The UK Sexual Offences Act of 2003 Neglecting Sexual Violence against Males

Rape and sexual abuse are unquestionably illegal. It is punishable in almost all civilized countries throughout the world, and the law mandates a psychotherapy combination, because rapists are frequently inadequate in terms of their mental state. Nonetheless, because to the provided statistics of depreciation, rapists are frequently men, and victims are primarily women, in the majority of people's eyes. There is also a distinction between the concepts of "rape" and "sexual coercion". In fact, the subject of rape can be both a man and a woman, and the victim can only be a woman. With regard to sexual coercion, the victim and the subject of the crime can be both a man and a woman.

All over the world, there are laws that might lead to imprisonment if they are not followed. For example, in the UK there is the Sexual Offences Act of 2003 that, according to its content, is characterized by specific wording and it contains a large list of criminalized crimes of a sexual nature. Nevertheless, in the act itself, the potential actions are mostly addressed to women, rather than to men. Despite the fact that according to statistics, mostly women are subjected to violence, it does not mean that men cannot be victims of rapists. This paper aims at in-depth analysis of the UK Sexual Act of 2003 in order to determine whether this law is able to protect males from sexual abuse and its consequences and what should be done in order to equalize the rights of people of both genders.

Punishment for Sexual Offences in the UK

Abusers always receive imprisonment as punishment for rape, depending on the gravity of the crime, and also on many other factors. Currently in the UK there is only one type of imprisonment (“Sexual Offences Definitive Guideline”, 2014). If in the statute the term of imprisonment is not strictly defined, then it cannot exceed 2 years. Certain restrictions on the imposition of sentences in the form of imprisonment have long been enshrined at the legislative level in the laws on criminal justice and other statutes and do not apply only to cases where a person is found guilty of a crime punishable by the law (rape of high severity: possibly with murder). Imprisonment will be imposed only when the court concludes that rape actually took place and is of a sexual nature, and only such punishment will be adequate to protect the public from the serious harm caused by this crime. Consequently, a court may impose a sentence of imprisonment only for a serious crime or an offense of a violent or sexual nature.

When imposing a sentence in the form of imprisonment, the court is required to state its opinion on the punishment in an open court session and to justify the reasons for its application, and in any case explain the offender in plain language why he or she is sentenced to imprisonment. When punishment in the form of imprisonment is appointed for a period longer than that required by the rule of proportionality of punishment and the seriousness of the crime established in the law, the court must justify the reasons that led to it. It should also be explain to the offender in plain language in open court, why the punishment is fixed for a longer period. It should be noted that in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act of 2003, imprisonment for rape can be divided into several types, on which the duration of the criminal’s presence in prison and the possibility of early release depend on the condition of his subsequent being under supervision. The parole system was introduced in the UK by the Criminal Justice Act of 1967, according to which a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment for at least 12 months was entitled to early release after serving one-third of his or her sentence or after serving 12 months in the case if he or she was sentenced to imprisonment for more than 12 months.

What the Sexual Offenses Act of 2003 Implies

The Sexual Offenses Act of 2003 consists of three parts, and the first one includes 72 articles that contain a large number of crimes, including qualified ones, that are separate crimes. A distinctive feature of this statute is the frequent use of rules on strict liability, especially when it comes to children under the age of 13 that clearly expresses the aim of protecting children and adolescents from sexual violence and exploitation. The law creates a number of quasi-crimes with criminal sanctions for failure to comply with civil orders, for instance, to prevent sexual crimes issued by the court against persons convicted of such crimes. In accordance with the formulation of the act, a rape victim might be a woman and a man, but only a man can do it, and a woman that forces a man to forcibly perform a sexual act does not commit rape.

The guilty act of crime consists in penetration, performed in the absence of consent of the victim. “Mens rea” of crime consists of intention to penetrate and the lack of reasonable assurance of the victim’s consent. According to the Article 74: “A person is considered to have given consent, if he or she agrees to the proposed choice, has the freedom and ability to make such a choice”. Consequently, the victim (male or female) cannot be recognized as having given consent unless he or she has the opportunity to make a choice or does not have the freedom to make a choice, for example, because of weapons attached to his or her head. The issue of consent or its absence is the most difficult aspect in proving the composition of rape. The definition in each concrete case of the existence of a valid consent as a defense against criminal liability falls within the competence of the jury trial that must be guided by the presumptions set forth in the articles 75 and 76 of the Law and are applicable not only in cases of rape charges, but also in the commission of other sexual crimes.

Precedents of violence, unfortunately, are not uncommon for English criminal law. One of the most striking examples of this is Flattery case, when the defendant claimed that it was necessary for the treatment of the patient. Williams was found guilty of raping his student, because he managed to convince a girl who did not know anything about the nature of sexual relations, that this is one of the ways to teach singing. Although the student did not show any resistance, the jury admitted that rape was committed.

Evidence of the presence or lack of knowledge of the victim as to the nature of the action being committed is very important for solving the issue of the qualification of the crime. In fact, in many cases victim might not realize that the actions of his or her rapist incline her or him to have sex against own will. He or she can perceive such actions in such a way that he or she agrees to everything voluntarily. However, there is no agreement when the accused person seeks an appropriate act by impersonating another person. Consent given by mistake regarding the identity of the perpetrator cannot be recognized as valid given.

Literature Review

In order to verify the statement that men in the UK are less likely to attempt to violent sexual acts, unlike women, various studies and experiments have been carried out by sociologists and psychologists. Walker et al. (2005) conducted a study, in which young men older that the age of 16 years old participated. The issue of child victimization was brought up. As a result, it was proven that the risk of sexual victimization can be increased for children of both sexes and as children get older the probability to get raped can vary, depending on various circumstances. Antonia et al. (2001) determined that there are many influencing factors of sexual assault perpetration, but none of them can become a factor of committing sexual assault. Researches show that women become victims of violence by a person they know and trust the most often. Such a person can be, for instance, a friend, husband or partner. Perhaps that person, in turn, also came across childhood sexual abuse from his close or familiar adults. As it can be concluded, the studies are aimed at studying the factors of influence on the behavior of potential abusers of women, but not of men.

Fergusson and Mullen (1999) conducted a review of various studies that investigated prevalence of child sexual abuse in the 1990s and it was found out that about 62.1% females and between 3% and 29% males have been raped. Such results imply that mostly females can get raped, so there is the probability that it might be a heterosexual person with mental problem that would stalk young girls to rape them, no boys. Anderson and Whiston (2005) concluded that nowadays various prevention programs that aim at reducing sexual assault by changing people’s attitude toward the notion of sexual assault exist. Universities and colleges work on their implementation into study programs. A meta-analysis that implies conduction of in-depth research on the effects sexual assault prevention programs through analyzing what kinds of programs are effective at changing attitudes toward sexual assault and which ones are not and how to change it.

As it can be seen, most cases of rape were always based on the data that female have always been victims of male perpetrators. Nonetheless, in the society rape is still considered as a feminist issue that implies there can be no male victims of sexual assault at all. (Mezey and King, 1989). Struckman-Johnson and Struckman-Johnson (1993) have conducted several studies that aimed at definition of the basic scenario paradigm and at determination of the factors that usually influence people’s perceptions and judgments towards unwanted sexual touches. The researchers asked college students to imagine the situation, in which people that they were unfamiliar with accidentally touched their bodies or genitals. All female respondents were asked to determine and explain the way they thought they would feel if they became victims of rapists.

As a result, female respondents stated that they had an absolutely negative reaction to men’s touches. Nonetheless, men responded that they would consider the same genital touch by a female as a minimally negative one. It can be concluded that people of both genders considered those touches as negative ones. Thus, it can be concluded that sexual violence against men is not taken seriously and is considered an infrequent phenomenon. Studies and surveys show that, in general, women are squeamish and fear not only violence, but even touches of men that are not their partners or husbands. At the same time, men either minimize disdain or do not consider women’s touch to their genitals as something unpleasant.

Many researches on the characteristics of male perpetrators that aimed at determination of their heterogeneous group have been conducted. Those ones aimed at examining the most known cases of maleon-male sexual assault. Almond et al. (2013) determined the 2 groups of men that are potential boys or men rapists. The first group implies that homosexual men that tended to attack other men in order to get sexual gratification. The second group consists of heterosexual men that are able to commit sexual assault against boys or men aiming at an expression of their ability to dominate other people: men, in general. Hodge and Canter (1998) conducted some classification analysis of a sample of male-on-male sexual assault cases. As a result, men's actions were determined as committing assault for obtaining. It might include several perpetrators. The ones that committed assaults for having intimacy were considered to have some social interactions with the men that they were about to rape.

Rapes with male victims of female perpetrators are another situational option. This is the rarest one; however, it occurs in the UK. Smith et al. (1988) conducted an experimental research that aimed at investigation of people’s blaming towards male victims of sexual assault. According to the results, male victims were considered more likely to cause the situation and even experience pleasure when being “raped”. 47% of male participants stated that raping of a man by a woman was pleasurable for them; however, only 9% of female participants stated that it was a huge stress and a moral injury for them. The researchers concluded that such males’ positive attitude towards sexual assaults that are initiated by females. The potential rapists are confident about their male victims having to be ready for sex and enjoy it. Additionally, Davies et al. (2006) proved that victim’s sexual orientation can also influence the actions towards male victims by potential female rapists. Nonetheless, the authors concluded that men-“rapists” deride their male victims aiming at making them accept rapists’ behavior.

Latest Cases in the UK

In 2017 there was a case, in which 17 men and 1 woman were imprisoned. They soldered women and girls with drinks and stuffed drugs, and then attacked them. As a result, those people committed in total 100 crimes, which included rape, human trafficking, and the inducement of girls to prostitution within 3 years - from 2011 to 2014. The victims were women from 13 to 25 years old and they were vulnerable and quiet. As it can be seen, the victims were women and soldering from alcoholic beverages and the incitement to drug use was made only for raping them eventually. This case is one of the most recent ones and news feeds are full of headlines about women becoming victims of sexual violence by men, but not vice versa. At the same time, boys or men were not harmed in such crimes, because initially the rapists’ goal was girls.

The UK Ministry of Justice creates reports on Sexual Offending annually. Based on data from reports of 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012, UK females tended to become victims of a sexual offence of different kinds more than males (“An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales”, 2013). Additionally, most cases were considered as related to “other sexual offences” that include sexual threats and undesired touching. According to the latest report, males were much less likely to state that they were victims of serious sexual offences (about (0.1%). Reports on recent years, as well as news from recent years and statistics indicate that mostly girls and women became victims of rapists, and mostly adult men were rapists, and they approached it gradually and using alcohol or drugs.

Moreover, cases of violent violence sometimes try to remain silent, to hide or leave the perpetrators unpunished. For example, in 2010, five men from Rotherham received prison sentences for raping little girls (Tufail, 2015). According to police reports, they were not about to deal with victims in this case, since they felt uncomfortable and dissatisfied with this case. According to the head of the police district, the police had to review their practice of conducting such cases, as well as the responsible men were punished on merit. The rapists themselves, most of them were emigrants from Asia. The child victims have not received the necessary protection, despite the judges’ ambiguous conclusions about the situation.

Moreover, the police chiefs initially did not believe the information about the violence of the girls by these men, therefore all 3 reports were ignored. The investigation team headed by the professor also discovered that in the early 2000s, when a group of social workers tried to follow the fate of children at risk, the police chiefs again did not provide any assistance to the children and did not provide support.

In this case there is a problem of non-acceptance of the problem of violence in general. This case points to the lack of desire to understand and solve the problem of sexual abuse of children in the UK. The responsible men were put in prison, but no one received any psychological or medical help from the little girls. The consequences of sexual abuse of a child are very serious. The girls would have to cope with the consequences of abuse of their confidence, with a sense of powerlessness, horror and pain in solitude and in silence.

Ashitaq Asghar has been beating Laura Wilson, tied her naked to a tree in the woods and has been raping her (Cooper, 2011). He had stolen her when she was 11 years and has been torturing her for 6 years. There were several litigations and, as it turned out later, there were hundreds of both criminals and victims. The terrible exposures became known later: children were pumped up with drugs, threatened with murder, and involved in prostitution. When Laura appealed to the police and wrote a statement, it was declined. The girl and her family were always told to forget about everything and move on. Laura Wilson also immediately reported it to the police management but there was no result at all. It became known that the local police not only ignored hundreds of statements from children and parents, but also they did not pay any attention to 3 reports from various human rights organizations.

Conclusion

Summing up everything said above, it should be concluded that both at the end of the last century and nowadays the issue of capturing and punishing rapists is vital and the examples described above only confirm this. Despite legislative amendments and new acts, the problem of impunity is the main problem in the United Kingdom today. The statistics of recent years show that in almost 90% of the cases, girls and women are the victims of rapists, and most rapists are men. The reverse situation happens much less often, and a woman-rapist is an extreme rarity both in the UK and in the world. Undoubtedly, the 2003 act has brought significant adjustments and clarifications to the classification of what rape is and for what and how rapists should be punished. Thus, on the one hand, the act describes the concept of women's rape more specifically, but not men’s one. In this case, when a man rapes a man, theoretically it would be more difficult to determine whether it was at victim’s own will and how it happened. Thus, it can be conclude that from the point of view of jurisprudence, the act could be corrected and detailed. However, it is not done, as the rape of boys and men is much less frequent in the UK.

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