VICTIMS OF RAPE AND THE LAW

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Victims of rape

Victims of rape are vulnerable of being blamed compared to the victims of interpersonal crimes. The empirical process hinders the process of blaming these victims. Rape is a heinous act but the victim of rape is accused many times during the examination process. A woman in Pennsylvania was blamed for her own rape as the defender used victim blaming. The claims stated that a 24-years old typist was herself responsible and involved in the act of rape. The lawyer of the defender claimed that she was involved in three sex-crimes by involving her past sexual history. This reflects the use of blaming victim that is the violation of the Sixth Amendment. Victim-defending claims that the women was not responsible from the rape and has a right to conceal her past sexual history.

Blaming victim is a situation in which the victim of the crime is accused for the fault or harm either partially or entirely. It states that the victim of the crime is also responsible for it and could have acted in a way that would have discouraged crime. It is most commonly used in the rape cases by the defender who males a claim against the victim. Victim perceptions indicates how victim has encountered with the offender and may has contributed to thee crime. The claim states why the victim didn’t used physical force to escape the crime such as rape. Victim-defending perspectives claims that the victim who has been raped has done nothing wrong in the case and was a real victim of rape CITATION Cla191 \l 1033 (Gravelin, Biernat, & Bucher, 2019).

A rape shield is a law that influence the ability of introducing evidence related to the cross-examine rape cases and complaints about such behaviors. The law is also used for restricting from disclosing or publishing the identity of the victim of the rape (Viki & Abrams, 2002). The purpose of this law is to limit the evidence related to the past sexual history of the victim that the defendant can use against the them. This is violation of the Sixth Amendment because it require confronting one’s accuser. Rape shield supports victim blaming. This is because these laws encourage reporting and increases the rate of prosecution. The past sexual record of the victim must not give an advantage to the defendant or distract the court. The law acts in the favor of the victims by not inquiring their past sexual lives. it is defendant’s right to conceal such history that could give leverage to the defendant CITATION Cas93 \l 1033 (Spoh & Horney, 1993).

The purpose of the rape shield law was to support the females because they were raped and blamed for their past sexual history. The laws were supported by the Sixth Amendment and the focus was to shift the focus from the victim to offender. The changes in the rules of evidence were for giving more power to the victims and supporting them throughout the process of inquiring. The defenders often used the past history of the victims for manipulating the case that weakened the case of female victims. The laws acted and promoted the belief that confrontation of the victims with the defender can have negative impacts on their personality. This law is linked to blaming victim because it discourage the defenders from affecting the reputation and behavior of the victim. It is also difficult for them to influence the case in court by using such evidence and misleading the judges.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Gravelin, C. R., Biernat, M., & Bucher, C. E. (2019). Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors. Front. Psychol .

Spoh, C., & Horney, J. (1993). Rape Law Reform and the Effect of Victim Characteristics on Case Processing . Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 9 (4).

Varelas N., Foley L. A. (1998). Blacks’ and Whites’ perceptions of interracial an intraracial date rape. J. Soc. Psychol. 138 392–400.

Viki G. T., Abrams D. (2002). But she was unfaithful: benevolent sexism and reactions to rape victims who violate traditional gender role expectations. Sex Roles 47 289–293.