Perceptions of Sexual Violence Terms Used in Statutes Throughout the United States

The terminology used to describe sexually violent offenses vary, and how these labels are interpreted by the public remains unclear. This study explores the terms for the primary—legally most severe—offense of sexual violence in legal statutes across the United States and investigates how different...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Violence against women 2024-12, Vol.30 (15-16), p.3991-4011
Main Authors: Pinchevsky, Gillian M., Augustyn, Megan Bears, Kennedy, Alan H., Rennison, Callie Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crime
Female
Humans
Male
Offenses
Perception
Perceptions
Perpetrators
Rape - legislation & jurisprudence
Rape - psychology
Severity
Sex crimes
Sex Offenses - legislation & jurisprudence
Sex Offenses - psychology
Sex Offenses - statistics & numerical data
Sexual violence
Statutes
Surveys and Questionnaires
Terminology
Terminology as Topic
United States
Violence
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:The terminology used to describe sexually violent offenses vary, and how these labels are interpreted by the public remains unclear. This study explores the terms for the primary—legally most severe—offense of sexual violence in legal statutes across the United States and investigates how different terms evoke different perceptions about crime severity. Results indicate that nine different terms are used to identify the primary offense of sexual violence in state statutes, with significant differences in perceived severity for these terms. The findings have implications for the public's (mis)understanding of sexual violence and the treatment of survivors and perpetrators.
ISSN:1077-8012
1552-8448
1552-8448
DOI:10.1177/10778012231188088