Sexual assault remains as one of the critical social issues of concern affecting a significant number of people. The 18 United States Code Chapter 109A - Sexual Abuse is an existing law that seeks to criminalize sexual abuse and assault highlighting the sentencing guidelines for persons that have been accused of sexual assault (Beck, Alshami, de la Luz, Camacho de Anda, Kendall, Rosati, & Rowe, 2018). A proposed policy change focusing on this law has been the inclusion of a section that seeks to strip convicted rapists of parental rights. The proposed change in the bill aims to create a provision through which to allow victims to terminate the legal rights that therapists may have over the children conceived through rape. My selection of this policy change was driven solely by the fact that the amendment seeks to create a platform through which to restore justice for the women that have been exposed to acts of rape or other forms of sexual abuse.
After being exposed to rape, some of the victims conceive from such acts with most of the victims opting to keep the children. One of the critical questions that have been raised with regard such cases is whether the attackers have any legal authority of the children and whether the attackers can claim these children from a legal standpoint. The law recognizes the fact that the victims of rape and sexual abuse often suffer as a result of the assault; thus, ensuring that they can get the justice that they deserve. From this perspective, truth is defined by having to strip their attackers of any parental rights that would be accorded to them from a legal standpoint, which means that the attackers cannot claim the custody of the children conceived from acts of rape and sexual abuse.
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Methods
In seeking to understand the existing law, as well as, the proposed law, it was essential to focus on multiple sources of information that would be used as part of the paper as a way of providing clear justifications concerning the topic area. The first source of information used to secure information used as part of this paper is PubMed. PubMed was able to provide me with a wide array of peer-reviewed articles that expounded on the USC on sexual abuse to help in getting a background understanding of the topic at hand. The second source of information used to assist in gathering the information that would be used as part of this paper is EBSCOhost. The use of EBSCOhost allowed for the collection of information focusing on the proposed changes, which seek to establish policies that would enable for stripping rapists of their parental rights on children conceived from rape or sexual abuse.
Results
An analysis of the different sources of information indicates that there exists a significant gap concerning the law on sexual abuse. The central aspect to note from 18 United States Code Chapter 109A - Sexual Abuse is that the right to custody and visitation is often granted through omission. That means that the victims often assume that the convicts may not want anything to do with the children that are convicted from these acts. However, it must be noted that the legal structure of the law allows for the convicted persons to sue for custody. From a financial standpoint, pushing for the change would not have any notable implications considering that this is a law that can be supported by the political parties' level. Legislators may need to convince their respective political parties of the importance of having to adopt this law to ensure that it is adopted.
From this perspective, what is clear is that the proposed change in the law is an essential approach for the states to focus on in their bid to ensuring that they capitalize on changing the structure of the existing law. However, this calls for total support from the local elected leaders and the civil society groups, as they have the authority to push for the adoption of such changes. For the leaders, their role in the adoption of these changes is to draft policies that would be discussed at different levels of government, including the local, state, and federal levels. The idea is having to ensure that these drafts are enacted into law as a way of ensuring that the victims of rape and sexual abuse actually receive justice from such acts irrespective of the fact that they have constant reminders on the children.
The role of the civil society groups in the adoption of the policy changes, as have been indicated, is to ensure that they mount pressure on the policymakers with the intention being towards ensuring that they get a clear understanding of the problem. Civil society groups must highlight the fact that the majority of those persons exposed to rape and sexual abuse often find themselves experiencing severe mental health issues. By not adopting policies that would prevent the convicts from suing for custody and visitation, the policymakers would be exposing the victims to injustices. By not adopting these policies, the victims will be expected to face the attackers over and over not only during the lawsuit but equally after the cases have been concluded. That is a position that the civil society groups ought to consider as part of their approach to protecting the victims.
Discussion
It is almost an unimaginable scenario where victims are expected to face their attackers, who have been convicted in a court of law, fighting for the legal custody or visitation of children that may have been conceived as a result of such acts. However, the keyword that can be noted from this assumption is 'almost,' which means that it is likely to occur. The analysis of the existing law on sexual assault indicates that it does not prohibit, in any way, those convicted of rape or sexual assault from seeking custody and visitation of the children that they sired as a result of rape or sexual abuse (Doherty, 2017). Some of the states have been on the forefront in seeking to work on policies that would seek to strip those convicted of their parental rights over the children.
A background analysis of custody cases arising from rape indicated that 31 out of the 50 states within the United States allow persons that have been convicted of rape to sue for both custody and visitation rights for children that were convicted from such acts (Bitar, 2011). The central aspect to note from this point of view is that a majority of the states that have failed to adopt respective policies supporting the stripping of the attackers' parental rights fail to recognize the agony from the victim's point of view. Kessler (2015) indicates that one of the critical issues of the debate has been on the fact that the attackers, regardless of their actions, have legal rights that are protected under the laws in the United States Constitution concerning the children.
Another critical aspect to note is that although some of the states have pushed for the adoption of policies that seek to terminate the legal rights for attackers, a rape conviction is mandatory. Murphy (2018) indicates that only 36% of the rape cases end in opinion; thus, meaning that the significant majority of the victims find themselves in a situation where they are not able to prevent their attackers from claiming custody and visitation. That is reflective of the fact that most of these victims are much more likely to suffer from severe mental health issues considering that the law does not protect them.
Conclusion
The 18 United States Code Chapter 109A - Sexual Abuse is an existing law within the United States that seeks to define sexual abuse while highlighting the sentencing guidelines. One of the proposed policy changes that reflect on this law is having to adopt an amendment that aims to strip rapists of rights to children that have been sired from acts that may include rape and sexual abuse. From the findings, it can be noted that 31 out of the 50 states within the United States allow for convicts to sue for custody and visitation. In the remaining states, a rape conviction is mandatory before the attacker is stripped of parental rights. From this perspective, the main recommendation would be having to adopt a law that seeks to remove persons accused of rape of parental rights. That means that any person that has been charged with rape, within a court of law, ought to be stripped of parental rights for children resulting from such acts of rape and sexual abuse.
References
Beck, C. J., Alshami, L., de la Luz, M. M., Camacho de Anda, A. N., Kendall, H. J., Rosati, E. S., & Rowe, M. C. (2018). Children conceived from rape: Legislation, parental rights and outcomes for victims. Journal of Child Custody , 15 (3), 193-205.
Bitar, K. N. (2011). The parental rights of rapists. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy , 19 (275), 275-302.
Doherty, A. (2017). Choosing to Raise a Child Conceived through Rape: The Double-Injustice of Uneven State Protection. Women's Rts. L. Rep. , 39 , 220.
Kessler, R. (2015). Due process and legislation designed to restrict the rights of rapist fathers. Nw. JL & Soc. Pol' y , 10 , 199.
Murphy, W. (2018). Impregnation rapists, parental rights, and the often-ignored constitutional rights of victims: An critical case study from Massachusetts. Journal of Child Custody , 15 (3), 169-192.
