Sex – abuse, control, procreation, enjoyment
While reading the St. Petersburg edition of the Tampa Tribune on Tuesday, January 5, I was drawn to an Associated Press Article entitled Pentagon tracks abuse of military children by Richard Lardner, Eileen Sullivan and Meghan Hoyer. The authors state, “The sexual of military dependents occurs hundreds of times each year, according to data the Defense Department provided to the Associated Press There were at least 1,584 substantiated cases between fiscal years 2010 and 2014 according to the data, which is the most current available. The abuse is committed most often by male enlisted troops followed by family members.” (I question that statistic but that is another matter. It may be accurate for those identified and punished.)
A very brief, cursory search will review the below data which is only a fraction the information available. What one will not find as easily is that the term sexual offender or sexual offense will include a wide variety of offenses and people. For example, age differential varies from state to state. That is, the chronological age difference is a part of the definition of sexual abuse in many states. Thus, even when reading statistics such as those below one needs more information regarding victims, those who were accused and convicted and the exact nature of the event and how or why it was reported. For example, many parents do not report their 20 something child having a romantic and sexual relationship with their 14 or 15 year old child. On the other hand I have been a expert witness In trials involving an immature 19 year old having a sexual relationship with a consensual 15 year old. The 19year old served prison time. Accusations by a spouse during a bitter divorce hearing have often resulted in individuals being convicted of sexually abusing a child. Some of these may be accurate. Many are not.
Below is a sampling of the statistics:
¥ Approximately 30% of sexual assault cases are reported to authorities. 3
¥ 9.3% of cases of maltreatment of children in 2012 were classified as sexual abuse. 9
¥ 62,939 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in 2012. 9
¥ According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Criminal Victimization Survey, in 2012, there were 346,830 reported rapes or sexual assaults of persons 12 years or older. 17
¥ In 2010, 12% of rapes and sexual assaults involved a weapon. 13
¥ In 2010, 25% of the female victims of rape/sexual assault were victimized by strangers. 13
¥ According to “Have Sexual Abuse and Physical Abuse Declined Since the 1990s?” an article released by the Crimes Against Children Research Center in 2012: 19
◦ There was a 56% decline in physical abuse and a 62% decline in sexual abuse from 1992 to 2010.
Despite some skepticism of reporting methods by various agencies, declines in child physical and sexual abuse since the 1990s, as reported to National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), reflect a true decline in prevalence.
National Sex Offender Public Website
https://www.nsopw.gov
Hopefully, it is true that there is a real decline in sexual abuse of adults and children in the united States. Currently for those in federal prisons:
National Sex Offender Public Website
https://www.nsopw.gov
Sex Offenses
14,191
7.6%
Bop.gov (federal prison data)
Then there are those incarcerated individuals who are sexually abused.
Nearly one in 10 prisoners suffer sexual abuse while incarcerated in state prisons, local jails and post-release treatment facilities, according to a report published Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The report, based on the first National Former Prisoners Survey, includes data from 518,800 former prisoners who were on supervised parole in mid-2008.
An estimated 3.7 percent said they were forced or pressured to have nonconsensual sex with another inmate. About 5.3 percent reported an incident that involved facility staff. (Karl Huus www.nbcnews.com, May 17, 2015)
There is no question in my mind that even if we only counted those cases where some force was used to sexually molest another person the numbers are staggering. It is also generally agreed that most cases of sexual abuse are not reported. Some estimates are that up to 68% of sexual assaults are not reported..
How and why is this possible? How is possible that we as a society are responsible for so many people:
• Use sex as a way of controlling another or attempting to do so.
• Have a powerful, obsessive desire to have sex with a pre-publescent child and post publescent children.
• Enjoy/desire to use pornography. The fact is that on line pornography is a big business (Globally, porn is a $97 billion industry, according to Kassia Wosick, assistant professor of sociology at New Mexico State University. Between $10 billion and $12 billion of that comes from the United States. Revenue from traditional porn films has been shrinking, though, because of piracy and an abundance of free content on the Internet.)
• Not knowing how to talk about or manage sexual feelings which can start at a very early age.
• Other than occasional conjugal visits not planning for or assisting inmates in dealing with sexual feelings/urges without abusing others.
• That even on sites such as Ashley Madison there are many customers who are willing to risk a lot, including money, to get help in locating a sexual partner other than one’s spouse.
• So many will risk career, reputation, national secrets to have a sexual relationship.
Perhaps we can agree to the following:
• No person decides that they will have particular sexual feelings or desires. One might decide that a sexual desire which the general populace says is immoral is indeed moral, but ones does not decide, for example “In this life journey I will be obsessively attracted to very young (even infant) children.
• The need for control is not about sex although sex can be used as a means of control.
• Most of we humans have very strong sexual feelings.
• Sexual feelings can be used to express a deep emotional intimacy or can be used to avoid emotional intimacy.
• Most of we humans have a strong need to feel connected. Sex can allow us, at some level, feel connected.
• Children, adults, highly intelligent people and those on the low end of intelligence can and often do have very strong sexual feelings/desires.
• Teenage children have very strong sexual feelings.
• Many teenager appear physically and sometimes emotionally to be very mature, sexually desirable.
• It seems natural (certainly is frequent) for older and younger people to be sexually attracted to each other. Consider the popularity of cougars or the popularity of older men and younger women being attracted to each other and getting married. (The same is true in gay and lesbian relationships.)
• Even deeply religious and good people who are spiritual leaders often seem to be unable to refrain from violating their core beliefs about sexual morality.
• Many people do seem able to make decisions about sexual activity based solely on their religious/spiritual beliefs.
• We use sexuality or the hint of sexuality to sell many products in our culture – automobiles, appliances, guns, clothes, food, entertainment.
• There is a great disparity in age of consent for sexual activity throughout the world.
• Humans haven been experimenting with rituals around sexual behavior for at least as long as any history has been recorded.
• Often rules or mores about sexual behavior are different for each “class” of people
If we honestly want to reduce the frequency of injurious sexual behavior we need to be be clear about the facts and our biases. We also need to distinguish between behavior which we personally do not like, enjoy or even may find disgusting and that which is necessarily harmful. We also need to insure that victims are true victims and not those who are convinced by the culture that they are victims.
This could be a starting place if we honestly want to create a more honest and safe world for all of us.
Written January 5, 2016
RSS Feed