The Influence of Gender on Assessment of Rape and Proposition of Sanctions for Perpetrators

Abstract

The study examined the influence of gender on assessment of parties involved in rape and the type of punishment proposed for its perpetrators. The  participants were undergraduate students; 76 male and 76 females with mean age of 21.32 years. Anecdotal method, involving the use of six vignettes  depicting rape in different circumstances was employed. The research adopted Pearson correlation, Chi-square and t-independent test for the analysis.  The result shows gender difference in rating of only one of the vignettes, which is the one involving the receiving of gifts from the perpetrator by the  victim. Suggestion of who to punish for acquaintance rape reflected gender bias. Suggestion on the type of punishment varies from one scenario to  another. However punishment proposed for gang rape by both gender was stricter than those proposed for other cases. T-test carried out when the  proposed sanctions were scored showed that female participants proposed more grievous punishment than the male for acquaintance rape. They also  proposed harsher court sanctions for date rape at night and acquaintance rape. However, the male participants proposed higher punishment than  female for gang rape. The paper discussed the results and highlighted implications for counseling.