Social Constructions And Responses To The Deviant Nature Of Sexual Violence

Introduction

Sexual violence is a broad-spectrum term used to describe any sexually explicit act that is inflicted upon another person without consent or refusal by an offender using coercion (Basile et al 2014, 11; World Health Organisation 2018). The purpose of this essay is to examine the social constructions, impacts and responses to the deviant nature of sexual violence. Sexual violence and education amongst the youth, including legislative controls and changing societal views will be analysed to evaluate these attributes and their impact on the deviant nature of this act. The research presented will be used to propose recommendations, made in context of Australian society, that strive to implement further control to address the positive

Sanday (1996, 193) describes Eastern cultures and ‘third world’ countries as having higher possibilities of sexual violence due to religious and cultural influences. This is condoned as sexual violence can be part of ceremonial expressions or simply tolerated to punish women (Sanday 1996, 193; Baxi 2014, 141). For example, Eastern cultures such as Xhosa-speaking South African groups excuse sexual violence in certain cases due to sacred institutions such as marriage. Kidnapping, then sexually assaulting women to gain submission into marriage is a legitimate exertion of power in this culture due to the context and objective (marriage) of the act (Karimakwenda 2014, para.

The implementation of such strategies would prove to be beneficial as, for example, countries such as Canada have seen a reduction in sexual violence cases since the introduction of the ‘Yes makes sex hot. Get consent’ campaign (Beres 2014, 376). In 2014, 22 out of every 1000 Canadians aged 15 and over reported to have been victims of sexual violence (approximately 274 people), compared to that of Australia where 12446 people of the same age bracket (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, para. 2; Conroy and Cotter 2017, para. 1). Based on this research and research previously discussed, semi-formal controls will provide outcomes that ensure the probability that sexual violence remains and increases in deviant nature. This can be seen through in declination of sexually violent acts, making the act more deviant than before. In conjunction with this, stronger regulations regarding the frequency of sexual violence surveys and data collection should be conducted. Regular surveillance such as this will ensure that the issue is regularly managed, allowing for further strategies to be implemented more frequently if