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Executive Summary
Sexual abuse has been a long-standing health issue in the United States that often disadvantaged victims want to, and are not able to, press charges against their offender. When offenders are held accountable for their actions, however, other criminals will be less inclined to repeat these offenses and it signifies to the community that sexual abuse is a serious crime that should be prioritized. As a result, more strictly and publicly enforcing sexual abuse policies on every level of sexual abuse will ultimately bring justice on the offender, reducing the chance of further abuse.
Introduction
Literature Review
Sexual abuse is defined as sexual acts or behavior forced upon someone without their consent. It results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to victims. People who experience sexual abuse are more susceptible to mental helath issues like stress, anxiety, and depression (Waechter, R., & Ma, V, 2015). Furthermore, they may experience both long-term and short-term physical health issues. Short-term problems include increased risk of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy and low infant birth weight, while long-term problems include immune system dysfunction, diabetes, reproductive system disorders, and sexually transmitted diseases (Waechter, R., & Ma, V, 2015). Because affected women generate around 92% more costs per year with mental health services than non-affected women, preventing sezual abuse will additionally benefit the city or state (Waechter, R., & Ma, V, 2015).
Sexual abuse, however, is not proritized in our community, despite it being just as prevalent and costly as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and HIV/AIDS (Waechter, R., & Ma, V., 2015). Researchers found this by conducting an internet and literature search to compare its risk, economic burden, and incidence to other major health issues in the United States. The study’s limitations were that it gathered all of its information from secondary sources and that there are conceptual challenges in comparing violence to diseases. While this paper doesn’t touch on the prevention of sexual abuse, it notes the problem with how sexual abuse is being addressed.
However, the greatest issue in addressing sexual abuse is accountability. Often, some victims may not want to voice their consent or opinions, or some people, particularly men, may be falsely accused without proper communication. In a separate study, data was gathered through a 68 question online survey, composed of open and close-ended questions. The survey sample included more than three-thousand professionals from seventeen different countries who regularly work with sexual assault victims. Most of them had similar understandings of what prevention meant, and agreed that sexual assault is a community-wide problem affecting everyone (McCartan, K., Uzieblo, K., & Smid, W. J., 2021). This means that there are people who are aware of the problem, but awareness is not enough to solve the issue. Moreover, it is unclear how prevalent and deep the problem really is, and the biggest limitation was that the survey was only available in English, which makes it a mystery of what happens in other countries.
Overall, much research has already been conducted on how to develop a robust program to be able to address the problem of sexual abuse, but there is still work to be done. Researchers from the CDC developed a public health model with four tiers: define the problem, identify risk and protective factors, develop and test prevention strategies, and assure widespread adoption (Zollner, Fuchs, & Fegert, 2014). Along with this, researchers organized behavioral based prevention into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. They applied these models to the four main social-ecological levels: individual, relationship, community, and society. Lastly, the paper qualified a treatment’s effectiveness based on whether or not it worked in non-ideal situations. The most effective prevention plans are implemented in short and frequent intervals, see both boys and girls as potential victims, implemented by a team representing each gender, provide easy-to-understand information, and primarily target adults, since children shouldn’t have the responsibility to prevent sexual abuse and protect themselves (Zollner, Fuchs, & Fegert, 2014). Adults and minors were studied separately in order to gauge how well certain prevention strategies affected these groups, whether they were carried out in schools, churches, families, clubs, etc.. This paper is similar to the other articles in that it explores prevention and identifies current issues in how sexual abuse is addressed.
Rationale
Past research on sexual abuse has mainly focused on prevention strategies in community settings, such as schools, families, and hospitals. However, in order to lower its rates, victims need adequate time to heal, physically and mentally, before they are ready to take legal action against their perpetrator. By the time a survivor wants to come forward to address their trauma, it’s often too late, and the offender is free and able to hurt more people. On the other hand, if a survivor is pressured to speak about their experience too soon, it could trigger fear or other traumatic emotions. The proposed policy is a revision of state laws in the United States, and thus benefits all victims, regardless of gender, language, culture, religion, and socioeconomic status. Steps towards this have been implemented, but it’s still a necessity not available to everyone.
Proposed Policy
It is essential for a community to make it clear that sexual abuse will not be tolerated under any circumstances, and all victims, including those who have been falsely accused, must be fairly trialed with special attention. The main problem to address then is to expedite the trials with an additional program or department that de This plan fits under tertiary prevention, which can “be understood as selective prevention by trying to minimize the immediate and the secondary consequences for a group or individuals at a high risk for abuse” (Zollner, Fuchs, & Fegert, 2014).
Key Design Decisions
Definitions
The statute of limitations is the window of time a victim has to press charges or take legal action. It differs between crimes, and is often used to protect the accused. Sexual abuse, also reffered to as sexual assualt, is defined as sexual acts or behavior forced upon someone without their consent. According to the Department of Justice, rape is “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim,” and “victim/survivor” is used to describe someone who has experienced sexual violence.
Proposed Regulation Rates
The proposed policy had a few variations, one being that it could have only applied to minor sexual abuse crimes. However since most states already removed the statute of limitations for minor crimes and are working to prolong the window of time for more serious crimes, this option was eliminated. The second possibility was that it could have only applied to rape. Because other serious crimes, such as murder, have no statute of limitations, this was a viable option. Ultimately, it made sense to remove the statute of limitations for all sexual abuse felonies, including minor allegations and rape, especially since a few states have already done so.
Adjusting the Regulation Rate
In order to track how well the policy works, victims would have to report the exact year they were assaulted, how long they waited to press charges, and whether or not that time exceeded the previous statute of limitations. Additional surveys could be sent out to sample populations asking whether or not the statute of limitations prevented them from taking legal action. If the policy ends up harming offenders more than helping victims, there will be adjusted punishments depending on the state of the victim and offender. Such sentencing could include restorative justice, therapy, or compensation in the form of money. While most states have removed the statute of limitations for minor sexual assault crimes, some states have removed it in the instance of any sexual abuse. This could disadvantage people in certain states, which is why the proposed policy is implemented throughout the country.
Purpose
Policy Purpose: Health
As more sex offenders are being held accountable, it would not only bring survivors some peace to legally confront their offenders, but it will benefit communities in the long run. Sexual abuse will be prioritized as the serious and prevalent crime it is, thus lowering it’s rates. Fewer sexual assault cases also means less money spent on mental health services and less government spending in the long-run.
Legal & Ethical Considerations
Some of the main reasons the statute of limitations exists are that memories deteriorate over time, the suspect could have moved on or changed in past years, and it encourages law enforcement to investigate a case promptly. Even if there is ample evidence to prosecute an offender, it could disrupt their lives, after they’ve gotten a fresh start. In this case, different punishments would be issued that benefit, and offer reconciliation, to both parties.
Bibliography
McCartan, K., Uzieblo, K., & Smid, W. J. (2021). Professionals' Understandings of and Attitudes to the Prevention of Sexual Abuse: An International Exploratory Study. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 65(8), 815–831. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20919706
Waechter, R., & Ma, V. (2015). Sexual Violence in America: Public Funding and Social Priority. American journal of public health, 105(12), 2430–2437. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302860
Zollner, H., Fuchs, K. A., & Fegert, J. M. (2014). Prevention of sexual abuse: improved information is crucial. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 8(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-8-5
