Essay On Sexual Victimization

Sexual victimization has become more of a focus of research in the last few years. When people think of sexual victimization, the first thing they typically thing of is rape. Originally, rape was defined as vaginal penetration (96) by a man to a woman he is not married to. But, things have changed a lot in the last couple decades. Now, both men and women can become victims, and the definition of rape has expanded to include oral, digital and anal penetration. Laws regarding rape vary among different states, but there are some things that remain the same. For example, most states agree that rape is unwanted penetration, conducted by force or threat, without consent. There are a couple instances when consent absolutely cannot be given, like …show more content…
This is said to be more accurate, because people tend to not report sex crimes against them to the police, and this survey allows the people to do that, in a sense. There are certain characteristics that are specific to sexual victimization. When it comes to offenders, they are typically white males between the ages of eighteen and thirty. Although sex crimes can be very traumatizing for the victim, most of the time being raped does not lead to serious injury. Perpetrators of sexual victimization often do not use weapons either. Victims of sexual victimization often suffer physical, emotional, and long-term psychological effects. They may have problems developing relationships later in life, and may begin abusing alcohol or drugs. To top everything off, sexual victimization is similar to domestic violence. Once a person has been sexually victimized, they are at a higher risk of being victimized again. The problem with sexual victimization, is that is under-prosecuted and the victim’s past plays a role in whether or not the person is charged. Many times, the evidence is purely circumstantial and it becomes a game of he-said, she-said. This game does not fare well in