Sarah Finnigan
Crime aimed at women, specifically because they are women, is a major issue in today’s society. Rape, domestic violence, stalking, or psychological harm. Anybody dealing with these issues will find it extremely difficult. Many are too scared to report any of these offences, or tell anybody about it, for various reasons. Many women believe they are at fault; that it is their own fault that they have suffered. However, a huge issue is that in most cases, reporting an incident does not help in any way. According the The Guardian, only 5.7% of reported rape cases lead to a conviction. The main issue with police is that often reported cases are met with scepticism. A women will not report a rape or other sexual assault because if she does she will most likely be treated like a liar and have nothing to show for it in the end. Women reporting a rape offence are often treated as though they initiated the action, or deserved it because of their behaviour. According to the Home Office, 40% of victims of serious sexual assault tell nobody. Victims of less serious assault, such as harassment, are much less likely to be taken seriously. Most sexual assault behaviours are not clearly defined by the law - meaning that women who are treated in an extremely uncomfortable way have no help.
Albert R Roberts aims to highlight flaws in the judicial system and reveal the most effective ways of dealing with situations where crime is a huge problem. This involves not only what the justice system should do but also the help that should be available to victims when coming to terms with whatever incident has harmed them. Roberts gives a helpful and detailed account of the emergence of rape crisis centres and battered women’s shelters between 1970-1990. He also manages to answer the question of how these facilities came to be, why there was such a change after the seventies and how women themselves had such a huge impact. He states:
“By the mid 1970s, the women’s liberation movement had begun to correct the myth that the female victim of rape had in some way provoked the assault against her.”
Roberts shows how the emergence of these services for women emerged gradually detailing how services were granted funding. For example, rape crisis centres received a lot of funding from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, and from the National Centre for the Prevention and Control of Rape. Emergency Shelters received support by means of staff and funding from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Administration.
However, it is also clear that funding is not always enough to make a difference in these situations. Though there has been a huge difference in terms of help available to women since the 1970s, there are many who are still stuck. Roberts refers to the works of victimologists and the investigations undertaken by von Hentig, Mendelsohn, and Wolfgang, who looked into the ways victims may increase their vulnerability and victimization. The study of victimology looks at the situations and behaviours undertaken by those who become victims to understand what led to the incident occurring. The types of areas they look at are “determining victim proneness, the frequency of shared responsibility, and victim facilitation, precipitation, and provocation.” I looked into the idea of victim logy and found that it is not much use to helping a person in a dangerous situation. More recently, the study of victimology has been developed and researchers have tried to figure out ways of preventing and lessening the effects of violent crime on the victims. New studies are being carried out by modern victimologists to measure how effective current care systems are, including domestic violence programs, sexual assault treatment programs, victim services, and witness assistance in lessening victims’ trauma and in facilitating the recovery process. Roberts argument is that research into the reasons people become victims is beneficial to all because it has a great effect on the services available and allows the situations of violence and abuse to be prevented rather than waiting for it to happen before solving the issue.
However I would argue that one cannot specify exactly why a person becomes a victim. A woman beaten by her husband because he has a bad temper cannot be expected to change her behaviours just to appease him. I believe that this is completely counter productive. I do believe that research into why people become victims is valid as a matter of psychology but in terms of aiding those in need, I feel more has to be done to prevent it in ways such as police intervention and support for women who fear they may be abused and for those who have suffered minor instances of violence or harassment as well as those who have suffered major incidents.
Many believe that women are vulnerable because they are the weaker sex. This is often biologically true. On average, women are the weaker of the species and with a little bit of self defence knowledge an otherwise helpless woman may be able to fight or scare off a potential predator. Her Wits About Her - a book written by many women, survivors of attacks, and edited by Denise Caignon & Gail Groves - is an inspiring and empowering book aimed at helping women to feel less vulnerable when doing things such as walking at night, using public transport etc. There is a myth that if women are caught by a potential rapist or attacker, they will be too shocked to be able to do anything, or too weak to defend themselves. This book says that this is not the reality - that the main reason women survive attacks is because they keep a level head and use any method they can to stop an attack.
However, any attempted attack can potentially be just as difficult to come to terms with as an actual attack. This book is not only about those who have physically survived, but also mentally survived.
Gail Groves, editor of Her Wits About Her, and also writer of the Preface, previously worked for the Santa Cruz Women Against Rape hotline, and was a victim of attempted rape on two occasions in her life. Groves points out the difference between the huge number of assaults on women, and the tiny number of those reported to police. In one year of working at the hotline, they received over six hundred calls from women who had suffered rape or assault, or attempted assault, whereas the local police got only seventeen. Groves talks about the atmosphere between the workers at the hotline, how they came to bond through talking about success stories, their own experiences and the way women can be united through suffering. In many ways, the theme of the preface is inspiring. If all of these women can survive, and unite, then bad past experiences will be forgotten about.
However, the general feel of the book is a little naïve. While the stories of how women used simple methods to stop attackers is uplifting, and certainly does give some confidence to the reader that they would be able to do the same were such a situation to arise, the book doesn’t offer any insight to what it is like for somebody abused by someone they know. Self defence is useful, but a teenage girl trapped in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend, a mother trying to protect her children from a violent father, or a girl on a night out who has had something slipped into her drink will not be able to share in the same joy of having survived. The unseen rapes and assaults, the ones which are never reported, that women are too scared or ashamed to admit to, these are the real problems that must be solved. Groves is basically saying that speaking out about experiences is best -let others share in your success and thus feel success for themselves. However she is forgetting that many women will never speak of what happened to them.
The main issues in regards to women’s safety that need to be tackled are not being properly addressed. The biggest problem is the attitude society has towards women who have been victim to some sort of assault. Although on the surface the attitudes towards victimised women has changed, behind the façade the reality is much different. There needs to be real help put in place for society’s most vulnerable. While Roberts talks about looking at what causes assaults, Groves focuses on what prevents assaults. Both are equally valid points. The next step is figuring out a way of looking at what happens in the grey area. The emotional effects a woman suffers when under threat of attack or on the verge of violence is just as bad as those of someone who has been attacked. The question is finding the right source of help for these women.
