Poster #112 - Gendered Constructions of Responses to Sexual Abuse

• In Event: ASC Poster Session I

Abstract

Sexual assault is predominately perpetrated by male offenders with female victims, this is a social invariant that has not been questioned much by research, contributing to the limited access of resources and support for victims who do not fall under the “norm”. The dominant explanation for this invariant is based on the pervasive nature of traditional gender roles, in which women are expected to inhabit a passive, weak role, leaving men to be either protectors or predators. The existing research on female sex offenders and/or male victims of sex offenses has focused on establishing typologies of victims and their experiences. In this research project, I use legal cases to find patterns of differences between the ways in which female and male sex offenders get treated in the justice system as well as well as how male victims are constructed using newspapers to identify relevant cases. I expect to find that female sex offenders are treated more leniently than male sex offenders, but also that male victims of sex offenses are constructed as having more agency than female victims.

Author

• Kiara Jayden House, Washington State University