Sexual Crime Victims should get Protected more by Law | Teen Ink

Sexual Crime Victims should get Protected more by Law

June 8, 2021
By nea8981 BRONZE, Nairobi, Other
nea8981 BRONZE, Nairobi, Other
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Striving for social justice is the most valuable thing to do in life."<br /> -Albert einstein


Rapists choose to become rapists. Victims don't choose to become victims. 

In 94 percent of all cases; the victim gets diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. How we treat victims in today's society just adds to the list of all the negative things victims have to go through— it is truly devastating to read about. 

The current punishments for rape and sexual assault are too short. 

The fact that people have been taught how to protect themself for example; holding your keys is a special way to be able to protect yourself, and that many are scared to walk home alone should be a problem itself. I'm thirteen and I already know what to do if something were to happen, I should have to know that. 

Take Brock Turner for instance; after sexually assaulting an intoxicated and unconscious woman. He was supposed to sit in jail for six months, (instead of six years), but walked out of prison after only three months. 

How is it fair that someone can ruin a young girl's life in minutes, and then be able to forget all about it only three months after? In my opinion, Rapists shouldn't have a chance to start over.  

The laws for sexual crime are not severe enough.

The numbers of sexual crimes wouldn't be this high if the laws of sexual crime were severe enough. There is a reason for the percentages to be this high. one in three have been sexually assaulted.

“It is estimated that 734,630 people were raped (including threatened, attempted, or completed rape) in the U.S. in 2018.” The fact that this is in the US alone and in only one year scares me.

Ninety-seven percent of all women in the UK have been sexually assaulted, “every 68 seconds another American is sexually assaulted”.

By the time you're reading this at least one new American has gotten sexually assaulted, depending on how fast you read.

If the laws for sexual crime were more severe, it would help decrease the number of sexual crimes because rapists would have more to risk. Potential rapists would more likely realize that it is wrong if more rapists were put in jail. 

In “1ooo sexual assaults 955 predators will walk free”, and they will never spend a day in jail for what they did. 

Victims are harassed by society

There have been multiple cases of judges questioning and blaming/harassing sexual crime victims; for example Judge John F. Rosso Jr,  Judge Rosso asked a rape victim if she “closed her legs to prevent assault”.  

Another big issue is “rape culture” — when rape is normalized and justified online. 

Some examples of “rape culture” are sayings like:


 • “she or he asked for it” (referring to the victim)

 • Making up excuses for rape such as “well what were u wearing” or “boys will be boys”


 • Making “rape jokes”, and “teaching” girls how  “not to get raped”,


 • Referring to men that have gotten raped as “weak”.  


These sayings listed are just a few out of many. 

Victims aren't even safe around Police officers

Most people hold a lot of trust towards police officers, so for officers to abuse their power shouldn't be a thing.

“An example came from one of the many troubling findings in the Justice Department’s investigation of the Baltimore Police Department... with an officer describing one victim as "a conniving little w****" and one detective allegedly claiming that "all our cases are bull****." 

Not to mention when two police officers kidnapped and raped a handcuffed teenager. “Martins told the young woman he and his partner are “freaks''... Martin forced the handcuffed teen to perform a sex act on him while seated in the back seat of the van as Hall drove and watched through the rearview mirror. Martins then… raped the victim.”

Court records say that the officers stopped the van four miles away to switch places, Hall then proceeded to do the same thing as Martins did before him, he raped the teenager in handcuffs. Two police officers, grown men, she was only a teenager.

The fact that they were two and at least one of them could have saved the young girl from lifelong trauma just makes it even worse.  Cops are supposed to protect us; not the ones we need to be protected from. 

The teenager later got taken to a lab; where it was proved that both officers raped her—they found both police officers' DNA. Both police officers quitted their job as officers three days before the trial, (none of the officers were fired).

The amount of fear this girl must have felt, helpless in the back of a van, with two police officers, handcuffed. It's truly devastating that this still happens today, how could two monsters like these be allowed to become officers in the first place. 

The fact that both officers had the power to save the young girl but chose not to; and then was able to choose to quit their job is just in every way unacceptable.


The author's comments:

This piece is written to help open teenager's and grownups' eyes. I don't think this issue is talked about enough. I wrote this article to be the one that talks about it when no one else does. I really hope this article will make people be more aware of the topic and maybe contribute to the big changes I hope one day will occur. This is a reminder to educate your kids, family, and friends. I want you to talk about it, together we can make a change.


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