Intersection Between Female Victims And Offenders

Running head: INTERSECTION BETWEEN FEMALE VICTIMS AND OFFENDERS

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders

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Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 2

Introduction

Nearly, a quarter of women experience either physical or sensual assault by a close

partner. The number of these women amount to about one million. According to (Logan et al.,

2006), in spite of the fact that advocacy groups have worked for over three decades to eradicate

this form of violence, the numbers of women victimized is still shocking. For instance, back in

2005, at least 1500 women were murdered by their partners which is approximate of three

women in a single day. A close partner killed all of these women brutally killed within the

United States. On domestic violence, according to the reports released by the National Centre of

injury deterrence and control, approximately 4.8 million females have been reported bodily

abused or sexually molested by close partners. A number of of these women even seek medical

attention.

Also, a large number of women still experiences rape from either close partners or other

people. According to (Cavington, 1998), the data collected by the center for Illnesses control and

prevention, at least one out of five women have experienced rape in their life. Most of the

commonly reported cases of injuries from women being from physical assaults and rape. Some

of these women seek medical care, but a significant number do not report to the medical centers

to seek assistance.

Additionally, most female prisoners have experienced abuse before going to jail. The

kind of treatment these women receive while in prison worsens their trauma and in a way, it

heightens the risk of repeating an offense. Apart from the fact that victimization is and

traumatizing women, prisoners are wrong, life in prison is costly, and everyone should not

worsen the mental health issues among these prisoners since most of them will re-enter the

society after serving their jail term.

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 3

Prison is known to be a violent place. The primary form of violence that women face

while in prison is sexual victimization. These sort of victimization ranges from sensual to

nonconsensual sexual harassments. The heightened number of reports on women victimization of

imprisonment compelled the human rights to investigate the issue. According to the results

obtained from five hundred and sixty-four women who contributed in a survey conducted using

audio-CASI, these women reported experiencing various forms of assaults in prison. A least 212

of these women had experienced sexual victimization while in prison.

Intersection between Feminine Victims and Criminals

Females in the correctional scheme have high rates of sensual oppression in their life,

typically since childhood which is often accompanied by other sorts of interpersonal violence.

According to (Stathopoulos and Quadara, 2014), currently, there is a higher recognition of

women law-breakers previous high levels of discrimination, their precise ways of offending. In

the last two decades, there is a heightened number of women entering correctional facilities in

the world. Many of these females have a past of either physical or sexual assault in their

childhood, as teens or in their adulthood. Also, some come from socially disadvantaged

backgrounds, and other have mental needs. The challenges women face are entirely different as

compared omen hence, calling for the need to support female’s rehabilitation centres.

According to research, the history of sexual and physical assaults is a pervasive aspect of

many women offenders which at some point could be the reason why many engage themselves

in law-breaking acts. Also, their experiences and the capacity to participate in rehabilitation

programs depends so much on their history. The role of sexes and gendered differences in the

society provides a pathway to women committing offensive acts. The current studies indicate

that the case of women offends, re-offending and not willing to participate in rehabilitation

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 4

programs depends on the history of these offenders. Even though the rehabilitation frameworks

work tirelessly to help these women, it is still not enough to address the specificity of women

offending. Many of these offenders are victims of assaults in the past (Stathopoulos and Quadara,

2014).

As compared to men, women pathways to and fro prisons are different. The types of

offenses and the circumstances are entirely different to those committed by men. Also, women

offenders who get imprisoned come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and have high

ranks of necessities. For those interventions facilities both criminal and well-being facilities need

to acknowledge the nature of traumatizing from child sexual abuse, the inter-linked kind of

trauma and how they might shape the woman pathways to law-breaking. Finally, whether the

correctional facilities and their gendered routes into offending and security management which

can influence trauma-related actions and environments for female offenders.

Correctional centres need to support offenders who have sensual assault history by

developing a sense of safety and bodily integrity, bring together the awareness of the

consequences of trauma with programs not specifically established to deal with traumatized

offenders. Also, embed and support the interventions via policies that understand the

implications of victimization on the survivors, assume the responsibility victimization.

Relationships and socially disadvantaged backgrounds that directly associates with the woman

pathway to offensive behaviors and their rehabilitation needs (Stathopoulos and Quadara, 2014).

While providing women offenders with services in prison, the facilities should try to

analyse the differences between some of the offenders. Some of these women come from

vulnerable populations hence tend to have complex needs. The indigenous women make the

largest percentage of imprisoned women, and they have their own needs in the criminal justice

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 5

system. The rates of victimization to these women is high. Most of the women who are convicted

due to offensive behaviors, come from rough backgrounds which makes them seek for survival

mechanisms in the wrong approaches. Most of them engage themselves in acts of drug use and

drug abuse which at some point make them victims of sexual and physical assaults and finally

end up in prison. The society should help these offenders to recover after imprisonment to go

back to who they used to be before committing the offenses

Domestic Violence

In most cases, females are more probable to experience domestic violence as compared to

men with an average percent of these women amounting to 85 percent. A large number of

women remain victims of domestic violence either physically, financially, emotionally or a

combination of the three form of assaults. Each day, the world is inundated with emerging stories

concerning domestic violence from violence experienced by the wives of some athletes and some

celebs abusing their girlfriends in public. According to (Bourgois, 2000), the research conducted

by the coalition against domestic violence, every nine seconds, American women are assaulted

or between, and one in three women have been victims of physical brutality from either a close

associate. The report hence indicating that intimate brutality is the leading cause of injuries

amongst women. According to Huffington post released last year, it may difficult t believe that

the number of women killed by domestic violence added up to nearly double that of the

American soldiers killed in Iraq.

Even though during the last ten years cases of domestic violence have decreased by ten

percent in the United States, there is still a good number of women and children who live under

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 6

hostile homes due to abusive father figures. As a result, many children to run away from home to

stay safe from this form of brutality. Also, women experience various forms of violence ranging

from family, gender-based, emotional and psychological, non-partner sexual assaults among

others. As a result, these types of abuse makes some women traumatized since they are even

embarrassed or afraid to ask for help from their families and the relevant authorities.

Currently, only 34 percent of women who experience intimate assaults seek medical care

for these injuries, and even lesser women get legal help from the authorities. According to

(Bourgois, 2000), a survey conducted by National violence against women, only twenty-five

percent of these assaults against women reach the police. Also, women at a higher chance of

being killed after leaving abusive marriages after two weeks. Those who manage to leave their

abusive husbands do not comfortably fit because other than physical assaults; they are also

abused financially with a percentage of 98 percent in which their husband had control of the

money. Also, roughly between 21 percent and 60 percent of the violated women lose their jobs

due to the adverse effects of the abuse. They may manage to escape from the abusive husbands

but end up with no earnings and no financial resources (Bourgois, 2000),

Domestic violence act as the leading cause of homelessness. According to a survey

conducted by the leading collation for the homelessness, at least ten million children experience

domestic violence which is preventable if these forms of local assaults ended. Even though the

government has implemented laws against women violence, it is still not enough to eradicate the

malice hence, the key to eliminating these assaults is to change people’s attitudes.

Patriarchy

The current communities emerged from agrarian societies. Way before the agricultural

revolution, the endurance and physical strength of men translated to political power. Men have

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 7

the responsibility to fight during wars, erect buildings and plowing fields precisely because they

had the energy and physical stamina to do such tasks as compared to women. During that time,

fertility did matter a lot since people lived to have children and kids were the most significant

men and women brought into existence. Women had the responsibility to carry pregnancies and

reproduce and build the societies.

Back then, many kids did not live to see their second birthday. Due to physical challenges

and rampant diseases, the mortality rate was high. Many people died before they reached thirty-

eight years of age and those kids who lived till teenage, they could at least see forty-eight years

of their life. So aid, the role of women back then wasn’t dictated by men but rather, dictated by

the society needs. The child birthplace could not take place in medical facilities or day care

centers because there did not exist. All that existed then were family and religious establishments

such as churches and temples. The lack of sophistication in the society relegated individuals with

their roles for instance physical activities for men while women stayed at home to manage the

homes and take care of the kids (Cobbina, 2013)

Back then, women did not question their roles in the society, and even the queens

believed and appreciated their responsibilities in the community. (Cobbina, 2013) with medical

and industrial revolution, everything is different. Suddenly, there exist wealth in surplus to pay

for school fees and other social programs, machines have equalized both female and male

strengths, education for all genders hence giving every person the chance to participate in the

society.

With this type of revolution, the necessity where people gave birth to preserve the society

diminished and also, machines replaced men work in the factories. With those changes, gender

equality has been on the rise and the community is advocating for equal treatment of our women

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 8

too. A survey conducted among 1500 hundred people last year indicate that people feel that both

men and women should have same rights in the society but three out of the four participants said

that women still experienced inequality. Approximately a fifth of both and women involved in a

survey globally say that women are inferior to men and should not aspire to work beyond their

houses. According to (Cobbina, 2013), roughly twenty-five percent of the participants believe

that men are more capable of functioning better than women when it comes to working and

earning a living for their families. Male chauvinism remain a threat to our society where men are

always believed to have more capacity to build the nations as compared to women. Despite the

rampant campaigns and women groups fighting for equal rights for men and women, the society

still has not fully transformed into giving women the same fair chances like men.

Also, even though some women have managed to secure themselves high places in the

society, many are still left behind under the care of their husbands and even those who obtain

jobs, yet have lower incomes as compare to men. Additionally, the cases of single mothers in the

society keep on heightening as women struggle to find themselves treated as equally as men do.

Those who succeed to live on their own without depending on men are still few as compared to

homemakers and others who earn little and cannot manage their lives without the help of their

partners.

Women Experiences of Victimization

In the modern society, most women are still under men who victimize them than the

community could tell. Most of these women choose to remain silent due to fear and the

embarrassment of admitting that they are victims of violence either physically or sexually.

According to (Stewart, 2004), the cycle of violence concentrates on the repetitive aspect of

violent actions and the perpetrator’s capacity to hinder the victims from leaving the abusive

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 9

relationships. The theory on the cycle of violence provides the society with an insight into this by

illustrating how the behavior of a victimizer could change dramatically hence making it difficult

for the women to rescue herself. Women who have experienced violent assaults are quite

familiar with this phenomenon.

The cycle developed back in 1969, initiated by Dr. Walker. The sequence provides a

detailed description of the different phases of abusive association’s moves through. The first

stage is the tension building stage. The tension between two people in a relationship starts to

build up and different forms of abuse ranging from financial, emotional and verbal occurs.

Secondly, the stand over process in this first stage which can be very frightening for the victims.

At this point, the victims feel as if the situation will explode if they do anything against their

spouses. The second stage of the cycle is the acute explosion. During this phase, violence is at its

peak. The victimizer releases tension and the feeling becomes more addictive hence unable to

deal with anger in any other way other than force. The third phase is the honeymoon stage of the

cycle. At this point, the abuser starts feeling remorse and shame, and they withdraw and start

justifying their actions. Secondly, during the pursuit level, the penetrator makes promises never

to repeat the same wrongdoings, and they use other factors to blame for their violent characters.

Finally, the denial stage of phase three where both parties in the relationship are in denial about

the severity of the violent acts. The levels of intimacy heighten and both want their relationship

to progress and ignore the fact that the same brutal acts could happen again to (Stewart, 2004).

According to research, most female offenders have a history of victimization in the past.

These past experiences lead to the tendency to engage in certain types of illegal acts. However,

majority of previous research points out that women committing these offenses such as running

away prefer them rather than act violently. In the cycle of victimization, young girls tend to run

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 10

away from their family to escape from violent circumstances, and they end up engaging in

prostitution as their means of survival.

Currently, feminist’s criminologist still working to identify how issues such as race

discrimination, sexual and class harassments lead to the victims committing offending behaviors.

For instance, women of color face multiple marginalized identities which in return has impacts

understanding on the traditional cases of women and crime. Women who have experienced any

form of victimization in the past, tend to engage in offenses as a way to relieve their pain and get

back to the society for failing to protect their rights. Also, some who manage to escape from their

homes engage into risk and offensive activities to make a living for themselves and some, for

their kids, some of these acts make them exposed to federal justice where they are arrested and

charged with these crimes.

Women Role in Crime

Stereotyping is the primary cause of gender inequality in our society. With this kind of

approach to gender roles and rights in our community, women always receive inferior treatments

as compared to men. In a case where women commit aggressive acts, the society makes it a big

issue, and it’s even made visible for all to criticize women as if they have no right to commit

injustices in the community. According to (Smith, 2017), in most cases, men get away with

criminal offenses, but women find them cornered and even sent to prison for minor law-breaking

cases that men can get away with without facing justice. The media has failed in its role to reflect

on the following modifications in the society and the evolution of female’s responsibilities and

rights. Even though the press is doing everything possible air commercials showing different

lives of various women who have conquered gender discrimination and victimization, it is still

not enough to air the voices of the ordinary women in our society who have no means to air their

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 11

views or anyone to fight for their rights. As a result, some women still receive unfair treatment

and considered inferior to women hence paying for small mistakes that require pardons and

second chances.

Also, even though prostitution in the society is termed unethical and illegal, some women

depend on it as their means of survival for them and their kids. According (Molidor, 1996),

research conducted a year ago; many women reported cases of horrific levels of sexual, physical

and emotional harassments. Some gave examples where they received punches on their faces,

kicked down the staircases and even thoroughly beaten for refusing to engage in sexual activities

with men. Some buyers abused using insults by calling them ugly and that their bodies have no

value.

In some of the prostitution facilities, the owners give privileges to their regular customers

and even allow them to harass women as a way of repaying their services. These men in return

tend to treat women as sub humans since they feel they have paid for the services. Even though

these men understand the forms of victimization and harassment, they go through; some choose

to go on with this kind of work since they have no choice and one must earn to survive in this

competitive world (Molidor, 1996).

In some cases, women are used by influential organizations to smuggle drugs on their

behalf. According to (Glass and Scott, 1995), some women are even utilized by these smugglers

to smuggle drugs for irregular payments such as a vacation after the activity is done. Some are

forced to engage in such activities due to desperation, and they find as a means for survival even

if they understand the dangers associated with such events. These organization in some cases

force women to carry out their orders in or else they would hurt their loved ones. Some of these

women are brutally killed to act as drug mules for transportation of drugs for the powerful goons.

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 12

Also, some women are held captives by authoritative bodies and individuals and are transported

to different regions to engage in petty thefts where in return they are paid less or not get a penny

for these illegal acts.

Women’s Victimization within Offending Behavior

Naturally, women expect to be treated with respect but science at some point prove them

wrong. According to (Stankiewicz and Rosselli, 2008), even though women want to receive their

honor, in most cases they are treated as sex objects. The act of viewing women as sexual object

is a form of sexual harassment that most women have and keep on experiencing in the society.

Some men act so superior, and they think and also feel that women are inferior and should satisfy

their sexual needs whenever they want them to. As a result, these attitudes expose many women

to sexual harassment. Some immoral men even gang rape women where they are passed from

one man to another for sexual satisfaction. The menace of gang raping is on the rise in the

society. In most cases, women are the primary victims of these immoral acts, and despite so

many reforms by the community and campaigns on sexual harassments, some women still find

themselves victimized by men who treat them as sex objects. These women are abused to satisfy

the need of selfish who have no respect for womanhood.

According to (El-Bassel et al., 2001), at least 44 percent of sex workers have reported

having experienced rape in their lives. Rates of sexual assaults among sex workers have

heightened. Women working as prostitutes are more exposed to sexual harassments as compared

to other ordinary women. Some of these women feel victimized to report these cases of violence

to the authorities since they fear being judged because of their profession. Even though

prostitution is all about selling one’s body to satisfy another person sexually, no one like being

taken by force. As a result, some of these women suffer in silence with no one to help them. As a

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 13

result, many become traumatized and may end up committing suicide because of depression.

Back in 2004, the United States recorded 2004 out of 10,000 deaths as a result of homicide cases

for female sex workers (El-Bassel et al., 2001).

The authorities have faced accusations of failing to protect sex workers after a victim of

forced robbery reported the crime to the police. The victim called the police, and when they

arrived, instead of helping her, they targeted her as the reason why the robbery took place since

she is a sex worker. According to (El-Bassel et al., 2001), many women who are sex workers by

profession have reported having experienced robbery cases in their lives. Many robbers are

extremely and unnecessarily violent with sex workers with five percent of these women involved

in sexual violence. These women experience robbery as the robbers try to steal money and

possession earned through selling sex. Most of these robbers feel like women who sell their

bodies to make a living do not deserve any respect and that they are less human who deserves

victimization. Some of them treat them poorly since they feel they are superior to them due to

male chauvinism.

Conclusion

Our society is built on a patriarchy foundation where women are treated as sub-beings.

As a result, women are on a daily basis exposed to various forms of violence and victimizations

which is against human rights since every person regardless of gender race or background,

deserve their place in the society. Since we are living in a dominant male world, the attempt to

protect women have in most cases not been fruitful. Despite the implementation of various and

campaigns against the violation of women rights, it is still not to end these form of injustices.

The society is not doing enough to eliminate gender inequality which in most cases affect

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 14

women. As a result, females keep on experiencing victimization in the community which could

end if every person took actions towards stopping these crimes.

Every life is important. The best approach towards ending male chauvinism is our society

is via education. Using force and laws is not necessarily the best way to provide solutions to

problems. Every person especially men who have a patriarchy upbringing should receive training

on the importance of equality for all. Also, women should fight to continue earning high places

in the society to help those victims who have no one to fight for their rights. Also, educating the

girl child is very crucial since education is the key to earning a place in the society. If the girl

child is given a chance to school, it is easy for them to fight for their rights in the community

since they have the power plus the understanding of when their rights are being violated.

Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 15

References

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violence among female street-based sex workers: substance abuse, history of childhood

abuse, and HIV risks. AIDS patient care and STDs, 15(1), 41-51.

Glass, J. M., & Scott, H. J. (1995). ‘Surgical mules’: the smuggling of drugs in the

gastrointestinal tract. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 88(8), 450-453.

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Association.

Molidor, C. E. (1996). Female gang members: A profile of aggression and victimization. Social

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Intersection between Female Victims and Offenders 16

Smith, V. C. (2017). Substance-Abusing Female Offenders as Victims: Chronological

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2015.1017131

Stathopoulos, M., & Quadara, A. (2014). Women as offenders Women as victims.

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advertisements. Sex Roles, 58(7-8), 579-589.

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159-181. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07418820400095771

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