbibed, produces deep intoxication from two to eight hours. The person, who takes this drug, will have insufficient or no memory of what transpires in that period (Brown University. health education. Rohypnol). From the foregoing it is evident that in the majority of the cases of sexual assault, young women and female teenagers are the victims. Unfortunately, most of these crimes are not notified to the authorities, and only a few of the reported cases proved. Drug abuse facilitates sexual assault of women, because women under their influence are unable to defend themselves. Such drugs are administered by the perpetrators, in most of the instances of such assaults. Despite the existence of legislation to prevent such crimes, to control the abuse of drugs and to afford protection to women; such crimes, entailing sexual assault and drug abuse, pose a major challenge to law enforcers and society. Sexual assault has a deleterious effect on the psyche, body and emotions and affects thousands of Canadian citizens every year. Works Cited "273(1)." Criminal Code of Canada . Acierno, Ron, et al. "An Acute Post-Rape Intervention to Prevent Substance Use and Abuse." Addictive Behaviors (2003): Vol. 28, 1701-1715. American Medical Association. "Strategies for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Assault." Chicago, IL: American Medical Association, 1995. Brown University. health education. Rohypnol. 28 February 2008. 19 March 2008 . Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime. "The Devastation of Sexual Assault." February 2006. 19 March 2008 . Clark, HW, et al. "Violent Traumatic Events and Drug Abuse Severity." Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (2001): Vol. 20, pp 121 - 127. Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault. 16 March 2008 . Fisher, B.S., F.T. Cullen and M.G. Turner. The Sexual Victimization of College Women. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2000. HealthCare Proffessionals. Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault. 16 March 2008 . Hirsch, Amy E. "The World Was Never a Safe Place for Them: Abuse, Welfare Reform and Women with Drug Convictions." Violence Against Women (2001): Vol 7(2), pp 159 - 175. Kilpatrick, D.G., C.N. Edmonds and A. Seymour. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington: VA: National Victim Center and Medical University of South Carolina, 1992. Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety. Understanding Sexual Victimization. December 2006. 16 March 2008 . National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Sexual Violence Fact Sheet. 16 March 2008 . Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress. Farley, Melissa. Haworth Press. ISBN: 0789023792, 2003 .Pp. 62 – 63. R. v. Seaboyer; R. v. Gayme. No. (1991) 2 S.C.R. 577 . "Section 272(1) ." Criminal Code of Canada. Sutton, Tricia. Sexual Assault in Canada. 1999. 16 March 2008 . The Criminal Code of Canada. 19 March 2008 . Read More