Why are sex offenders statistically overwhelmingly more often male?

[noname223]

Sexualized Violence Statistics | Cal Poly Humboldt

supportingsurvivors.humboldt.edu

I wanted to use the first point with 99% of perpetrators are male in the title. But I am not sure whether the numbers are really exact (it should not be a discussion about some points more or less). Moreover I think the statistics only refer to the US.

An estimated 91% of victims of rape & sexual assault are female and 9% male. Nearly 99% of perpetrators are male.
This US Dept. of Justice statistic does not report those who do not identify in these gender boxes.

Around the world, at least 1 woman in every 3 has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Most often the abuser is a member of her own family or is her partner.

Only 2% of rapists are convicted and imprisoned.

Approximately 80-85% of completed rapes are committed by someone who is known to the victim/survivor.

42% of gay, lesbian and bisexual university students in one sample reported they had been forced to have sex against their will compared to 21% of heterosexual students in the same study.

While 80% of reported rapes are against white women, minorities are more likely to be assaulted. Rates of rape: White-17.7%, Black: 18.8%, Asian/Pacific Islander-6.8%, American Indian/Alaskan Women-34.1%, Mixed Race-24.4%. The stats for non-whites are probably low, since barriers to reporting would be increased for women of color.

American Indian women are the only ethnic group more likely to be assaulted by a male outside their own ethnicity.

It is estimated that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 7 boys by age 18 will have been the victim of some form of sexualized violence.

Women who were sexually assaulted by current or former male partners were significantly more likely to present with physical injuries than women assaulted by acquaintances.

Women reporting rape within a relationship report an average of 20 sexual assaults during that relationship.

Among developmentally disabled adults, as many as 83% of females and 32% of males have been sexually assaulted.

Of 22 substances used in drug facilitated rapes, alcohol is the most common finding in investigations of drug facilitated sexual assault cases.

For individuals with psychiatric disabilities, the rate of violent victimization including sexual assault is 2 times greater than the general population.

Lifetime risk for violent victimization including sexual assault for women who live with homelessness and mental illness is 97%


My comment from now on:
I know these statistics are not closely related to the topic but they are shocking.

Now the main topic. I have talked with a lot of women who were victim of sex crimes in the past. Two of them were raped one by her ex boyfriend (developed PTSD) and the other girl by a stranger. She said she is not impacted in a severe way by it because she was an adult when it happened. (she was homeless.) The other girl was sexually molested as a child developed PTSD, schizophrenia and borderline. Similar to my case ("only" physical and emotional violence) the damage was pretty large because it happened so early in the development.

I am male by the way. To make that clear. I don't really have a final answer why males are statistically so much more often the perpetrators. One could speculate maybe when women are the cultprits there might be a bigger stigmatization to open up about it. However this would propably only make a change of at maximum 5-10% in the statistics (?) I don't have any evidence for that it is just a hypothesis. I tried to make a research to answer this question. And many many people on the internet ( in random forums) claim the crimes are underreported when the perpetrators are female. I highly doubt that this would close the gap fully. I would like to know what an expert says about this topic.

Here are some other theories I have in mind.

Men are physically often stronger and have it thus easier to assault someone.

Testosterone causes a higher chance of sexual aggressions. Maybe a hgher sex drive in general.

Social roles. Men are forced (subliminally) by the society to be strong, to never show emotions, to be muscular and dominant. The prisons are full of men also because of similar reasons and I assume much social violence happens in prisons from what I have heard in the US. I ask myself whether the same applies to Germany. (e.g. rapings in showers).

Sex is a status symbol for men. Sometimes it can be for women too but not in the past. Women were (are?) usually called whores if they had many different sexual relationships. Men instead get celebrated and admired if they sleep with many different women.

Women commit different crimes. My mom beated me up since I was 5. It was her way to deal with being overburdened by raising us. I could imagine the violence was kind of inherited in our family. So one could say such crimes get inherited. And due to the fact men were in the past more likely to be sex offenders they are still more likely to be ones in the present time. Rape was in many (all?) countries legal when the couple was married. The potential new chancellor of Germany voted against that. So he was in favor that rape is not prosecuted when the couple is married. I hope so much he won't become chancellor but mainly for economical reasons.
I guess in our evolution men were more prone to violence because they were stronger physically. Religions and traditons cemented that position. And people in power seem to abuse that exact power.

So this is another good point. People who are in the social hierarchy higher ones also tend to abuse that power. Women are not more virtuous or better human beings. But being in the lower position makes one an easier target of violence.

One point to explain. Women in certain areas are privileged in our society but so are men. The situation is way more fluid and it is far from the truth to pretend women were disadvantaged on every issue. Having to defend one's country is often forced on men. Successful suicides are more likely to be done by males. In the news they say look even women and children died by the attacks. Well I understand why they emphasize children. However why should it be worse to kill a woman than to kill a man? Probably because we tend to assume men to be soldiers. Moreover women are responsible to raise the kids which is an outdated notion.

I think one obvious thing. There are also a lot of female sex offenders. Women cannot receive a free pass on this issue.
But really looking at official statistics makes me wonder. I think many people will go with the underreporting explanation. But I wonder if the huge magnitude in the difference could really be explained by that.

 

[derpyderpins]

In addition to some good points you made, consider the following as well.

Men are physically often stronger and have it thus easier to assault someone.

on the flip side, it's possible that aggressive women with the propensity to commit violent acts are dissuaded by this strength difference or simply incapable, or the man may be able to neutralize the threat without escalation thanks to his strength.

I think an important consideration is which of the statistics (and I'm admittedly not going to take the time to look into this) you have there are based on an actual guilty finding/adjudication v. an accusation.

I think men are far less likely to report being sexually assaulted by a woman and possibly less likely to be believed due to stereotypes which you bring up. I just recently rewatched the South Park where the Kindergarten teacher is having sex with one of the kids, which is commentary on how people think women committing statutory rape is "nice" because the young man must like it, but men in the same situation are considered to be monsters.

This hits on a few of the things I said above, but I encourage you to look into which gender initiates domestic violence more often. The results may not be what you expect.

 

[noname223]

In addition to some good points you made, consider the following as well.



on the flip side, it's possible that aggressive women with the propensity to commit violent acts are dissuaded by this strength difference or simply incapable, or the man may be able to neutralize the threat without escalation thanks to his strength.

I think an important consideration is which of the statistics (and I'm admittedly not going to take the time to look into this) you have there are based on an actual guilty finding/adjudication v. an accusation.

I think men are far less likely to report being sexually assaulted by a woman and possibly less likely to be believed due to stereotypes which you bring up. I just recently rewatched the South Park where the Kindergarten teacher is having sex with one of the kids, which is commentary on how people think women committing statutory rape is "nice" because the young man must like it, but men in the same situation are considered to be monsters.

This hits on a few of the things I said above, but I encourage you to look into which gender initiates domestic violence more often. The results may not be what you expect.

Very good point about statistics. I am not a fan of quantitative methods at college but understanding them is so damn important for research and science in general.

 

[carac]

Simply put, men are women are different. We are more the same than we are different but we are still different.

 

[Namensjemand]

Because they got a ram to sting.



They fuck.


Genious... i know I know

 

[Forever Sleep]

This thread was suggested when I was responding to your other thread on the impact legalizing prostitution might have on terrorism so, I'm late to the thread but, it's related...

I wonder if it's because men are maybe taught to feel entitled. I've thought about this before. Questioning the different traits in incels vs. femcels. I think there is bitterness in both sexes. And (questionably,) rightly so. It's not our fault we didn't get the genes for beauty and that we don't fit societies expectation. I've wondered though- if our responses are (broadly speaking,) different. I think again, both feel sad and resentful but the level of anger in male incels seems much higher. (Not all of course.)

I was questioning this. Is it because men historically, are taught to be entitled? Feeling entitled makes you pursue things with more vigour. Which, probably gives you a greater chance of success. Women are drawn to successful, powerful, go getter men quite often.

Historically, women were taught to be more passive. More subservient. I'm not sure these days so much but, maybe we were/ are taught to accept rather than confront and demmand. I accepted that I wasn't pretty enough to attract the type of guys I went for.

Of course, that's the other issue for men. Modern women are taught it's their right to say 'no'. Plus, we're not so financially dependent on men so, more get the choice.

That's a pretty disturbing thought- as a woman. That I suspect some guys would prefer it if we had less freedom.

Also- it's depressing really. That either gender can still get trapped in an abusive relationship because they are dependent on their partner.

Of course, it's not just incels who are violent. I really don't know though. I don't know whether many women even have the desire to rape men. But sure, the difference in physical strength means even those who do want to, may not want to risk trying. A teacher once said their mentally compromised son had been taken advantage of. That was awful to hear. So, it certainly does happen still. The minset though. I don't know. Power I suppose. Again, men are taught to be powerful probably, more thsn women. Obviously, you'd hope most express it in a different way.

Ultimately too, we're animals. Plenty of animals will rape one another. Dolphins will gangrape. They're supposed to be these intelligent, sensitive creatures. It's kind of weird how we sometimes romanticize the natural world.

 

[whywere]

The post that @Forever Sleep wrote is spot on and is what I would say also.

One other tidbit is here in the U.S. as of late a fair number of women teachers have been arrested for sexual predator stuff with teenage boys in high schools.

Humans are human, good, bad and everything in-between,

Walter

 

[Forever Sleep]

The post that @Forever Sleep wrote is spot on and is what I would say also.

One other tidbit is here in the U.S. as of late a fair number of women teachers have been arrested for sexual predator stuff with teenage boys in high schools.

Humans are human, good, bad and everything in-between,

Walter

Thanks Walter,

That's been happening in the UK too- female teachers predating boys. It's absolutely exploitation and predation and, needs to be acted upon. I wonder if it's quite the same drive as rape though. I guess, maybe though. Yikes.

 

[cemeteryismyhome]

As a man myself, I will say, it's simple. Men are generally obnoxious pushy idiots. Women are more clever and not so stupidly obvious. A woman can victimize a man and he won't even realize it until it's too late, if ever. I feel terrible reading statistics like that. Women deserve so much better.

 

[imtiredasf]

As someone who's been SA'd by multiple women, and reported none of it, and had quite a few male acquaintances come to me and tell me of similar experiences, it's different for men.

It's easy to dismiss when a man is predated on. "Oh, what a lucky guy, I wish that was my teacher," or how many sick folks ask me for intimate details about my sister touching me in my no-no zones. We're supposed to be strong, and sturdy, and emotionally resilient, so when something like that happens, it's a complete destruction of that facade.

What happens when SA happens isn't a matter of gender, it's a matter of opportunity, power and control. Unfortunately a lot more men have power and control over people than women do, but when that opportunity arises for either gender with that particular fucking sickness, they capitalize.

I feel like there's a lot less of a disparity in gender when it comes to SA than statistics lead people to believe.