I have chosen to discuss the case of Guard Lynndie England in my response paper. The reason why I chose this case is that female sexual assault has been on the rise for recent years, and this causes a serious issue that needs to be looked at and solved as soon as possible. Although different gender has been indifferent cases of sexual assaults, the media, and the public have always seen female sex offenders as less violent, and sometimes people even think the victim (men) are taking advantage. This would never be the case if the victim is a woman. I think this is hugely impacted by the society we live in and our cultural believes. It is believed femininity is incompatible with our understanding of violence. It is a double-edged sword.
Why This Topic Intrigues Me?
Feminine has been underrated when it comes to sexual assaults compared to men. Women are understood to be the weaker gender, and society judges aggressors against women harshly. This intrigues me because when a woman army reserve mistreats men prisoners, society tends to take the issue lightly. How England was able to mishandle and molest men and claim that the media was blowing the matter out of proportion, get a short-term sentence, and dishonorably discharged out of service can seem like a misdemeanor. If the perception was a change to a woman being the victim and a man the aggressor, the judgment might have been harsh.
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The Portrayal of violence
The case of Guard Lynndie England causes me to think about why female assault goes Scot-free after abusing men. It is clear that England tortured, mistreated, and mishandled the men prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during her occupation in Iraq. She was convicted for three years and got dishonorably discharged from active duty. Assuming the man was the one who committed the abuse of female prisoners and argued the same way as England did, this would not end in the same way. Probably, the man could end with a harsher judgment compared to England’s. Female abuse upon men is significantly more widespread than previously realized, with experts estimating that there could be more cases of female abusers in the incarceration system in the US and other prisons abroad. Female aggression towards men in the prison system is, therefore, not taken seriously by the prison warden and the justice system that oversees the cases brought before it. Take, for instance, how the media portrayed the story; the media labeled the story a scandal and made it look like the leaked pictures were photoshopped, eluding the seriousness with how the case was meant to be handled. The media is an instrument that takes the news to the public, and its reach is undoubted. Therefore, if they do a story eluding from the truth and seriousness, its audience will be influenced to take the same stance. England’s story was taken lightly on the basis that the culprit was a woman, and she may not have had the ability to abuse or mistreat men, especially that they were in prison.
How This Case Is Managed
When going through the court ruling about the Guard Lynndie England case, it states that she tethered the prisoners’ bare neck using a leash and made them walk on all fours while naked. She also participated in or played parties to the inhumane treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison. The charges brought her were four counts of maltreating prisoners, one count of dereliction of duty, and two counts of conspiracy. She made a deal with the justice system and ended up being detained for 521 days and released on parole, where she served the remainder of the 3-year conviction outside prison. What went through my mind is that what if it was the man who assaulted, mistreated, or tortured a woman; will this still be the point of concern or reference? And my answer was no. Guard Lynndie England may have got a lighter sentence because she was a woman or tentatively because she was working for the US army against the terror aggressors. If a man could have decided to torture a woman by physical characteristics, the public and the judges would not have taken the case lightly as the case of Guard Lynndie England because of the masculinity perception of the society.
Exceptions
Equality is uniform through all scenarios and positions of society. According to the law, all human life is equal and important to society. Therefore, it does not give leeway for someone to undermine another’s life or position. When comparing what the constitution says and the case of (Guard Lynndie England), it is clear that Guard Lynndie sexually assaults the prisoners yet is not acquitted from the charges. It is a big problem if one engages in the act assuming that men can’t be molested. This case violates the right of men in society. Such actions can cause harm to them as it does to women.
Recommended Approach to Managing This Issue
In managing the gendered double standards present in the media when men are judged more harshly than women for the same crime, there needs to be some form of enlightenment to educate society on male abuse by female aggressors. In the case of male prisons, male prisoners should be enlightened on the sexual abuse by women because most people are not familiar with such cases. This is the reason why such cases go unreported after the education people are in the position to report when they hear or are found in such cases. Secondly, cultural beliefs should be discussed in a wide range so that men in the prison will not fear to report and also know that it’s not about the loss of freedom perception, but also men fall victim and should fight for their rights. If society could have been familiar with sexual abuse by women, then I believe Lynndie could not have been acquitted of the charges. She could have faced the law the same way as men. Thirdly, Judges in all courts should treat all cases of sexual assault with the same weight, and the law should be followed to the latter because Lynndie was familiar with the law, and despite all that, she took no steps to ascertain the consequences caused by such actions. If the court upholds the law, then any guard who wants to sexually abuse prisoners will be cautious about the action. It is believed that sexual offenders are all men, but from this case and recent cases, it can be noted that even women commit such offenses and are left unchanged, which is a big problem because all abusers should be treated the same way since no gender is above the law, it applies in equal measures. There should be a law that protects prisoners since, from the current one, they are less protected from harm. Society should change their perception that of who is okay when molested and who is not. Such perception is not true as it affects both genders. When men are sexually molested, it should not be praised because this gives the guard the power to do it even better rather, it should be condemned and punished roughly to prevent such cases from occurring in the future. Sexual assault by women can be cubed and controlled if all the recommendations are followed and adhered to. It’s not only the court’s duty but also the society at large respect and treats all the gender in the same way.
