Assignment:
Expected word count in Initial post is 175 words; for reply posts. I expect perfect APA technique. The minimum requirement is three (3) scholarly sources with at least one (1) source a peer reviewed article published in the last 7 years.
1) Most everyone knows what rape and sexual assault entail. However, the awareness of spouses being raped or assaulted in this manner is less abundant. Until 1993, spousal rape, also known as marital rape, was not criminalized in many states (Jackson, 2017). Forcing a spouse to have sexual relations was not considered rape. It was considered a private family matter, much like domestic violence and child abuse (Randall & Venkatesh, 2015).
Moreover, rape has been proven to cause a host of mental and physical health issues, including depression, PTSD, infertility, and an increased risk of gynecological cancers (Jackson, 2017). The definition of rape has drastically changed over time. It was once defined as the forced sexual penetration of a female's vagina only by a male's penis (Berkseth et al., 2017). This definition also had the marital rape exception attached to it, which stated a man was exempt from being charged/convicted of rape if the victim was his wife (Berkseth et al., 2017). Although most rape statutes now have gender-neutral wording and have abolished the marital rape exception, more than ten states still offer spousal immunity to husbands (Berkseth et al., 2017).
Marital immunity is absurd. A person should never escape justice for raping or sexually abusing their spouse. However, some states with no martial protection still give individuals convicted of rape or sexual abuse against their spouse lighter sentences than others convicted of the same crimes with non-spousal victims (Randall & Venkatesh, 2015). Fortunately, Tennessee is not one of the states where martial immunity or lesser punishments for marital rape exists. According to T.C.A. § 39-13-501, the word victim in all rape and sexual misconduct crimes includes the spouse of the defendant (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-501).
Furthermore, marital rape is a problematic issue in the United States. A multitude of lives is destroyed because of this heinous act. Statistically, almost fifteen percent of married women have been raped by their spouses (Jackson, 2017). Rape remains the most underreported crime in the U.S., with over sixty percent of rape victims not reporting it (Berkseth et al., 2017). Sadly, even more, spousal rape cases go unreported to law enforcement due to its increased stigma (Jackson, 2017).
References
Berkseth, L., Meany, K., & Zisa, M. (2017). Rape and sexual assault. Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, 18(3), 743-779.
Jackson, E. K. (2017). To have and to hold: Protecting the sexual integrity of the world's married women. University of Toledo Law Review, 49(1), 71-113.
Randall, M., & Venkatesh, V. (2015). The right to no: The crime of marital rape, women's human rights, and international law. Brooklyn Journal of International Law, 41(1), 153-202.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-501 (Lexis Advance).
With the growing trend and easy access to social media comes an increase in the sexual exploitation of children. Because of this increased online activity among children, The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency formed a task force to help fight child predators. In 1998 the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was created (Sheehan, 2015). This consists of multiple state and local agencies that have investigators trained in internet crimes against children. These investigators are tasked with the repeated viewing of child pornography, finding and apprehending those who upload, download, or produce child pornography, and prosecuting offenders (Craun et al., 2015).
The ICAC Task Force has generated multiple arrests and convictions of offenders in the United States since its inception. With the increase in cases and arrests brings a new opportunity in studying cyber crimes against children. One academic journal, "The Impact of Internet Crimes Against Children Work on Relationships with Families and Friends: An Exploratory Study," discusses the existing research about sexual solicitation of minors and typologies of online solicitation offenders.
Current research shows that predators start with an initial greeting when soliciting minors. The predator then proceeds into the grooming stage, which can involve play talk. The solicitation approach may include asking or sending patently offensive material, such as sending videos of masturbation or asking for nude images (DeHart et al., 2017). The authors of this journal also conduct their own research into the online solicitation of minors. They use existing case files from ICAC investigators; here, they looked at chat logs, social network posts, and email threads. They used this data to attempt to identify elements in which offenders solicit children, and they use components to differentiate and describe specific types of offenders (DeHart et al., 2017).
As a current ICAC investigator, I found this journal extremely accurate in their examination of existing research. Through previous investigations, I have found that predators start with a friend request and a simple hello. Unfortunately, young teens do not understand the dangers of clicking accept on these requests. I have noticed in recent cases that the new type of messaging is anime role-playing. This primarily consists of sexual storytelling involving made-up characters. This is done during what I consider the grooming stage. Once this conversation continues and grows increasingly graphic, the predator will often break character, make suggestive comments, or ask the victim to perform a sexual act in real life. This would be considered the approach phase of the solicitation. During this approach phase, the offender may do what is known as cyberstalking the victim. The predator may access their information utilizing social media (Schmalleger & Hall, 2017). This could potentially escalate into a more violent crime against the victim.
This journal also discussed predators' use of online chat rooms to obtain or share child pornography (DeHart et al.,2017). If a suspected child pornography image or video is uploaded or downloaded through a social media app, the company will typically notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They will then determine whether the content is child pornography and send what is known as a Cybertip to the ICAC task force. The task force will then distribute the Cybertip to the appropriate law enforcement agency to investigate. Fortunately, social media companies are helpful and offer assistance to law enforcement agencies investigating these cases.
References
Craun, S., Bourke, M., & Coulson, F. (2015). The impact of internet crimes against children work on relationships with families and friends: an exploratory study. Journal of Family Violence, 30(3), 393-402.
DeHart, D., Dwyer, G., Seto, M. C., Moran, R., Letourneau, E., & Schwarz-Watts, D. (2017). Internet sexual solicitation of children: a proposed typology of offenders based on their chats, e-mails, and social network posts.
Journal of Sexual Aggression, 23(1), 77-89.
Schmalleger, F. & Hall, D. E. (2017). Criminal law today. (6th ed.). Prentice Hall/Pearson.
Sheehan, B. J. (2015). Courts caught in the web: fixing a failed system with factors designed for sentencing child pornography offenders. Cleveland State Law Review, 63(4), 798-831