OPINION & EDITORIAL
Gender factor in child-rape sentencing
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Also by Estie Kruglak:
- Additional aid from students needed (September 19, 2005)
- Gender factor in child-rape sentencing (September 23, 2005)
- Ticketing system good for Bucky (October 6, 2005)
- Professors complicit in plagiarism (October 19, 2005)
- Tear down barriers to participation (October 24, 2005)
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- 'Booked' for high prices (January 21, 2004)
- Lecturer misses the mark (April 18, 2003)
- Write, don't whine over teaching assistants (November 20, 2007)
- Shout-out belittles rape (December 5, 2006)
by Estie Kruglak
Friday, September 23, 2005
With school just starting, there's a lot running through students' minds during the work week: homework, books, football games and how many people you recognize in class, just to name a few. Another issue not so school related, however, is the attractiveness of the professor or TA. Not to say that this is a generalization for all students, but all the same it's not unheard of for a friend or roommate to gush about how cute the foreign language TA was, or how hot the new professor looked during lecture. It seems like such a harmless comment, but what about if, or when, it goes too far?
College campuses unfortunately are far too familiar with incidences of statutory rape. In 2001 alone, Dane County encountered 165 recorded incidences of rape, and that does not include the victims who failed to report the crime. In all of the reported cases, over 25 percent of the victims were under the age of 13.
Generally, it is assumed that in rape cases the victim is usually a female. This is not an unreasonable assumption, due to the advancing cases of female victim rape reports available to the public that have covered the media within the last few years.
One report that hits very close to home is the recent removal of Keith Cohen, a comparative literature professor at UW-Madison, for pursuing a 14-year-old boy for sex. However, women have been the seducers in the most recent nationally headlined cases.
Instances of rape with male victims are not such a heated topic of controversy, merely due to the fact that a male rape victim is not as common as female rape victims. However, according to the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, in 1998, 17 percent of rape cases involved a male victim. In a mere one-year period, the statistics of male rape victims increased by one percent.
Stories of teachers pursuing their underage students have appeared on newspaper pages far too commonly recently. As if this isn't disturbing enough, it has been reported that many women rapists have sued their "lovers" for child support — and won!
One of the more recent cases hitting news desks is that of 42-year-old Sandra Beth Giesel, who allegedly had sex with underage male students at a New York Catholic school where she was employed. The mother of four was fired from her job in June. Another case involves a young, attractive (as described by the defendant's attorney) woman who engaged in sex numerous times with an underage student. She claimed insanity, and plea-bargaining broke down because it was determined that she would never survive in prison.
It is hard to determine which is more outrageous; the frequency of this type of crime or those who perpetrated the crime merely receiving a slap on the wrist. Regardless of whether the youths in question were willing to partake in sexual acts is not the issue at hand. It is the fact that these women are not taking full responsibility for their immature decisions, nor are they feeling the complete wrath of their childish actions.
Many might say to these cases that the young boys are at fault also, sighting that they probably pursued their teachers. This idea is both absurd and just plain stupid. When reports come in about young females being raped, blame is never placed on them about being too seductive or flirtatious, and this shouldn't be the case for young boys either. At the tender age of 13, most boys are still completely immature and ignorant when it comes to sexuality. To rule that these boy victims are responsible enough to provide child support after being raped is just the same as assuming they've thought everything through at the time of their sexual encounters.
Women should not be given access to child support after their poor decisions and inappropriate actions, or be given a lesser sentence because of their gender. After all, it is still a crime when the rapist is the woman, and therefore should be treated like one.
Estie Kruglak (erkruglak@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in communication arts.
Anonymous (September 23, 2005 @ 6:36am):
Right on, brother. Right on.
Anonymous (September 23, 2005 @ 3:11pm):
Wow...This Kruglak keeps coming with one thought provoking story after another. This is great stuff, she sees things from many angles people just dont seem to get. If there is an award for Most Bestest Opinions in Wisconsis, then this young lady deserves it. BRAVO!
Anonymous (September 23, 2005 @ 3:53pm):
Where are the editors? This article needed serious revisions: the writing is sloppy, the arguments are tenuous, and the thesis is unclear (at best).
The first paragraph is irrelevant to this story. This issue (apparently) is statutory rape, but college students are generally adults. Despite this, the writer goes on to claim that statutory rape is a serious problem on college campuses, citing the total number of rape reports for Dane County. But how is that relevant? An important statistic would be the number of STATUTORY rape reports ON THE UW CAMPUS!
The fuzzy thinking continues throughout the article. For example: "In a mere one-year period, the statistics of male rape victims increased by one percent." Huh? Is this supposed to be a trend? The writer of this article would do well to learn some basic statistics.
Logical issues aside, the article suffers from muddy, verbose prose. For example: "Not to say that this is a generalization for all students, but all the same it's not unheard of..." Or: "Generally, it is assumed that in rape cases the victim is usually a female."
There are several blatant mistakes that should have been fixed by editors, such as: "nor are they feeling the complete wrath of their childish actions." The word "wrath" makes no sense in this context. Also: "Many might say to these cases that the young boys are at fault also, SIGHTING that they probably pursued their teachers." (Caps added for emphasis.)
How did all of this get past the editors?
Anonymous (September 23, 2005 @ 10:22pm):
"How did all of this get past the editors?"
Obviously, you are a man-hating feminist who is really saying that you are dissatisfied that this article didn't bash men. Face it, girl. Sexual predators have always come in male and female varieties. The femal variety is just finally catching the attention that was long overdue. It's amazing how man-haters like you stick your head in the sand every time a woman is the perpetrator.
I read earlier this week where a woman in Connecticut has been sentenced for molesting an 8-year-old boy. Where were all the feminists and victims' advocates? Probably hiding at home with their phones off the hook. Wussies! So enough about men-this,men-that. Let's stop looking at this issue as a gender war and see it for what it really is. Then we might see some progress.
Anonymous (September 24, 2005 @ 11:45am):
"Obviously, you are a man-hating feminist who is really saying that you are dissatisfied that this article didn't bash men. Face it, girl."
Uh, what? Where are you getting that from? (For the record, I'm neither female nor a feminist; my gripe was about the quality of this column, not the writer's politics.)
Anonymous (September 24, 2005 @ 8:14pm):
"my gripe was about the quality of this column, not the writer's politics."
Well, in the last 24 hours you're the only one who has complained about the quality of this column, which would diminish any possibility that it is your true motive to post the response that you did. It can only mean that you have a bone to pick with the author. What other possible explanations are there? Care to enlighten us?
Anonymous (September 25, 2005 @ 10:53am):
Other explanations? The BH has terrible,sloppy editing. It's an issue of quality and credibility. The obvious lack of due dilligence on the part of the staff makes the content of their articles suspect.
And it's not just this one article. Darryn Beckstrom's opinions/articles also are in dire need of editing. Misspelling a word in the title of an article is an embarrassment to the BH (if not the University.)
Anonymous (September 25, 2005 @ 4:03pm):
"Other explanations?..."
OK, it's all very clear to me now. You are just another disgruntled Madison liberal. Cry in your huka pipe, loser!
Anonymous (September 25, 2005 @ 8:16pm):
"OK, it's all very clear to me now."
First off, you're replying to someone else. I wrote the original complaint; I didn't write the comment to which you are replying.
Second, this has *nothing* to do with politics. For what it's worth, I agree that female sex offenders should be treating no differently than male sex offenders. It offends me that sexual assault laws and their application do not treat men and women equally. (For example: in many jurisdictions, if a man and woman have sex while both are drunk, the man can be convicted of rape, but not the woman.)
But that's not what this is about. The article is just lousy. It reflects poorly on both the Badger Herald and the University.
