NCJ Number
105030
Date Published
1984
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Statistics on sexual offenses in England and Wales for 1981 indicate that there has been a decline in rates over the past 10 years and that 70 percent consist of indecent assaults upon women and under-age girls.
Abstract
Further, many of the cases of sexual assault are assaults only in law because the victims are active, willing participants. Only about 5 percent of serious sexual offenses are rapes, and only 2 percent involve incest. While technically a crime, sexual relations between consenting minors is rarely prosecuted except at the urging of a third party. Research into sexual offenses involving prepubertal children indicates that, while few children initiate such encounters, force was rarely used and few suffer long-term ill effects. With respect to adult victim precipitation, the concept's use should be confined to incidents in which the female encouraged sexual foreplay and then unexpectedly declined to complete the act. That the woman created circumstances of temptation in no way alters the importance of full and free consent or that a criminal offense has occurred. In practice, the courts take into account the very diverse nature of sexual attacks in sentencing and whether the victim was a voluntary participant. A useful statutory distinction might be made between assaults involving the use of force and/or the proved absence of consent and indecent behavior.