Public and Social Date Rape Policy

Public and Social Date Rape Policy

At common law, rape is the act of abusing women through carnal knowledge without their agreement. Rape could be partial (attempted) or complete (done sufficiently) whence none of the two instances is legal. Therefore, rape can be termed a crime as far as sexual penetration existed; however small it might seem. All the pieces of evidence provided by Maureen should be verified to ensure they are substantial, and the pieces of evidence should be used to prosecute those suspects that did or facilitated the crime. The suspects should be prosecuted by the judge using the probable cause attached to the crime. According to Craig (Craig, 1990), If the suspects of the crime, however, provide proving evidence that it was not against Maureen’s will, and that no force was used, the judge should consider it consensual and dismiss it.

This dismissal is based on the point that the alleged sexual activities were within the consent of the victim. Maureen must, therefore, prove (using pieces of evidence and proof) that the sexual activities were both against her will and that the suspects used force to facilitate it. The pieces of evidence and proofs will render the crime as rape by the definitions described above. Analyzing Craig’s definitions of rape, if a woman who is unconscious at the time of unlawful carnal knowledge and insensibly drunk, it is sufficient to consider it rape. If the consent is, however, made in advance, this analysis will dismiss it from being termed as a crime. This clarifies that the vital aspect of proving that the suspect abused the victim without her consent. According to Craig (Craig, 1990), the deed should have been done without her permission, and the laboratory tests should be used as medical evidence.

The United States Department of Justice of 2014 shows the following statistics related to rape from the UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting System) database. The quoted percentages are reported and non-reported rape offenses. Similarly, the second table shows the statistics of  NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey)

 

Rape Offenses	2014	2013	2012	2011
Date Rape	25%	40%	35%	15%
Stranger Rape	20%	18%	11%	6%
Statutory Rape	55%	70%	33%	25%
Spousal Rape	12%	9%	5%	3%
Total Reported:	35%	52%	30%	17%
Total Non-Reported:	17%	23%	7%	6%

 

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Victims of Rape	2014	2013	2012	2011
Women	76%	50%	45%	25%
Men	10%	8%	7%	3%
Youth (15 and up)	65%	20%	23%	14%
Children (5 and up)	42%	11%	15%	6%
Total Reported of Victims:	55%	32%	27%	12%
Total Non-Reported of Victims:	37%	20%	9%	4%

 

Both UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting System) and NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) provide the following Strengths and Weaknesses. Both Systems have a weakness that law enforcement authorities are not supportive, and there are very few cases reported by them. People are as well reluctant to report the rape cases due to the fear of stigmatization and resentment from friends, families, spouses, community, and siblings, among others. The strength on the other side is that it forces the law enforcement authorities to report statistics so that they receive funds from the state and federal governments specifically for this crime. Lastly, the law enforcement officers are rewarded based on their achievements; therefore, most of them report trying to win awards for work well done.

Date rape, also known as acquaintance rape, is different from other forms of rape, such as stranger rape, spousal rape, and Statutory rape, as put by Merriam (Merriam-Webster, 2014). In date rape, the suspect (without their permission) predatorily forces and harms the vulnerable acquaintances sexually (Hall, 1990). The four forms are summarized in bulletins below:

• Date Rape: According to Merriam (Merriam-Webster, 2014) date rape is rape done or facilitated by your acquaintances, i.e., people close with you
• Spousal Rape: According to Merriam (Merriam-Webster, 2014), spomaritalpe is rape, where a partner of a domestic couple (married) is forced into sexual activity without their permission.
• Statutory Rape: According to Merriam (Merriam-Webster, 2014), this is a sexual activity done to exploit an under-age.
• Stranger Rape: According to Merriam (Merriam-Webster, 2014), this is a sexual activity imposed by an unknown person.

Date rape is facilitated by the use of drugs because it is “predatorily” done. Some of the medications used include the following types of drugs bulleted alongside their uses as put by Merriam (Merriam-Webster, 2014):

• Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate is put in drinks by the acquaintance, and this reduces the level of consciousness of the person who has taken the drink. Besides the level of knowledge, Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate also causes hallucinations and reduces the ability of the victim to defend against the rape.
• Rohypnol creates vulnerability in the victims by reducing their responsive behavior capabilities and enhancing automatism and dissociation.
  • Benzodiazepine is a high-anxiety stimulant drug that facilitates rape by creating seductive urge and craving.

The perpetrators view the date rape victims as follows. They are easy, loose, vulnerable, and irresponsible. Besides, they lack disregard for oneself and are partly or wholly unconscious. These characteristics define victims such as Maureen and show them to perpetrators as easy targets to date rape. The special problem with persecutions, however, is that it is difficult to determine whether the sexual intercourse was based on involuntary submissions. According to Abbey (Abbey, 1987), this could be tested and measured per the degree of compulsion (this would objectively rather than subjectively render judgment to the perpetrators (Abbey, 1987)). The lack of consent and the extent of the victim’s resistance form the paramount Basis of the rape case persecutions under traditional formulations. The assailant’s advances versus the victim’s resistance should be used to determine the degree of compulsions. My position in this date rape case is that the judicial and criminal justice systems should serve justice by making decisions independent of the victim’s actions. The actions by the defendant are what matter because date rape victims are usually under the influence of drugs. Besides, their activities could be as a result of physical force or a threat, which could divert the attention of the criminal investigations and judicial system.

References

Abbey, A. (1987). Misperceptions of friendly behavior as sexual interest: A survey of naturally occurring incidents. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 173-194.

Craig, M. E. (1990). Coercive sexuality in dating relationships: A situational model. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 395-423.

Hall, G. C. N. (1990). Prediction of sexual aggression. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 229-245.

Mayer, M. (2018). Coping with Date Rape and Acquaintance Rape. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Merriam-Webster. (2014). In Merriam-Webster’s dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam- Webster.

Murphy, D. G. (2019). National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and 1993 Redesign. The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime, 1-4.

Treat, T. A., McMurray, B., Betty, J. R., & Viken, R. J. (2019). Tracking Men’s Perceptions of Women’s Sexual Interest. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 0963721419884322.

United States Department of Justice (2014). Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Bureau of Statistics. Washington, DC.