Tiffany Muse 12/5/19
The conversation regarding sexual assault has been in effect for years but has recently been more seriously as a result of the #METOO movement. Justice has been served but only to a certain extent that would not make any survivor or someone close with a survivor feel any safer with the hopes of a resolution and/ or closure. When people are convicted of sexual assault majority of the time the punishment is of the bare minimum. I feel that men that are rightfully convicted of sexual assault should face harsher and more serious consequences. This is an issue that affects women who are survivors, people that fear they may be next, and the legislatures that are in power of determining what a more proper consequence should be for these crimes.
The New York Times
The Lack in Punishment Regarding Sexual Assault
By Tiffany Muse
Dec. 5, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. EDT
Over the course of the past couple of years multiple women have gathered up the courage to come forth and speak out on their experiences with sexual assault in the hopes of getting justice and a sense of relief for the hardships they had to face.
Both women and men are not likely to report to the police when they have been a survivor of sexual assault. According to the Criminal Justice System Statistics “out of 1,000 sexual assaults only 230 will be reported and that 3 out 4 will go unreported.”
Women are at a higher risk of sexual assault and often are not quick to report it when it does occur. The reasoning behind this varies from not wanting to be embarrassed to feeling terrified. However, something that is often shown and discussed that has an impact on whether a survivor would want to come forward or not is how the justice system treats and handles assault cases.
There have been multiple examples of convicted rapists that have gotten little to no punishment or just a slap on the wrist. From Brock Turner, David Becker, Nicholas Fifield, John P. Enochs, Austin James Wilkerson as mentioned by Shugerman, Emily. “5 Men who were accused of sexual assault and got little to no jail time.” Revelist, 2016. These men committed assault crimes and were able to walk away as if they have not done anything wrong.
Something that these cases tend to have in common are the fact that a majority of these men are either fresh out of high school or already in college. The main argument that is made is that they are still young and are often first time offenders which should not be justified when it comes to how an incident of this caliber can ruin someone. This excuse is what sets a precedent for how other sexual assault crimes are handled when the perpetrator is older. An example of this is mentioned by Dastagir E., Alia. “A bus driver rapes, a man keeps girl captive and neither are going to prison.” USA Today, 2019. In these cases a New York bus driver Shane Piche admitted to raping a 14 year old girl that rode the bus and another man, Michael Wysolovski admitted to keeping a teenage girl in captivity for over a year. In both of these cases adult men who admitted to these vile acts were not being sent to prison.
When people who have committed these heinous acts have not received the necessary punishments or consequences the wrong type of message is sent to not only other possible offenders that now think they can commit these acts and get off scotch free but to the survivors and their families. As a survivor or someone that knows a survivor it is important to take a stand for something that is so clear to be unjust. No one is able to feel, relate to, or even imagine what is was like to have to go through the process of the attack to your ongoing recovery. That is the power and ammunition that you have to speak out not just for justice against your attacker but to put an end to more potential attackers once they see that they can no longer get off easy for doing this to another human being. You are powerful and have something that no else has to speak on this matter, to ensure that justice is properly served for the harm and distress caused to you.
December 5, 2019
Law Legislatures
Congress
First St SE, Washington, DC 20004
Dear Law Legislatures,
A change needs to be made in the sentencing and overall punishment of those convicted of sexual assault. It is well known by the majority that most offenders of sexual assault tend to get off scotch free and never face any serious consequences for the horrid acts they have committed.
It is shown by Dam Van, Andrew, “Less than 1% of rapes lead to felony convictions but at least 89% of victims face emotional and physical consequences.” Washington Post, 2018. Very few sexual assault cases result in a serious felony conviction which may seem good to the offenders, the attorneys assigned to them, as well as other members of the justice system that can easily get through these types of cases. The way these cases are dealt with are for convenience of everyone involved with no regards to the victims of these crimes. As stated in the very same article by Dam, “…at least 89% of victims report some level of distress, including high rates of physical injury, PTSD, depression, anxiety and substance abuse.” These acts have a major impact on the victims and the law does not seem to be aware of that or seem to care. The sentencing and the process for how sexual assault crimes are dealt with start with the respect of the victim and end with the respect of the offender.
It takes a lot for a victim to come forward and they often get scrutinized and told they are lying. For them to be able to get to a point of accepting what happened and the need for justice to make a report and then have to go through the trial process to find out their offender is only facing about six months, which may most likely result in less time served than the original sentence given along with probation. This shows how the justice system does not show its true support for the victim and that needs to change.
These are heinous crimes that show no respect to a person or their own body which hurt and damage them for years and possibly the rest of their lives, however they are not taken as seriously as they should be when it comes to the consequences. When the war on drugs started in 1971 punishments became harsher for those found to be in possession. To this day the minimum sentence for possession convicted of an offense is 94 months and those not convicted of an offense have a minimum sentence of 42 months on a federal level as stated by the Mandatory Minimum Penalties for Drug Offenses in the Federal Criminal Justice System (p10).
Those that are caught and convicted of possession face harsher consequences and longer sentencing than someone convicted of sexual assault. That is the problem and that needs to change. As law legislatures you need to change the precedent that has been set by the past sexual assault cases ended with the offender getting a few months jail time with no serious repercussions. The point of the law and the justice system is to serve justice by a due diligence and ensure a safer atmosphere and country. This is done through the making of laws and proper sentencing for certain crimes as a way of punishment to remove criminals from the streets and make it so that no one would want to commit these crimes because of the possible punishment they may face. If you continue to allow such a short sentence for sexual assault it will translate to people believing they would not face any serious time allowing them to feel free to commit these acts without fear of a serious sentence or conviction.
Take this into consideration and focus on what is truly important and necessary terrible crimes should be treated as such through the use of proper and understandable punishment with the thought of the victims and those who could be next in mind.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Muse
Work Cited
“5 Men Who Were Accused of Sexual Assault and Got Little or No Jail Time.” Revelist.com, https://www.revelist.com/feminism/brock-turner-accused-rapists-no/4577.
Dam, Andrew Van. “Analysis | Less than 1% of Rapes Lead to Felony Convictions. At Least 89% of Victims Face Emotional and Physical Consequences.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 6 Oct. 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/06/less-than-percent-rapes-lead-felony-convictions-least-percent-victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/.
Dastagir, Alia E. “A Bus Driver Rapes, a Man Keeps Girl Captive and Neither Are Going to Prison.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 6 May 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/03/bus-driver-shane-pinche-wont-go-prison-rape-hes-not-alone/3653181002/.
“Drug Possession Penalties and Sentencing.” Findlaw, https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/drug-possession-penalties-and-sentencing.html#.
“Mandatory Minimum Penalties for Drug Offenses in the Federal Criminal Justice System.” Ussc.gov, https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2017/20171025_Drug-Mand-Min.pdf.
“The Criminal Justice System: Statistics.” RAINN, https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system.
