1 / 14

Rape as a Criminal Offense: Breaking the Silence

Explore the legal and criminological perspectives on rape as a form of criminal offense against sexual freedom at the International Student Conference on Safety in Local Communities in Podgorica, Montenegro, on April 9, 2019.

thorntonl
Download Presentation

Rape as a Criminal Offense: Breaking the Silence

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. III. Internationalstudent conference „Safety in local communities-legal and criminological perspectives“’, Podgorica, 9 April 2019 Rape as a form of criminal offense against sexual freedom Breaking the silence Authors: Bulajic Jelena and Savovic Milana Student conference on Security and Safety in local communities, Podgorica, Montenegro, 9. 4. 2019

  2. „Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.“-Freda Adler

  3. Rape is a type of sexual assault, usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent.

  4. Actus reus – To sustain a conviction, rape might require proof that the defendant had sexual penetration with another person. Mens rea – Countries around the world differ in how they deal with the mens rea element in the law regarding rape. However, it is an extremely important factor in establishing whether or not the crime of rape has been committed. Lack of consent is key to the definition of rape. Consent is affirmative "informed approval, indicating a freely given agreement" to sexual activity. Basic terms

  5. Date rape Child sexual abuse Gang rape Types of rape Incestualrape Prison rape Marital rape War rape Statutoryrape International Crime on Statistics and Justice by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) find that worldwide, most victims of rape are women and most perpetrators male. Rapes against women are rarely reported to the police and the number of female rape victims is significantly underestimated. Victims of rape come from a wide range of:- genders, -ages, -sexual orientations, -ethnictities, -geographical locations, -cultures and degrees of impairment or disability.

  6. MotivesSeveral factors have been proposed: anger, power, sadism, sexual gratification, or evolutionary proclivities. However, some factors have significant causal evidence supporting them. Motives and consequences ConsequencesAccording to the WHO (World Health Organization): Gynecological disorders, Reproductive disorders, Sexual disorders, Infertility, Pelvic inflammatory disease, Pregnancy complications, Miscarriage, Sexual dysfunction, Acquiring sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, Mortality from injuries, Increased risk of suicide, Depression, Chronic pain, Psychosomatic disorders, Unsafe abortion, Unwanted pregnancy.

  7. Criminal code of Montenegro, Article 204 Rape. (1) Whoever performs sex act or an equal act against another person without the consent of that person shall be punished by an imprisonment sentence of one to eight years. (2) Whoever compels the other person to engage in sex act or an equal act by using force or threatening to directly attack the life or the body of that or another person shall be punished by an imprisonment sentence of two to ten years. (3) If the offense referred to in paragraphs 1 or 2 of this Article is committed with the threat that something about that or another person will be discovered that would damage his or her honor or reputation or threat of other serious misdeeds, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for one to eight years. (4) If the offense referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of this Article has caused a serious body injury to a person according to which the offense was committed or if the offense was committed by multiple persons, or in a particularly brutal or particularly humiliating manner or against the juvenile or the offense resulted in pregnancy, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for five to fifteen years. (5) If the offense referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of this Article has caused the death of the person according to whom the offense was committed or the offense was committed against a child, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment for at least ten years.

  8. 2-10 years The average sentence in Montenegro 15 years The maximum sentence was never pronounced 37 cases of rape Have been registred in 8 years

  9. Dark figure of crime Crimes known to police There is a term „dark figure of crime“,used by criminologists to describe the amount of unreported or undiscovered crime. When it comes to rape, the dark figure is 10 and even 15.

  10. Victims never cause rapeRapist do. Flirting does not cause rapeRapist do. 10 Short skirts dont cause rape.Rapist do. Drinking does not cause rape.Rapist do. She wore revealing clothes, she was asking for it!She only had male friends, she was asking for it!She was an eight year old?What is your excuse this time?

  11. MYTH: A rapist is a stranger.REALITY: 90% of the most serious sexual offences involve a perpetrator known by the victim. MYTH: Rape only happens in dark alleys. REALITY: 60% of women are attacked inside a building, and for 31% of women the rape occurs in their own home - the most common place of all. MOSTCOMMONSTEREOTYPESABOUT RAPE MYTH: People who get drunk or take drugs shouldn’t be surprised if they are raped and must take some of the blame. REALITY: Being vulnerable does not imply consent. The law states that if a person lacks the choice or capacity to consent then this is rape and 100% of the responsibility for that lies with the rapist. MYTH: Rape is a crime of sexual needs or uncontrollable urges. REALITY: People can, and do, control their sexual urges. Rape is a crime of violence, control, degradation and intimidation. MYTH: Women get raped because they are dressed provocatively. REALITY: If a person decides to rape someone, it makes no difference what the victim is wearing. MYTH: Rape only happens to certain types of people. REALITY: Rape can happen to anybody whatever their gender, class, race, ability or age. MYTH: Women say "no" but they mean "yes". REALITY: When women say no they mean no.

  12. WHAT'S TO BE DONE? Preventing rape means taking action before, during and after it has happened. Just because you're not a rapist, doesn't mean that you don't contribute to rape culture - when you victim-blame, when you don't educate people about this matter, when you violate people's privacy – when you accept to live in a society where rape is widespread and normalized, where we make excuses for it. Our actions matter!It is not enough that punishment is defined, it should also be applied, because rape is never the victim's fault. Blame the victim=Support the rapist If you blame the rape victim because her clothes were provocative, you must also blame the bank that was robbed because its content were provocative.

  13. „Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered the most – that has made it possible for evil to triumph.“-Haile Selassie

  14. Thank you for your attention! Any questions?

More Related