Crime Victims: An Introduction to
Victimology
Sixth Edition
By Andrew Karmen
Chapter Ten:
Victims of Rapes and Other
Sexual Assaults
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Pro-victim and anti-rape movement of 70s
exposed ongoing injustice, abuse and
systematic neglect
– Women fail to report for many reasons
– CJ system mainly men and more concerned
with relationship prior to the rape than the
violence caused by the rape
– Advocates claim rape is about power and
control—not love or passion
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 RAPE—Latin “rapere” taken by force
 Common Law Rape—unlawful carnal
knowledge committed by man against
woman—not his wife
 Forcible Rape—Victim fears harm if they do
not comply. Lack of consent is key factor.
 Aggravated Rape—More than one assailant
and use of weapon and injuries.
 Statutory Rape—Consensual with minor.
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Real Rapes (Ideal Rapes) vs. Date Rapes
– Real Rapes defined as without question or
doubt. Elements consist of:
 Unsuspecting female, complete stranger, victim is a
virgin and virtuous, very young, fights back, struggles
and suffers injuries, involved in wholesome activity
when occurred, when escapes—reports directly to
police.
 Forensic evidence found
These cases treated with dignity and with sensitivity by
the CJ system.
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Doubts arise if any of the above missing
 Some argue that if rape preceded by series of
consensual sexual overtones, her “contributory
behavior” makes less serious
 Advocates claim that what counts is that she was
stripped of control, denied right to make decision
and compelled to submit to someone else’s sexual
desire
 Legal definition hinges on coercion against nonconsenting person
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Contributory Behavior—forced intercourse
preceded by series of consensual acts—
less serious
 Acquaintance Rapes—existence of prior
relationship questions seriousness of act
 Victim Precipitation—are some rapes
involving certain circumstances less serious
due to prior conduct of the victim?
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Victim-Blaming Views
– Victim used alcohol or drugs
– Put herself in temptation opportunity situation
– Suggestive and seductive utterings
– Hitchhiking
– Date rape is “terrible misunderstanding” of what
she said or meant
– Certain lifestyles precipitate rape
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Two consequences from acceptance of
Victim-blaming
– Male less culpable if female shares
responsibility
– Girls and women must be better educated to
prevent miscommunication of their desires
 Misleading seductiveness might be taken as
“implied consent”
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Victim-Defending Perspective
– Nothing erotic or suggestive could justify such a
hostile act
– Using force should not be confused with making
love or engaging in sex
– Rape is an act of “hate and anger,” not “love or
lust”
– Rape prevention should not just be aimed at
females
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 Consequences of Sexual Assault
– Rape Crisis Syndrome
– Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
– 2/3 of rapes not completed but still leave
psychological scars—may commit suicide
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Incident Prevalence
 UCR vs. NCVS—See Figure 10.1, page 252
 NCVS—In 2004, 36% reported their rape to the
authorities—64% not reported
 Rape trends decreasing since 90s
 Portrait of victims
– Female late teens-early twenties
– Unmarried, low income
– Black, unemployed, resides in large city
– 55% acquaintances, 44% strangers
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Victims of Sexual Assault
 How the Criminal Justice System Handles
Rape Victims
– The Crime
– Charges Are Pressed Against Defendant
– The Trial
– The Sentence
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Controversy Over Unfounded
Accusations
 Rape is unique crime—credibility of victim
– Safeguards must prevent honest mistakes and
perjury/fraudulent allegations
 Must have corroborative evidence—rape kits, DNA,
lie detector, hospital tests
1982: President’s Task Force ruled all tests for
victim credibility in rape cases must stop
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Accuser vs. Accused
 6th Amendment rights to wage a vigorous defense
 New Rape Victim Rights Legislation
 Several Defense Strategies
– Eyewitness error
– Deny it ever happened—attack victim credibility
– It happened but consensual—she changed her mind
after the event
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Accuser vs. Accused
 Rape Shield Laws
 Force and Resistance
– Reasonableness standard—degree of
resistance that expresses non-consent can
depend on circumstances
 Best Prevention Strategy—dual response
defense
– Calling out for help while simultaneously
pleading with or threatening the attacker
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Accuser vs. Accused
 Corroboration—not required unless:
– Victim is a minor
– Previously intimate with offender
– Did not promptly report crime
– Provides a version of events that is inherently
improbable and self-contradictory
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Arrest, Prosecution and Adjudication
 50% not reported
 Reported if weapon used or injuries
 35% of those charged will have charges
dropped
 3% will be acquitted
 61% convicted—35%-prison, 10%-jail
 Negotiated plea often justified as it spares
accuser having to recount the crime
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Rape Crisis Centers
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24-hour hotline
Put victim in touch with advocates
Accompany to hospital/police/prosecutor
Arrange for counseling
Trains CJ members
Public education efforts
Offers self-defense strategies
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Rediscovery of More Rape Victims
 Wives raped by husbands
– Wife has a right to say “no”
– Forcible rape of a spouse—1st law passed in
South Dakota, 1975
– 1990: every state provided no immunity if
husband filed for divorced or separated
– Occurrences not known—lack of reporting
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Rediscovery of More Rape Victims
 Sexually Assaulted Males
 NCVS reported 125,000 male rape victims
in 1973-1982
 2-3% of reported rapes—male on male
 Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2003
– 13% of inmates raped by males
– Institutions put on notice they must detect,
prevent and punish rape behind bars
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Reducing the Threat of Rape:
Three Approaches
1. Blame the victim (popular strategy of
past—not today): Encourage females to
not precipitate the crime through careless,
reckless or provocative behavior
2. Blame the Offender: predators are source
of problem—remove them from society
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Reducing the Threat of Rape:
Three Approaches
3. Sociological approach
Rape outgrowth of social conditions, cultural themes
about women as sex objects for sexual gratification
– Real problem is patriarchal society
– Deterrence through incarceration teaches men a
lesson
– Long term strategy is to deal with movies, music,
magazines encouraging sexual behavior and must
change attitudes about women
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Key Terms
Carnal Knowledge
Statutory Rape
Heiress stealing
Ideal types
Implied consent
Rape crisis syndrome
Post traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD)
Dual verbal defense
Series victimizations
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