CH 17: Sexual Aggression Flashcards
sexual harassment
any unwanted sex-related behaviours that are considered by the recipient to be offensive, threatening or demeaning
reasons for sexual harassment: sociocultural theory
gender inequality and sexism leads to harassment, males are dominant/superior to women
reasons for sexual harassment: organizational theory
occurs because wide range of organizational issues such as power and status inequalities, power differentials within organisation affect likelihood of sexual harassment
reasons for sexual harassment: sex-role spillover theory
men and women have pre-existing beliefs and gender-based expectations for how to behave in various settings
reasons for sexual harassment: natural/biological theory
sexual harassment signifies an expression of sexual attraction, men who harass are using their power to try to maximize changes of gaining sexual access and procreating
reasons for sexual harassment: 4-factor theory
need to be 4 conditions for sexual harassment to occur
1) Person needs to be motivated to harass by any number of factors
2) Person must overcome cognitive inhibitions to not harass
3) Person must overcome societal and cultural inhibitions to not harass
4) Person must overcome any resistance by the victim
sexual assault
range of non-consensual sexual experiences
Including touching, oral, anal, vaginal intercourse and sexual violence
sexual assault: criminal code of canada prior to 1983:
- legal definition of rape
- heterosexual intercourse by a man with a women who was not wife
critism of the definition of rape before 1983
- no provision for male as victim and female as assailant
- no provision for spousal rape
- victim’s past sexual history could be put on trial (slut shaming)
- charge of rape required for corroboration (difficult to get conviction of no physical evidence was collected)
- rape complains had to made immediately after attached or invalidated
slut shaming
bring in past sexual partners and saying that the women were probably asking for it
presently, sexual assault defined as…
gender neutral
3 different types of sexual assault
1) simple sexual assault (no consent)
2) with weapon, threats, or bodily harm
3) aggravated sexual assault
what is consent?
- must be actively established
- cannot be obtained if the complainant is drunk, unconscious or changes their mind
- does not related to complainants past sexual history
effects of sexual assault
Women experience persistent negative effects following assaults committed by strangers as well as someone they know
- Sexual assaults involve verbal coercion or physical incapacitation have persistent effects
rape trauma syndrome: 2 phase stress pattern
following sexual assault
1) acute/disruptive phase
2) reorganizational phase
acute phase
- rape trauma syndrome
immediately following assault, common for victims to experience range of emotional reactions (anxiety, intense fear, anger, depression, disbelief, vulnerability)- blame herself for what happened, feeling numb/disorganized, or deny they were sexually assaulted to avoid response against potentially overwhelming feelings of confusion or shock
- Emotional reactions of this phase often escalate and persist for 1-2 months, then slowly decrease
reorganization phase
- rape trauma syndrome
last from months to years, attempt to restore order in their lives, re-establish sense of control. Lifestyle changes
post-traumatic growth (rape)
positive psychological change following a major negative event
Researchers suggested some experience this
incidence of sexual assault
- 39% of women over 18 sexually assaulted by man since age of 16
- 5% in past 12 months
- 6%report assault
- stranger rape more likely to be reported
- men report forced sex by men (2%) and women (1%)
prevalence estimates
estimates based on the percentage of surveyed individuals who report having participated in or experienced a certain condition in a given period of time
incidence estimates
estimates based on documented instances of a certain condition in a given period of time
human sex trafficking
form of slavery in which individuals are forced to engage in sexual acts for others profit
- Buying, selling, smuggling of human beings for purposes of forcing them to perform sexual acts
section 271: sexual assault definition
somebody touches you in sexual way on PURPOSE, directly or indirectly, WITHOUT your consent
sexual assault with weapon, threats to 3rd party, or causing bodily harm
somebody sexually assaults you and is armed with, or uses, a weapon, or forces you to have sex by threatening to do injury to someone else, or they injure you
aggravated sexual assault
somebody sexually assaults and they cause serious injuries to you
age of consent
- legal age of consent is 16 years
- May 2008, federal government amended the criminal code of canada to raise the age of consent to sexual activity from 14 to 16 years
sexual inference
- if you are under 16 years old, it is criminal offence for someone to touch your body for a sexual purpose with a part of their body or any object, directly or indirectly