Female Sex Offenders Analysis

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The controversial idea of females being sex offenders is represented by the proportion of women in jail or accused is most likely disproportionate to reality. In the United Kingdom for example, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation estimates that up to 64,000 women are sex offenders, yet fewer than 2 percent of the people on the sex offenders registry are women (Townsend & Syal, 2009). Female sex offenders are often ignored and under reported due to gender roles that portray men who were assaulted or who believe they were assaulted as weak. Additionally low female offender percentage is due to police and other professionals not treating male rape victims as a serious concern. In addition, media portrayals of sexual assault and rape create an everyday …show more content…

In the case of male sex offenders, society treats them as guilty until proven innocent. This is due to the prevalence of stereotypes in which the public is shown stories of male only sexual offenders. In the case of female sex offenders, often the assailants crime is portrayed as romantic in nature and the victim is seen as lucky to have been with an older woman (Sanghani, 2015). Arousal is more easily expressed by the male body, therefore it is assumed that since men had an erection and achieved orgasm that they enjoyed it, it could be used as a sign of consent. Using biological functions as a way to determine if someone enjoyed a sexual assault, society ultimately dismisses the assault. The idea that a man could enjoy an assault comes from the underlying stereotypes of …show more content…

Feminist criminological thought is used to examine how the patriarchal society that we live in negatively affects men and women. Weiss (2010) found that men who are victims of sexual crimes often end up confused as to whether they were assaulted and if they should report it or not. Men are confused because of the gender roles in which the patriarchal society subjects them too. Masculinity tells men that they are more powerful and should always be ready for sexual relations with females. Javaid (2015) examined police responses to the male victims that do report the crimes that were committed. Javaid (2015) and Denov’s (2001) findings were very similar in that police officers do not treat male rape seriously. They believe that no man would say no to sex and that they themselves would want to be sexually assaulted by a female. Frei (2008) states that due to the gender roles in society, the media reports extensively on the few female sex offenders that are charged. They show the women as sick and perverted since she deviated from her stereotypical role of a care giver. Finally Hayes and Baker (2014) found that judges give female sex offenders much less time in jail than male sex offenders. This is because the gender roles of women are not violent and are nurturing and loving which is how the judges interpret the attack. They perceive