On Guam, crime stories take up a significantly large space in reported news. Crimes involving sexual violence appear to be on the rise, at least anecdotally.<\/p>\n

For instance, the Pacific Daily News reported an estimate of 30 articles of sexual violence dating back to December to April, alone. Of these articles reported, the cases ranged from sexual assault to cases of molestation and rape.<\/p>\n

Crime is inevitable in any society. As true as this statement may be, crime is also an agent that works against the advancement of any given society and we need good lawyers like Bob Bratt<\/a> to fight this crime organizations.
\nSeahara Cruz is a supervisor of Clinical Psychology at the Violence Against Women Prevention Program. The program aims to address the prevention of violent crimes against women on campus, particularly domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and to provide services for victims of these crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere seems to be more reporting of sex crimes lately. Everyday there is a new story in the newspapers about a crime,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n

In Guam, sex crimes are on the rise, whether they are being reported or not.
\nThe releases a Uniform Crime Report is a report done by the Guam Police Department\u2019s Planning, Research and Development office that details crimes committed and reported on Guam. The 2017 report analyzes data of crimes brought to GPD and those that are known to police that year. The UCR Program examines data in increments of five-years to formulate trend information. The 2017 UCR looks at data that date back to 2013.<\/p>\n

Violent Crimes<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2017 alone, 369 violent crimes were reported to the Guam Police Department. Violent crimes, as defined by the UCR, include four types of offenses: rape, murder and manslaughter, aggravated assault and robbery.
\nThese are crimes that typically involve force or threat of force.
\nOf the 369 violent crimes reported in Guam in 2017, 8.7 percent were cases of rape.<\/p>\n

The UCR states that compared to 2016, violent crimes committed and reported in Guam in 2017 increased by approximately 8.2 percent. That same year, rape decreased 69.0 percent.<\/p>\n

Sexual Violence\/Rape<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UCR defines rape as penetration, no matter how slight, of the genitals or sexual act inflicted upon a person without the consent of the victim. In this definition, physical resistance on part of the victim is not required to demonstrate a lack of consent. This entails any form of sexual assaults or attempts to rape.<\/p>\n

The data presented by the UCR details trends of the crime that took place on Guam from 2013 to 2017. The number of reported rape crimes decreased compared from 2013. Reported crimes went from 106 in 2013, rising to 118 in 2014, rising higher to 160 reported rape crimes in 2015 then decreasing to 103 in 2016 and decreasing drastically to 32 in the year 2017.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The report breaks down the crimes even further by analyzing the type of \u201crape crimes\u201d committed, categorizing these crimes as either \u201cforcible rape\u201d or \u201cattempts to commit forcible rape.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2013, of the 106 rape crimes reported, the GPD saw a total of 95 cases of forcible rape and 11 cases of attempted rape. Of the 118 sex crimes reported in 2014, 109 were cases of forcible rape and 9 were cases of attempted rape. The year 2015 presented 121 cases of forcible rape and 39 cases of attempted rape in the 160 sex crimes reported.<\/p>\n

In 2016, 57 of the 103 sex crimes reported were cases of attempted rape while 39 were cases of forcible rape.<\/p>\n

Lastly, 2017 showed a significant decrease with 2 of the 30 cases reported being cases of attempted rape while 30 were cases of forcible rape.
\nYet one may ask \u2013 how does Guam compare with other places?<\/p>\n

Maui, Hawaii is an island that might serve as a comparison, at least when both island\u2019s population are compared, with Guam’s population at 164, 229 and Maui’s at 144, 444.<\/p>\n

In Maui, a similar UCR shows that in the year 2016, there were 77 cases of rape reported. That same year in Guam, there were 103 cases of rape reported to the GPD. In 2015, there were 94 cases of rape reported in Maui, and 160 in Guam. In 2014, the Maui police department recorded 89 cases of rape while the GPD recorded 118. Guam displays more cases of rape compared to Maui.<\/p>\n

The sex crimes committed on Guam within the five-year increment of 2013-2017 were even more heinous when they were cases committed by members of the victims\u2019 family.<\/p>\n

Incest is sexual activity between family members, or persons of blood relations. In the case of this article, it is merely sexual abuse committed by members of the victims\u2019 family.<\/p>\n

The report classifies several of the sex crimes committed as family violence. 17 of the 106 rape crimes committed in 2013 were classified as family offenses. Of the 118 cases in 2014, 21 were classified as family offenses.<\/p>\n

In 2015, 23 of the 160 cases were family offenses. 13 of the 103 rape crimes reported in 2016 were family offenses. In the latest report in 2017, 18 out of the 32 reported crimes were classified as family offenses.<\/p>\n

Sexual violence is an ongoing social problem for the island of Guam. Despite showing a decrease in numbers over the course of the five-year period, sex crimes are, nonetheless, still happening.<\/p>\n

It appears a new story about sexual abuse or rape breaks through the media each week. If these numbers only paint a picture of the crimes being reported, imagine how much more sex crimes are being committed that have not been reported.<\/p>\n

Solutions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sexual violence is a growing worldwide issue. Sexual assault can take many forms, but one thing remains: it has the power to destroy lives. When it comes to working towards solutions to this issue in society, everyone has a role to play. Every single person is capable of making a difference.<\/p>\n

Incidents of sexual assault are being reported from all around Guam. The media is constantly reporting cases to the public. There are 64.2 reported rapes per 100,00 people in Guam. The national rate is 25.2 per 100,000. Victims or families of victims can seek for legal assistance online by searching for criminal defense lawyer near me<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before looking into the solutions, it is important to know why sexual violence is constantly occurring.<\/p>\n

It is important to not only address the perpetrator, but to also address other factors that come into play in these situations.<\/p>\n

What factors in society could contribute to the rise of this social problem?<\/p>\n

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention uses a four-level social-ecological model to assess and understand factors of violence. The model takes into account the relationship between individual, relationship, community and societal factors.<\/p>\n

Sexual violence on Guam is due in part to societal factors surrounding the island.<\/p>\n

James Sellmann, PhD., dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, found in his research that one reason for the ongoing cycle of sexual crimes goes back to the male self-identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the proposals is that contemporary people have lost sense of the cultural hero as a protector and defender of people,\u201d Sellmann said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore young men fail to identify with the positive types of role models,\u201d Sellmann said, \u201cSomehow the image of the male showing their male prowess by discussing their sexual exploits have sort of led us to the gutter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sellmann blames the continuing cycle of sexual violence on the idea of the loss of a cultural hero and the twisted male self-image of being a perpetrator of assault rather than being a defender of an assault.<\/p>\n

An important aspect of societal factors to consider is social norms<\/p>\n

Social norms are a cemtral part of the reason why many instances of sexual violence go unanswered, and why the cycle continues.<\/p>\n

One widely accepted social norm is to groom one\u2019s sons to be strong, and free of emotions, and to groom one\u2019s daughters to be the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do young girls communicate better than young boys? Because their mothers talk to them twice as much,\u201d Sellmann said. \u201cIn almost every culture, women talk to their daughters more than they talk to their sons \u2013 sons are expected to be tough while daughters are expected to be soft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sellmann goes on further stating that the gender ideas have been passed down from generation to generation throughout all of history.<\/p>\n

One solution to consider is to begin conversation with young people, especially young men, about assault and sexual violence.<\/p>\n

Although there are undoubtedly cases of rape where the perpetrators are female, for the most part, perpetrators are predominantly male.<\/p>\n

Take a look at data from New Zealand, for comparison. In a data summary compiled by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse, out of 622 perpetrators, 2 percent were female. Male perpetrators made up for 72 percent and the remaining 27 percent were perpetrators whose genders were not specified.<\/p>\n

The conversation must be for everyone, but men should be the focal audience.<\/p>\n

In many cultures around the globe, conversations about sex, and rape, are considered especially taboo. In order to fix a problem, it is necessary for that problem to first be addressed. Cultures and societies should not stress teaching women how to avoid being victims of sexual assault. Rather, they should be teaching their men not to rape.<\/p>\n

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, men are likely to commit sexual crimes in communities where sexual violence goes unpunished.<\/p>\n

Societies must work to mobilize their men and boys as allies instead of glorifying violence and extreme masculinity. Groups such as Men Against Rape Support (MARS) Groups or Men of Strength (MOST)share those exact goals.<\/p>\n

Sellmann proposes that youth groups, religious communities, families, cultural and governmental organizations work together with groups like MARS and MOST to help begin personal transformations within young men so that they may direct their efforts and power to adopt a new image of masculinity.<\/p>\n

Just as it is important to teach norms that protect against sexual violence, it is equally important to empower and support victims. End rape culture. End victim shaming. Beginning conversation on this topic gives life to the movement that our current society so desperately needs. The more voices that band together to speak out against sexual violence, the more they silence the voices of those who oppose this cause. As minimal as these actions may seem, they cause a ripple effect that is necessary in sparking change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Guam, crime stories take up a significantly large space in reported news. Crimes involving sexual violence appear to be on the rise, at least anecdotally. For instance, the Pacific Daily News reported an estimate of 30 articles of sexual violence dating back to December to April, alone. Of these articles reported, the cases ranged … <\/p>\n

Read more “Dealing with sexual violence on Guam”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":5408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[134],"yoast_head":"\n