Sexual Assault/Rape in Arizona
1. Arizona Population: 5,998,271
Incidents
of Forcible Rape: 1,631
2. Statutes of Limitation For Arizona:
Time Limit for Prosecution
-
No time limit for the prosecution of an
offense under 13-1423 which is listed as
Violent Sexual Assault
-
For class 2 through 6 felonies, it must
be within seven years after the actual discovery by the state or political
subdivision having jurisdiction of the offense or discovery by the state or the
political subdivision that should have occurred with the exercise of reasonable
diligence whichever first occurs.
-
For a misdemeanor it should be within
one year after actual discovery by the state or political subdivision having
jurisdiction of the offense or discovery by the state or the political subdivision
that should have occurred with the exercise of reasonable diligence whoever occurs
first
3.
Arizona
State Law Regarding Rape
-
Rape is defined as a person committing
sexual conduct or oral sexual conduct with someone who is under eighteen years
of age.
-
The only exception to the statutory rape
law is that the victim is between 15-17 and the accused is under 19 or is still
in high school and is no more than 24 months older.
4. Web Article:
http://www.titleix.info/resources/news-articles/arizona-state-rape-case-settled.aspx
A
former Arizona State University Student who was raped in her dorm room in 2004 by
one of the school’s football players will collect $850,000, and the Arizona university
system will establish a woman’s safety czar for all three major campuses. The
settlement ends a civil lawsuit in 2006 by the former student in court records
against Arizona State, the Arizona Board of Regents, then-head football coach
Dirk Hoetter, and Darnel Henderson, who allegedly raped her. Henderson was in
trouble within days of arriving on campus grabbing and touching women in dorm,
exposing himself to female staff etc. When confronted on his misconduct he said
he wanted women to fear him and that it was important they know their place.
5.
Media
Movie Speak: Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSCzahFXMrs
The
movie Speak is based of the popular
young adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson that tells the story of Melinda
Sordino’s rape, recovery, and confession. After being raped at a party she is
tormented by her peers, and keeps the story of her rape to herself until she is
able to voice her experience through art expression
Another
book discussing rape Polygamy’s Rape of
Rachel Strong. It is about a woman’s rape by her polygamist stepfather who
was forty-five who made claims that he was only living through his religion. She
was forced into marriage with him and soon became subject to degrading and dehumanizing
sexual acts, until she decided that damnation could be nothing worse than that
and decided to leave. Interestingly enough the Utah Attorney Genera declined to
prosecute her case, but would not give her a reason why. In present day he now
states that Utah now declines to prosecute the crime of bigamy between
consenting adults, but will prosecute those against children. He also explained
to polygamists that he would not prosecute a religious tenet.
I
personally feel that these are both very accurate descriptions of rape. For
instance in the first example the young girl is scared to talk about her rape
experience. Many victims keep their sexual assault to themselves, and quite
frequently it is found that lots of victims suppress those memories and they
end up resurfacing at a later date. In the second media example, the polygamist
camps in Utah have been in and out of the news for the past couple years most
specifically, cases like Rachel’s are the reason most people feel like these
radical lifestyles are inappropriate, especially since there are countless
situations similar to hers and with victims of a younger age. I think lots of
people are on the fence about those cases because they blame the victim for
entering into that situation knowing the stigma surrounding.
