Lesson 2: Emotions and Criminal Behaviour

20 - Sexual Assault

Sometimes sexual assault appears under the heading of rape as well. It is a deliberate, violent act of sexual degradation. Sometimes sexual intercourse occurs against a person’s will (with or without injury to the victim). Sometimes the assault involves touching, or fondling of a person’s private body parts without their permission. Sexual assault sometimes includes other forms of violence against the person that occur in conjunction with the sexual encounter, such as beating or slashing inflicted with or without weapons.

What causes a person to commit sexual assault? Intimidation and fear are used to control and overpower someone against his or her will. The rapist has deep feelings of inadequacy that lead to violence. The rapist ambiguously views his victim as both a desired person and a despised one. Rape is most commonly a transgression by men against women, although homosexual rape occurs too.

Most rapes are planned either by the lone rapist or a gang. Sometimes a particular victim may be selected prior to the act. Or the idea to rape may be present, and the selection of a victim is left to chance when someone appears in the wrong spot at an opportune time for the assailant.

Sexual assault is risked in a variety of situations. Unfortunately, women are more at risk to sexual assault from people they know than from total strangers. Date rape is relatively easy for the aggressor because the woman assumes she is in a safe, friendly, and trusting relationship. Women who are separated or divorced from their spouses may be under continued risk of sexual assault from ex-partners in some circumstances. Gradually the law is recognizing that sexual assault may also occur in a marriage where one spouse controls the other sexually and may use some measure of force for sexual gratification.

Unlike victims of other crimes, the issue of resistance or lack of consent is very important and must be proven to the authorities by the rape victim. A common myth that still persists regarding rape is that the victim “was asking for it”. Some people hold the stereotype that the “victim” was an attractive young lady wearing provocative clothing. The facts are quite different. It is horrifying to know that the youngest known rape victim was a tiny infant and the oldest recorded rape victim was a women in her nineties.

The possibility of being sexually assaulted is a threat to anyone. It means that certain freedoms of independence cannot be taken for granted. To reduce the threat of rape, an individual is generally encouraged to conceal his/her personal identity (on mailboxes, apartment doors, and telephones) if living alone.