ARTICLE SUMMARY

Article Summary

Assault History and follow-up Contact Of Women Survivors of

Recent Sexual Assault

Introduction

In this paper we are going to analyse the article of “Assault history and follow-up contact ofwomen survivors of recent sexual assault” written by Anita D. Boykins and Sarah Mynatt. In this article the authors demonstratss that female criminality was an important issue in the nineteenth century and the way in which female criminals were seen was not a straightforward matter.

Author Hypothesis

From latest historical studies of female misdeed in the nineteenth century, some differences between men and women become apparent:

They tended to consign distinct types of crime,

The legal system treated them differently.

 

Summary

The available clues have shown that female misdeed turned down all through the nineteenth century but that popular concerns actually increased. In the nineteenth century, there were very strict and well-defined ideas about femininity and acceptable modes of behavior for women. Thus women were anticipated to be passive, moral, mild and caring, characteristics which went hand-in-hand with their roles as a wife and mother. His idea penetrated all aspects of life in the nineteenth Century and began early in a woman's life, i.e. throughout socialization. When a woman pledged a misdeed she not only smashed the law but went against the traditional ideas of femininity. Women should not be considered as one homogeneous group.(Anita, 2007) Working-class women, juvenile women, black women, married women and women dwelling in urban or rural areas etc. all had distinct life experiences and distinct expectations placed upon them. These factors should always be taken into consideration when researching or studying female criminality.

Critique

There was particular anxiety about female prostitution in nineteenth century society. Although the buying or selling of sex was not illegal, other aspects of prostitution, such as soliciting or holding a brothel, were.

Generally speaking, women were not associated with committing brutal crimes like killing, although of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Many women were, although, convicted of crimes relating to young children, such as infanticide and bastardize. In the main, it seems that the prosecutors and the courts were more sympathetic towards women and were less worried with prosecuting their crimes, particularly when compared with men. One possible explanation for this is that women were regarded as less criminal than men and as victims of forces after their control. Thus they came to be considered as requiring to be defended from negative influences. For women who were recognised as ...