In an attempt to eradicate biases in substantive law and evidentiary procedures, legislative changes were implemented for sexual offences in 1983. Historically, biases in rape law had resulted in high attrition of cases at each stage of criminal justice processing, low conviction rates, and poor treatment of victims. The new legislation, which included the introduction of the offence 'sexual assault', was designed to emphasize the violent nature of sexual aggression rather than the sexual nature.<p> Law reform, however, is influenced by the response of the criminal justice personnel who must implement the new legislation. Judges are critical personnel within this framework because they both implement the reform in individual court cases and interpret the meaning of the new law. It is critical, therefore, to examine judicial understanding of the social, political, and economic meaning of the law, and more specifically, to examine their understanding of the nature of sexual violence.<p> Using a content analysis of 109 'remarks at sentencing', this study examines the impact of the 1983 reform on judicial definitions of sexual violence. The sentencing 'transcripts' are drawn from 66 sexual offence cases heard at the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan between 1975-1988. Transcripts are analyzed for the absence or presence of references to each of 9 themes (violence, coercion, physical impact of the offence on the victim, psychological impact of the offence on the victim, breach of trust, the significance of penetration, the accused's criminal history, the role of alcohol or drug abuse, and the accused's control over his sexual drive). Each theme reflects an influential variable in judicial decision-making concerning sexual offences.<p> The results of the study indicated that since 1983,frequently and suggest that judges are attempting to reflect the 3 tier classification of sexual assault outlined in the new legislation. At the same time, however, judicial definitions of these variables continue to reflect stereotypes and myths associated with sexual violence. Judicial responses to sexual violence tend to minimize the culpability of sexual offenders and to minimize the seriousness of the offence. One of the most significant findings was that the 'sexual' element continues to dominate judicial definitions of sexual aggression rather than the 'violent' element. This emphasis implies that 'coercive' sexual acts have the same sexual character as 'consensual' sexual acts.<p> It appears, therefore, that the reform has been unsuccessful in meeting its objectives at the judicial level. However, the small change which has occurred may lay the groundwork for further change in the future.

In an attempt to eradicate biases in substantive law and evidentiary procedures, legislative changes were implemented for sexual offences in 1983. Historically, biases in rape law had resulted in high attrition of cases at each stage of criminal justice processing, low conviction rates, and poor treatment of victims. The new legislation, which included the introduction of the offence 'sexual assault', was designed to emphasize the violent nature of sexual aggression rather than the sexual nature.<p> Law reform, however, is influenced by the response of the criminal justice personnel who must implement the new legislation. Judges are critical personnel within this framework because they both implement the reform in individual court cases and interpret the meaning of the new law. It is critical, therefore, to examine judicial understanding of the social, political, and economic meaning of the law, and more specifically, to examine their understanding of the nature of sexual violence.<p> Using a content analysis of 109 'remarks at sentencing', this study examines the impact of the 1983 reform on judicial definitions of sexual violence. The sentencing 'transcripts' are drawn from 66 sexual offence cases heard at the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan between 1975-1988. Transcripts are analyzed for the absence or presence of references to each of 9 themes (violence, coercion, physical impact of the offence on the victim, psychological impact of the offence on the victim, breach of trust, the significance of penetration, the accused's criminal history, the role of alcohol or drug abuse, and the accused's control over his sexual drive). Each theme reflects an influential variable in judicial decision-making concerning sexual offences.<p> The results of the study indicated that since 1983,frequently and suggest that judges are attempting to reflect the 3 tier classification of sexual assault outlined in the new legislation. At the same time, however, judicial definitions of these variables continue to reflect stereotypes and myths associated with sexual violence. Judicial responses to sexual violence tend to minimize the culpability of sexual offenders and to minimize the seriousness of the offence. One of the most significant findings was that the 'sexual' element continues to dominate judicial definitions of sexual aggression rather than the 'violent' element. This emphasis implies that 'coercive' sexual acts have the same sexual character as 'consensual' sexual acts.<p> It appears, therefore, that the reform has been unsuccessful in meeting its objectives at the judicial level. However, the small change which has occurred may lay the groundwork for further change in the future.

Conflict-related sexual violence against men is a largely unrecognized and forgotten perspective in both research and international policies. Reports document that conflict-related sexual violence affects men, yet detailed consideration of the issue remains missing due to the lack of comprehensive research. The existing research is scarce and focuses primarily on the policy perspective or call for increased attention towards recognizing the subject. This study has sought to increase the understanding of the phenomenon through the perspective of mass media. The objective of the study has been to examine how the subject is portrayed by the media, including how male survivors in media describe their own experiences of sexual violence regarding masculine norms and stigma. The study has been conducted as a qualitative desk study by using empirical data from news articles in online newspapers. The study has followed an abductive approach and applied an analytical framework consisting of the two theories Social Stigma and Hegemonic Masculinity. A thematic analysis was used to interpret the empirical data and three main themes were identified. The findings suggest that the subject tends to be portrayed as unusual or as an exceptional phenomenon. The news articles use similar words to describe the subject, such as hidden, silent, ignored, and underreported. The subject is also deeply associated with stigma and masculine norms, both by the survivors and in the articles. The male survivors tend to illustrate how they feel ashamed, humiliated and stigmatized as a result of their experiences. The survivors also reflect upon a sense of loss in their masculine identity and have either avoided speaking about it or been rejected by society due to normative masculine expectations.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-09-28T12:06:25Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Karen Michel Esber - 2016.pdf: 2857216 bytes, checksum: 8690f856c5b23f029e6fd8a1f130e09c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-09-28T12:07:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Karen Michel Esber - 2016.pdf: 2857216 bytes, checksum: 8690f856c5b23f029e6fd8a1f130e09c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-28T12:07:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Karen Michel Esber - 2016.pdf: 2857216 bytes, checksum: 8690f856c5b23f029e6fd8a1f130e09c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-30 / The main theme of this thesis has its center in the analysis of social representations about the victims of sexual violence in the conception of twenty-six authors of sexual violence (AVS) against children and adolescents, imprisoned in Prison Coronel Odenir Guimarães (POG), in the city of Aparecida Goiânia, State of Goiás, Brasil. The qualitative approach methodology leads the investigative task and the theoretical support searches the knowledge of Social Sciences and the Social Representation Theory, which rise the reflection beyond the individual, considering the conceptual, historical, scientific, media, legal and institutional contexts. The presentation of the interviewees is based on two perspectives: the prison institution, through documentary research in the records of the AVS and the interviewees from sixty-one personal contacts "interviewer-interviewees", mixed by the formal conduct characterized by the filling of the standard questionnaire and dialogues, both purposely targeted the themes: life history, sexualities (for themselves and their victims), children and adolescents, practiced and suffered sexual violence, victims of sexual violence, among others, like the moments of encouragement to free events and narratives of AVS. The result of the interviews showed two constants among AVS, from the empirical field: most categorize people who practice sexual violence as monsters, sick or abnormal and the different facets between denying and assuming the violence. From the perspective of the author of this document, the analysis of the AVS´s social representations about the victims elected three units of meaning: victims and victims of sexual violence, children/adolescents and sexuality (of victims and AVS). The main findings indicate that respondents recognize children and adolescents who experience sexual contact with adults as victims, relation named as a violence and a morally reprehensible act; list harmful consequences of sexual violence for the victims and also for themselves, showing their inseparability; present contradiction between not distinguishing categories as children and adolescents (both represented as biological immature, mental and emotional) and rank crimes from age category; nominate children and adolescents in sexual interaction with adults as innocent, seductive and co-authors, but always victims; show that sexual desire, if any, is directed only to the victims of the violence they committed, and not to other children and adolescents; show crystallization of the role as an author and victim of violence from the gender category; report various negative emotions about themselves in relation to the sexual violence they practiced and the caused consequences in the lives of their victims, such as repentance, disgust, anger, guilt, shame, self-image of monstrosity. Their representations are similar with the three concepts parameters adopted and with those produced and reproduced by common sense, media, law, literature and institutional discourses. The findings shown in this work and the analytical approach used inquire the assertion of part of the international literature on the fact that the AVS fail to recognize the emotional needs of their victims, because they would present empathy deficits toward them, explaining the problem in a strictly intrapsychological bias. Finally, and based on authors of the areas of Social Sciences, appears as necessary the exercise of a new interpretation that links between individual and social experience of AVS to the dominant psychosocial theories, as a contribution to the field of specialized Brazilian studies on the AVS, as well as provide professionals the minimum knowledge to the treatment in the legal field, and treatment in the field of physical and mental health of AVS, in here seen beyond the stereotypes that are charged on them before being on trial. / O tema principal desta tese tem como centro a análise das representações sociais sobre as vítimas de violência sexual na concepção de vinte e seis autores de violência sexual (AVS) contra crianças e adolescentes, encarcerados na Penitenciária Coronel Odenir Guimarães (POG), situada na cidade de Aparecida de Goiânia, Estado de Goiás, Brasil. A metodologia da abordagem qualitativa conduz a tarefa investigativa e o amparo teórico busca os saberes das Ciências Sociais e da Teoria das Representações Sociais, que suscitam a reflexão para além do indivíduo, considerando os contextos conceitual, histórico, científico, midiático, jurídico e institucional. A apresentação dos entrevistados tem como fundamento duas perspectivas: a da instituição prisional, por meio da pesquisa documental nos prontuários dos AVS e a dos entrevistados, a partir de sessenta e um contatos pessoais “entrevistador-entrevistados”, mesclados pela conduta formal caracterizada pelo preenchimento do questionário padrão e pelos diálogos, tanto os propositadamente direcionados aos temas: história de vida, sexualidades (de si próprios e de suas vítimas), crianças e adolescentes, violência sexual praticada e sofrida, vítimas de violência sexual, dentre outros, como os momentos de estímulo às manifestações livres e narrativas dos AVS. O resultado das entrevistas evidenciou duas constantes entre os AVS, a partir do campo empírico: a maioria rotula como monstros, doentes ou anormais as pessoas que praticam violência sexual e as diferentes facetas entre negar e assumir a violência. Sob a ótica da autora deste documento, a análise das representações sociais dos AVS sobre as vítimas de violência sexual elegeu três unidades de significação: vítimas e vítimas de violência sexual, crianças/adolescentes e sexualidade (das vítimas e dos AVS). As principais conclusões indicam que os entrevistados reconhecem crianças e adolescentes que experimentam contato sexual com adultos na condição de vítimas, relação esta nomeada como uma violência e um ato moralmente condenável; elencam consequências maléficas da violência sexual para as vítimas e também para si próprios, evidenciando sua indissociabilidade; apresentam contradição entre não realizar distinção entre as categorias crianças e adolescentes (ambas representadas como imaturas biológica, psíquica e emocionalmente) e hierarquizar crimes a partir da categoria idade; nomeiam crianças e adolescentes em interação sexual com adultos como inocentes, sedutoras e coautoras, mas sempre vítimas; manifestam que o desejo sexual, quando existente, está direcionado apenas às vítimas das violências que cometeram, e não a outras crianças e adolescentes; demonstram cristalização dos lugares de autor e de vítima de violência a partir da categoria gênero; relatam diversas emoções negativas sobre si próprios em relação à violência sexual praticada e às consequências provocadas nas vidas de suas vítimas, tais como arrependimento, nojo, raiva, culpa, vergonha, autoimagem de monstruosidade. Suas representações estão em consonância com os três conceitos parâmetros adotados e com aquelas produzidas e reproduzidas pelo senso comum, mídia, legislação, literatura especializada e discursos institucionais. Os achados evidenciados neste trabalho e a abordagem analítica empregada indagam a asserção de parte da literatura especializada internacional quanto ao fato de que os AVS não conseguem reconhecer as necessidades emocionais de suas vítimas, pois apresentariam déficits de empatia para com elas, explicando o problema sob um viés estritamente intrapsicológico. Finalizando, e com base em autores das áreas das Ciências Sociais, surge como necessário o exercício de uma nova interpretação que vincule entre a experiência individual e social dos AVS às teorias psicossociais dominantes, como forma de contribuir para o campo dos estudos brasileiros especializados sobre os AVS, como também proporcionar aos profissionais da área, a tranquilidade e o conhecimento mínimos para o trato, no campo jurídico, e para o tratamento, no campo da saúde física e mental dos AVS, aqui vistos para além dos estereótipos que lhes são imputados antes mesmo de serem julgados.