Quote:
...in Wales it is not sexual assault here in Wales unless it is a man that does it to a woman
I didn't realise you were a lawyer, MG!
Criminal prosecutions in Wales are handled by the
Crown Prosecution Service, just as they are in England; and while its guidance regarding sexual assault acknowledges that reported sexual assault is most commonly male-on-female, rape and sexual assault are criminal acts regardless of the genders of the perpetrator(s) and victim(s). This guidance also covers cases such as medical and care home staff abusing vulnerable patients, grooming of children by paedophiles, etc, and there is also specific guidance about allegations of false reporting.
The problem is two-fold. The first, and main problem, is simply that men don't report being sexually assaulted to the police. Mostly, as Jamesy and Fnord have pointed out, this is down to social acceptability - men are encouraged to think that any kind of sexual contact is something to be proud of, and to hide any feelings that they were violated. If you went to the police, you might get mocked by your macho friends for complaining about a bit of free hanky-panky, so most men dismiss the problem rather than be mocked for being wimpy or sexless or gay or whatever other slurs other people might try to embarrass them with.
Secondly, there is a problem with the legal system and with juries not taking female-on-male sexual assaults seriously (they don't exactly have a good track record for
any kind of sexual assaults). Even if you do involve the police and there is solid evidence, you might be discouraged from taking matters further, there might be less chance of the perpetrator being found guilty, and the punishment might be less severe. Again, this is a matter of social acceptabilty, not the letter of the law. As Fnord said, the law
should be applied equally to everyone, but unfortunately, law-enforcement officers, legal staff, and juries all consist of human beings and their prejudices make the system very imperfect. The situation regarding domestic violence is much the same - the letter of the law is gender agnostic, but its application may not be.
Note, I have deliberately avoided talking about which kinds of sexual assault might be more common - that is a whole different issue than how they are treated when they do happen.
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