Risk factors for victims of sexual crimes
Introduction.
Sexual crimes constitute one of the criminal modalities that cause greater social impact, due to the psychological consequences they carry and for those who are usually the victims, mostly children, girls, adolescents and women. The World Health Organization (2000) defines sexual violence as:
Any sexual act, the attempt to consummate a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or hintvictim, in any field, including home and work. (p.161)
Thus, sexual aggression is considered as all that sexual or attempt violently or through coercion. Several authors have defined sexual aggressions or crimes not only when there is violence, but when the aggressor uses coercion or power he can exercise over the victim so that he accesses his claims.
Developing
Sexual aggressions are
A traumatic and painful event that affects, in a transverse way, the victims of both sexes, and of all socioeconomic levels. However, most studies show that victims of sexual abuse are more frequent women and aggressors are generally men. On the other hand, the cases that are most reported correspond to women from poorest socioeconomic sectors. (p.414)
Indeed, sexual assault causes devastating effects on victims and their relatives, especially when they are children and adolescents. In this same sense, sexual crimes are often not denounced by the victims because they are afraid to be victimized by the authorities, in addition to the lack of adequate support system and the fear of being socially marginalized;Therefore, sexual aggression impacts implies that authorities must implement special approach forms to guarantee access to justice by victims without being revictimized.
In Venezuela the State has shown great concern about this criminal modality, creating normative instruments aimed at strongly sanctioning these crimes. The criminal justice bodies have created an infrastructure aimed at strongly sanctioning the authors and creating a system of attention to victims. In this sense, the Organic Code Criminal Procedure (2012) considers this type punishable as acts of high social impact, limiting access to alternative formulas of penalty compliance to those who have committed them;This is established in article 488 second paragraph:
When the crime that has given rise to the penalty imposed, is intentional homicide, violation;crimes that threaten freedom, integrity and sexual indemnity of children and adolescents;kidnapping;Drug trafficking with greater amount, legitimation of capital, against the financial system and related crimes, crimes with multiplicity of victims, organized crime, serious human rights violations, humanity, serious crimes against the independence and security of the nation and crimesof war, the alternative formulas provided for in this article will only proceed when three quarters of the penalty imposed have been effectively fulfilled.
Thus, given the consequences derived from this type punishable for victims and society, it is necessary that the authorities focus on the prevention of the same. For this, you must know what are the risk and vulnerability factors that may be associated with the appearance of these criminal behaviors;allowing State institutions to generate efficient criminal policies to minimize this criminal modality.
In this sense, the causality of sexual aggressions is marked by a multiplicity of factors associated with gender, social condition, relationship with the aggressor. Therefore, in order to generate programs for prevention and attention to victims, it is essentialTowards children and adolescents.
Problem formulation and questions
Sexual aggressions are considered a high impact social problem, they are behaviors that are mostly marked by violence and therefore considered a social disease by the aspects associated with these behaviors and their consequences both individual and collective. These types of facts represent one of the most studied behaviors by the different disciplines that try to explain transgressive behavior, however these studies have focused mainly on characterizing the facts and the aggressor.
Multiple studies on sexual aggressors have been carried out where the risk and vulnerability factors that have led these to commit this type of crime have been analyzed. However, victims have been mainly studied to characterize them and make a socio-critical profile, to identify who have been victimized with this type of behavior.
Therefore, the study of the factors associated with those who have been subject to sexual aggressions is not less important, because in order to generate preventive public policies, it is necessary to know not only the average profile of the victims, but also that elements associated with them affectin which sexual crime is manifested.
Within this framework of ideas, the researcher raises the following question: What are the factors associated with the victims that influence sexual aggressions?. In order to answer the investigation question, the following research questions are raised:
- What criminal behaviors are considered sexual aggressions according to the Venezuelan legal framework?
- How are these factors associated with victims of sexual aggressions classified?
- How do these factors associated with victims affect sexual aggressions?
- 1.3 research objectives (general and specific objective)
- General objective
- Describe the risk and vulnerability factors associated with victims of sexual crimes
- Specific objectives
- Define the behaviors considered as sexual crimes by Venezuelan legislation.
- Classify factors that may be associated with victims of sexual aggressions.
- Determine the way in which these factors affect the probability of being a victim of sexual aggressions.
Research justification
Sexual aggressions constitute one of the criminal behaviors that has been studied by criminology and psychology in a particular way, it is a modality that transversely affects society and whose implications are still a taboo despite being a widely addressed topic. The present investigation seeks to provide inputs that can contribute to generate action strategies that minimize the probability of being a victim of this type of punishable facts, this regardless of their gender, since usually the studies have been addressed especially towards the woman.
conclusion
The investigation will provide the necessary tools to effectively direct the design and formulation of criminal policies that minimize the appearance of this type of criminal behaviors, thus favoring possible victims and society in general.
Likewise, inputs may be generated that can be useful when designing both therapeutic and criminological intervention plans to be applied in vulnerable communities by the different institutions of the State;In this sense, knowing the factors that influence the commission of sexual aggressions associated with victims, programs that allow minimizing risk and increasing protection towards people who can be victims of these crimes can be generated.
In this same order of ideas, the study deals with a theme that becomes more valid in our society, since the figures of sexual crimes are increasing in various countries (Redondo and Garrido, 2013), detecting cases that occurred more than 20 years ago;So it is necessary to go further in the study of this criminal typology, covering not only the perpetrators but also the victims.
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