Sex-Based Violations:
Rape, Child Rape, Sexual Harrasment
Who's Assimilatin' Who ?
Patricia Novotny
While the underlying acts that constitute what we today understand to be child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual harassment have been around for a long time, if not forever, the significance we attach to the acts has changed. And it may be changing again. I would like to begin my exploration of where this signifying process might be headed with the premise that, resistance - in the form of the women's movement, broadly speaking - produced our current understanding of sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment. In particular, with the rise of the female as subject, women became the object-victim of these offenses, where, formerly, her male "keeper'' (Le., father, husband, brother) was viewed as the violated party_ (Most often, previously, the violation was construed as a violation to a male owner's property right.) Recently, we have seen an increase in male claims to sexual victimization, either as victims of child sexual abuse, adult nonconsensual sex, or sexual harassment (examples below). My purpose is to explore whether or not this phenomenon represents an assimilation of sexual violence/coerced sex by mainstream culture and, if so, what that means, particularly for feminist legal activists.
For example, with the advent of gender neutral child rape (statutory rape) laws, we see an increase not only in male victims of such crimes when the perpetrator is male, but an increase in women being charged for engaging in sexual relations with boys (e.g., teacher-student scenarios a 1a Mary Kay Letourneau). By contrast, not that long ago, boys in the position of the student. laid claim to having gotten very, very lucky (e.g., Summer of `42). Indeed, the boy involved with Letourneau seems caught between claims of self-direction (I am in love with her) and victimization (he is suing the school district).
Claims of sexual harassment being made by men now account for 13,5% of all. sexual harassment claims brought to the EEOC, roughly double what it was a decade ago. The commission assumes most of the harassers are male. (That data not currently available.) Despite the Supreme Court's affirmation in Oncale v Sundowner that same-sex sexual harassment may be actionable, claims remain bogged down in questions of motivation (e.g., was the harassment based on sexual orientation? Was the harassment directed at both sexes?), Nevertheless, the apparent, growing intolerance of males for what they perceive to be sexualized harassment in the workplace seems significant.
Finally, though I know of no data suggesting an increase in rape prosecutions where males are victims, recent studies from the University of Washington indicate that male college students perceive themselves to be the victims of sexual coercion in astonishingly high numbers. Although few men reported the use of physical force in. these exchanges, as many men as women reported having unwanted sex (variously defined by the study), What's going on? Many feminists have long argued against coerced sex and in favor of mutuality or equality in sexual exchanges, Male dominance was the problem. With males increasingly numbering themselves among the victimized, the problem becomes less clear- with implications for activism. When rape was a crime against women, a patriarchal enforcement mechanism, the battle lines seemed clearer. Men needed to stop dominating. To a lesser degree, women needed to step submitting. Now what?
To the extent that sexual victimization has been gendered, then who claim victimization locate themselves as females in the paradigm, Likewise, to the extent we place women in the position. of victimizers (through an assertion of dominance or power, rather than seduction), the gendered paradigm again gets turned on its .head. It is as if the feminist endorsed gender-neutralization of rape and sexual harassment law has, indeed, begun to wash the gender out of sexualized. violations.
I'd like further to explore the data suggesting these trends. Assuming they are solid, I would like to explore whether or not this gender neutralization may be a good thing and how it tits in with other trends. Finally, I'd like to consider what it means to people who continue to seek ways to reduce the incidence of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment.