Outline and critically debate why the conviction rate for rape remains Essay

Outline and critically debate why the conviction rate for rape remains so low (UK BASED RESEARCHERS ONLY BECAUSE THERE ARE CURENT ISSUES ON THE SUBJECT THAT REQUIRE SOMEONE RESIDENT IN THE U.K - Essay Example If there is a low reporting percentage of women being raped, there is even a lower percentage of males reporting they were raped. This is associated with the issue of consent, acceptance and willingness. Whether it is a male or a female being forced to perform any sexual act without a conscious consent, then it can be considered as a rape or sexual assault case. Thus, it is important to establish the legal definition of sexual crime, and the accompanying protection that it gives the victims, making them realize that it is not their fault and it is not willingness if they accept to do the sexual act when they are paralyzed by fear or when making a choice between doing the sexual act or dying in the hands of the assailant. Forcing someone to commit any sexual act without their consent is a sexual assault or rape. The 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act redefined rape to take account of female, as well as, male victims (Anderson and Doherty p.83). It amended the definition of rape to cover vaginal or anal intercourse against a man or a woman. This significantly changed the view on rape and acknowledged that men can also be raped. However, rape literature indicates that sexual victimization of men is a serious, yet largely invisible problem in the society (ibid p.83). This is largely influenced by the actual and perceived societal responses on such incidences because of the normative expectations about masculinity (ibid p.83). Because they are seen as the protectors and the stronger sex, they believe that being raped indicates weakness, or association with being gay. Although there are reported and non-reported incidences of male rape, this paper focuses of female rape. The focus of this paper is the low rape conviction rape in the United Kingdom, and how this affects other sexual crime cases, the victims, and the society itself. The first thing to consider is how the law is structured.