I happened upon this article about the treatment of female rapists and their male victims while reading on another website. The article excellently desrcibes many of the problems faced by boys and men who come forward. The ridicule soceity subjects them to for rejecting the experience of abuse as “good” often has a more profound result than people assume. One thing to note is that female rapists still receive lighter sentences for the same crime:
Studies have been mixed on whether female offenders get lighter sentences. In Texas prisons, women serving less than life for sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child or child rape were sentenced to 6,611 days on average, compared with 7,879 days for men convicted of the same crimes, according to a Chronicle analysis of prison data. The data also showed that women served lighter sentences for each of these crimes individually. Of the 645 inmates serving life for these crimes, six are female. Prison records do not detail specifics of crimes, such as age or sex of victims.
There still remains the problem of language and framing. The sexual assaults are labeled as “affairs,” “dates,” and “relationships,” something not done when the victim is female. There is also virtually no mention of female victims of female rapists, though the reaction tends to be different as society and the media seem to have no idea how to frame these assaults.
I think this is revelant to my recent posts. RJN says he will address this issue on Alas next year. I look forward to his post.
Toy Soldiers 