Rape is a very misunderstood crime. Common sense dictates that if “rape” is difficult for the justice system and society in general to define, then it will be very hard to understand. The definition of rape even varies from state to state and penal code to penal code. Some criminal codes explicitly consider all kinds of forced sexual activity to be rape, while some codes restrict rape only to instances where a man forces a woman bodily. If law enforcement cannot even define it, then how is society expected to understand it?
It seems that society does not understand rape, does not hold the attackers accountable or responsible for their actions in committing a crime, even a serious violent crime. If society does not find it wrong for strangers or acquaintances to commit rape, how would society ever find it wrong for a husband or boyfriend to rape his wife or girlfriend? Even though their husband, with 70% of those husbands under the influence of alcohol or some other drug raped 28% of victims rapes their husbands or boyfriend and 14% of married women. (Bohner, 257-268) If society does not find it alarming, how are the victims supposed to have the courage to stand up and demand justice? The statistics on rape, in general, are a loose estimate, as 61% of rapes are not reported to the police. In 2001 only 39% of rapes were reported, that is less than one out of every three. 44% of victims are under 18 years of age, three out of twenty are under the age of 12, of those victims 93% know their attacker, and 34.2% of those were a family member with 58.7% being an acquaintance. It is staggering to learn that in the United States, someone is being sexually assaulted every two minutes. (Bohner, 257-268) Thus, this is a serious problem and the different models of the Criminal Justice systems should be evaluated to reveal the best possible method.
From the point of view of Criminal Justice, the parameters of rape can be evaluated in terms of Rational/Legalism. This is practicable because it is quite simplistic. It is fundamentally aligned toward a form of punishment in terms of symbolic value. This would enhance the judicial role as the nature of punishment would be by the degree of assault on the woman. This would also address crime in its most fundamental form. (Elaine, 43-59) However, Cesare Beccaria indicates that this form of the judicial system should be predominantly devoid of capital punishment, biased justice, and torture. On the same note, Ernest van de Haag mentions the use of principals relating to the utilitarian perspective where the law would be lenient and work for the greater good of people as a whole providing chance to prove the innocence of the accused. (Roderic, 121-139) However, from the point of view of Herbert Packer’s Crime control vs. process, the judiciary needs to be more rigid. His models indicate criminal sanctions are subjected to a society that can be evaluated as open and free from all perspectives. He is a firm believer of the power and law enforcement practice and mentions that a rigid criminal justice system is the controlling factor that would prevent crime or rape to take place. (Robert, 72-75) He indicates serious punishment from a position of ideological rigidity. No matter how serious the act of rape may be in the context of crime, this model seems to be less humane and democratically less correct. (Daniela, 159-170).
Nevertheless, the model of criminal justice as politics can never be endorsed at least when rape is concerned. This model suggests that public administration and political science should always control and influence the judiciary with interest-based positions. There would be the possibility of ideological positions of great rigidity and fuelled by influence building, power struggles, and conflict of interest. (David, 211-240) However, it should be noted that Senator Biden Jr. enacted the Violence against Women Act in 1990. His ideas were great. He wanted new laws to focus on the offender’s conduct, not the victim’s character. He wanted new investments in local law enforcement to treat rape and family violence as serious crimes. He wanted to extend the “rape-shield” laws to civil and criminal cases, not just sexual harassment cases. In addition, he wanted new education programs in schools teaching about family violence and rape. Senator Biden Jr. did achieve some of this, maybe not all of it, and not like, he wanted to, but he did accomplish a new step in the right direction. (Poikonen, 408-411) However, the best possible measure would be to evaluate rape from the perspective of the model that suggests the existence of the criminal justice system from the position of Socially Constructed reality. Under this model, it is believed that reality has no other existence but is the product of society itself. Thus, along with the accused the background social context should also be evaluated. Marjorie Zatz, Peter Manning, and Victor Kappeler have produced enough evidence of the positive aspects of this model. (Lilly, 93-101).
Consider the serial killer Charles Sobhraj. Some describe Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj as “Asia’s premier serial killer”. To others, he is just another con man out of bound who raped women at every opportunity. In August 2004, justice appears to have caught up with Sobhraj in Kathmandu; he was sentenced to life in jail in Nepal for a double murder he is accused of committing in 1975. Nevertheless, things did not start with that double murder for Sobhraj. Sobhraj was born in Saigon in 1944, the son of an Indian man from Bombay and a Vietnamese mother. In the 1970s, Sobhraj became dabbling in drug smuggling. He made a core group for himself and acted in the pack, as he was very flexible with his ways of crime. It was at this point of his career that the notorious “Bikini Murders” took shape with Teresa Knowlton, a Seattle woman who had traveled to Bangkok on her way to Kathmandu. She was drugged, raped, and murdered. Multiple rapes and murders of a similar type surfaced and it was found out that the usual methods of Sobhraj were to the drug first and then go for the kill and occasionally burning the bodies after the kill. Sobhraj is implicated in at least 10 murders in Thailand in 1975 alone. The total body count for this killer is 32.
Moreover, no steady relations were ever discovered with any women but it was found that he had sexual relations with numerous women. This is to suggest that Charles Sobhraj only used women when he wanted to at his will and left them alone immediately when his need was fulfilled. Traces of this behavior could well be found within his disturbing childhood which was mostly full of turmoil, emotionally and culturally. Social stigma like this is not easy to handle and it is on the part of society itself that can render any assistance in this matter. In a way, serial killers are products of society itself. (Jeremy, 140-150).
However, unlike the victims of Sobhraj, almost 80% of all rape victims know their attacker and sometimes it is even a family member. Therefore, even though CNN will not be beating down their door for interviews, they will still be disrupting many close family members and maybe afraid that loved ones will blame her for the fallout of the family. There have been several case studies done on females who were raped by family members. Perpetrators can be a sibling, father, cousin, uncle, even a grandfather. There are even cases of females raping other female family members. Not many of these cases are reported. Most of the time they do not even “come out” unless the victim or the perpetrator or both were killed during or after the incident. If the attacker is not a family member, it is highly likely to be an acquaintance and society has “beat it into women’s heads” that they may have been “asking for it.” Maybe the victim liked this person, flirted with him, even danced with him at a club. She may be too ashamed and afraid to call 911 because others will think she “asked for it” or was a “tease.” (Poikonen, 408-411).
These types of thought processes are the greatest hurdle to overcome in getting more rapes reported to the authorities so convictions can happen. In addition, not only do these types of thought processes need to be eradicated, but women also need to understand the vital importance of collecting evidence. Evidence can only be collected in the first few days after the assault and the best evidence is collected earliest. Women also need to understand that times have changed. Most cities have a special rape unit with an evidence collector and counselor to help them through the embarrassing shameful ordeal. (Starzynski, 619-638) This is a social problem from the context of rape rather than an individual context and thus the application of Criminal Justice as a Socially Constructed Reality appears to be most logical.
Another hurdle to jump to halt the decline of rape convictions in the U.S. is the prison/jail population problem. Overcrowding has been a problem in the U.S. for quite some time now. It is partially to blame for convicted rapists getting only probation, less time, only jail time with community service instead of a harsher punishment. New prisons are being built in almost every state in this country, so the authorities are doing what they can. (Jeremy, 134-145) However, maybe things need to be taken to a new extreme. Maybe the death penalty should be a federal mandate in every state. Maybe a cheaper form of execution needs to be tried. Maybe those serving life sentences or sentenced to death should be used as crash test dummies, or for medical research, or to test shark cages. It sounds extreme but it would open up a lot of room in the existing prisons. (Resnick, 1317-1333).
However, it should be noted that rape is a very misunderstood crime. The rape conviction rate in the U.S. was never too good, but now it is declining even further. This problem needs to be addressed and taken care of sooner rather than later. Senate Majority Committee did what they could in 1993, but the numbers do not lie and this has not helped much. Getting them to understand that they must prosecute, that they must call 911, submit to an evaluation and exam no matter how embarrassing, and making them understand how vitally important their testimony would be is crucial to the problem. Having women understand how vital the evidence is for a conviction is the second step. Eradicating the belief that women “deserve it” is the third step. (Marshall, 21-34) Society must cease the belief that women, who have a past sexual history, dress in short skirts and low cut tops and go out on the town with friends deserve what they get. This is abominable and must stop. In addition, finding somewhere to put the convicted, or finding something to do with the convicted is the last step. None of them is easy, but all are of the utmost importance in solving this dilemma.
Bibliography
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