Module 2: Sexual Assault Flashcards
Who Are the Victims/What Are the Factors?
Girls and young adults, childhood victimization, socio-economic marginalization: homelessness, drug and/or alcohol consumption.
Who Are the Perpetrators?
Acquaintances, friends, colleagues, partners.
What Is the Context?
Indoors, evening activities, institutions-caregivers, places where the use of alcohol and drugs is allowed.
What Are the Socio-Historic Considerations?
In medieval England: the victim was a virgin or a women who was sworn to chastity.
In the late 13th century: the offense was extended to include married women.
1886: Canada criminalized the seduction of a girl between 12 and 16 years of age is she was previously a virgin.
19th century: judges and juries were worried about victims’ lack of credibility.
After 1983: oral and anal penetration was recognized, the marital exception rule was abolished, and sexual assault was considered a gender-neutral crime.
What Are the Principal Ways Humans React to Imminent Danger?
Fight: perception of being able to overcome the challenge.
Flight: individuals consider when it is unlikely to succeed.
Freeze or detach: neither defeat nor safety bolt from the situation.
What Are Common Rape Myths?
Rape: happens outside, at night and/or in sketchy areas, entails vaginal, anal, or oral penetration, involves weapons or obvious physical injuries.
‘Real’ victims: are exclusively young, conventionally attractive/feminine, are hysterical, visibly upset, crying, and bruised, immediately report the incident to the police.
Perpetrators: men motivated by sexual frustration, desire, or uncontrollable ‘natural urges’, racialized and/or underclassmen, mentally ill men.
What Aspects Are Conditioned By the Criminal Justice Response?
Police: rape myth adherence, spurious classification of sexual assaults are unfounded.
Defense attorney: ‘whacking’ the complainant, exploitation of the stereotypical assumptions, undermine the credibility of the victims.
Judicial and injury: bias, discriminatory sentencing.
What Are Resistance and Prevention Initiatives?
Situational prevention: emergency call alarms, accompaniment, lighting.
Public education: social media campaigns (‘no means no’, ‘don’t rape’, ‘don’t be that guy’).
