Legal Aspects of Sexual Consent and Violence: A Critical Analysis

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“If You consent to it, then the state should not
intervene”

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Essay...........................................................................................................................................................4
The movement has been started for protection of female from the sexual abuse in the society. Its main
purpose is to protect the empowerment of the women in the society. This movement was started for both
male and female of the world. The Me Too movement has given a new stage where the discussions can be
done relating to the situations of human relationships and sexual consents. The points laid down in such
discussion are an understanding of how and when the criminal law understands the formal consent to
sexual conducts. A far more interesting legal difference also exists: when are the sexual conducts too
much that the consent is not to the point?....................................................................................................4
In 1987, the UK Metropolitan Police found that a violence and abuse was done by a group of young men.
After some times the House of Lords held the prosecution of the five men who were caught behind the
injuries. In this situation it was seen that the sufferers did not file any complaint till the time they were
asked for. The men who were found guilty were not violent persons, rather they were pleasure seekers,
and gave their consent for sado-sexual arrangements with a group of younger men. The decision which
was laid in this situation made a legal decision for all the future situations which are going to be of such
kind. If in future any case with such high level of consensual conducts happens then the person guilty will
be held for criminal conducts whether the victim has filed some complaint in this regard against him or
not. The Australian bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines physical violence as an act which is done against a
person’s consent. It may include a physical contact which is done by physical force or coercion.
According to a study, it was found by the Australian Institute of Criminology that the rate of sexual
violence which is recorded by the police in Australia is increasing at a faster rate since 2012. According
to Australian Bureau of Statistics from 2015-16, about 77,400 Australians aged 18 years or above have
been victims to the Sexual violence. The reports were not fully made and about 30% of such issues were
reported to the police...................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Consent simply occurs when one person agrees to the offer made to him by another person. In
this discussion we are going to discuss about the position and situation of female in our country.
The female are being physically attacked in most of the countries in Australia. The people who
are guilty, does not knowingly harm the women, they are just pleasure seekers and just for their
pleasure or enjoyment they are assaulting the women. We are not only going to discuss about
women assault but also the rights of men which are being exploited at an international level. The
female circumcisions are preventing the women from raising their voices and this issue has
become a point of controversies at an international level.

Essay
The movement has been started for protection of female from the sexual abuse in the society. Its
main purpose is to protect the empowerment of the women in the society. This movement was
started for both male and female of the world. The Me Too movement has given a new stage
where the discussions can be done relating to the situations of human relationships and sexual
consents. The points laid down in such discussion are an understanding of how and when the
criminal law understands the formal consent to sexual conducts. A far more interesting legal
difference also exists: when are the sexual conducts too much that the consent is not to the
point?
In 1987, the UK Metropolitan Police found that a violence and abuse was done by a group of
young men. After some times the House of Lords held the prosecution of the five men who were
caught behind the injuries. In this situation it was seen that the sufferers did not file any
complaint till the time they were asked for. The men who were found guilty were not violent
persons, rather they were pleasure seekers, and gave their consent for sado-sexual arrangements
with a group of younger men. The decision which was laid in this situation made a legal decision
for all the future situations which are going to be of such kind. If in future any case with such
high level of consensual conducts happens then the person guilty will be held for criminal
conducts whether the victim has filed some complaint in this regard against him or not. The
Australian bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines physical violence as an act which is done against a
person’s consent. It may include a physical contact which is done by physical force or coercion.
According to a study, it was found by the Australian Institute of Criminology that the rate of
sexual violence which is recorded by the police in Australia is increasing at a faster rate since
2012. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics from 2015-16, about 77,400 Australians aged
18 years or above have been victims to the Sexual violence. The reports were not fully made and
about 30% of such issues were reported to the police. The physically attacked were, 21% of male
and 79% of female and 60% of these were in between 18 to 34 years of age. The sexual attack is
done for getting pleasure by most of the people. (The Conversation, 2018).
The female circumcision also known as Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is a common ritual being
practiced in most of the parts of African countries. This is a matter, which has generated

controversies at an international level and the disputes on this matter exists at the central level
over the protection of women’s rights, the limits of the cultural diversities, female activism, and
also human rights at international level. As a result of globalization, the Female Genital Cutting
(FGC) is being adopted by other nations also, and hence, the transactional complexities problem
is debated on how to find a proper solution to this matter. This female circumcision is most
serious issue being faced by the women in African countries and their voices are not raised due
to the practice being resisted and its movement around the globe. The Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare have estimated 53,000 women and girls who are born in other countries but
now are residing in Australia have to go through such female genital mutilation ( Hernlund, &
Shell-Dunkun, n.d).
The seven things to know about the Female Genital Surgeries in Africa are:
In a research by gynecologists, it has been found that a large number of women have gone
through genital surgeries and after these surgeries they are living a healthy life and there is also
no reduction in the sexual activities. They are not facing any issues with their health after
surgery.
The worldwide publicity and sensations of the sexual health and medical complications
relating to the female genital surgeries in Africa does not occur frequently and represent
exceptions not rule. African women who have been through such surgery have suggested it safe
as per the current conditions and procedures also.
Female genital surgeries in Africa are seen by most of the people as a concept of beauty by
cleaning and clearing the parts of the female body and are not seen as damaging the parts of the
female body.
Female genital surgeries are customs which are practiced in almost all the societies. Along
with the female surgical customs they also make male genital surgeries as customs. There are
only some of the societies which consider female only but not male surgeries as customs;
otherwise in most of the society’s female and male surgeries customs are followed.

The most of the societies can be considered as patriarchal, and they do not consider it a
custom to modify the genitals of both female and male, or they modify the genitals of males
only. The patriarchal societies do not have customs for female genital modification only. The
patriarchal societies are considered as the most sexually restrictive societies.
The surgeries conducted in Africa are done by the same sex only. Like, female genital
surgeries are controlled by women only and male genital surgeries are controlled by men only.
Mostly, the female choices women only to take control of their surgeries, this may be due to the
culture or the traditions of the societies in which they are residing.
The World Health Organizations (WHO) had done research on matters related to the Female
Genital Mutilations and found that this custom is being criticized as it had side effects of
maternal mortality during birth. The media claims that due to these surgeries it was found that
when the women gave birth then either women or child or both died (The Hasting Centre Report,
2012).
Bridie Jabour, FGM Trial: Accused Developed Technique That Would Leave No Scarring,
Court Told (29 October 2015)
In this trial it was found that a woman forcefully carried out female genital mutilations on two
sisters and asked them to close their eyes so that they may not see her face and report on her, a
court has heard this. The criminal prosecutor in the first FGM trial in Australia addressed
Supreme Court to find the woman guilty, known as KM, finding her an experienced “Khatna”
practitioner. In this trial KM, the girl’s mother and the senior cleric of their Muslims community
were found guilty of forcing the two girls for carrying out the female genital mutilation, when
those two girls were about seven years old. The girls were asked to close their eyes and they
were told to imagine that they were a princess and related to that only so that they may not report
later on about the procedure of this ceremony. The woman very cunningly completed her work
by just asking to the girl to go into imaginations, and this is how she got succeeded in her tasks.
The women said that it is just a symbolic ceremony and now at this statement of that woman the
question arises that, if it was a symbolic ceremony then why did she ask that girl to close her

eyes? Why that girl was distracted by asking her to imagine herself at some other place? After
the girls successful medical examination, the doctor exclaimed that the tests proved nothing, but
it is possible that either their clitoris has been cut or some part of it has been cut, as there are no
marks which to prove this. William the criminal prosecutor said that the marks did not exists
because the women was very experienced in such kind of works. The women called the girl’s
father and asked him to say that the girls got hurt while playing if any injury is depicted on them
and if they are enquired in this matter. This call was recorded and played in the court. After this
also trial continued no final decision was found in this matter (The Guardian, 2019).
Bridie Jabour, Australia’s First Female Genital Mutilation Trial: How a Bright Young Girl
Convinced a Jury (14 July 2017)
The case was about a girl Emma who was 11 years old. She was a western Sydney daughter of
the African and Indian migrants. She was very intelligent as when an adult asked her that
whether she will tell everything about what happened on the excursion, she replied that she will
reply the best she could. When Emma was called in the court she gave all the evidences against
her mother in the court. Emma and her sister Caroline were asked about what happened with
them in that room where they were taken by the Women and what all they saw at that place when
they were seven years old. Both the sisters at that time were not ready but they were the only
supporters in the first FGM case in Australia, which was continued since long time. The girls
were interviewed at the school itself by one of the corps. The corps interview session main aim
was to take out the whole scenario out of their mind. While interviewing the girls were asked
about their family members especially about their mother. The things they like or dislike about
their mother. After giving answers to the likes and dislikes, the girl Emma also told that there is a
custom in the Dawoodi Bohra community called “Khatna” which every girl of the community
has to go through at the age of seven. Now Emma started explaining about that ceremony for
which the corps actually started this trial. Emma said that they in the room along with their
mother and grandmother and had not worn their bottom clothes. Slowly the scissor like thing
touched their genital part. Emma answered all the questions clearly and confidently. She was not
feeling comfortable to discuss about her body parts infront of everyone. Caroline could not
recall what happened with her in the room. Emma had answered clearly all the answers were
Caroline was a child; she did not remember anything and said nothing related to the trial. It was

found in the medical examination that no marks are there but there could be chances of having
cut clitoris. After listening to all the discussion the court found KM their mother and Vaziri
guilty. They were caught behind the bars for about seven years (The Guardian, 2019).
Conclusion
In the whole essay that we have discussed above concluded that the female are sexually attacked
by most of the people just to have pleasure. The people does not harm female for causing any
kind of harm to tem rather they just do it to dominate them at some part or to get some kinds of
pleasure. The female are not harmed by such kind of acts but the male are also harmed due to
such physical attacks, their rights are also being taken away. Both male and female are facing the
problem of genital surgeries which in most of the societies is a ceremony. The discussion is also
made relating to the Female genital mutilations referring to the first of FGM held in Australia.

References
The Conversation Media Group Limited, (2018). Yes means yes: moving to a different model of
consent for sexual interactions. [Online]. The Conversation. Available at:
https://theconversation.com/yes-means-yes-moving-to-a-different-model-of-consent-for-sexual-
interactions-90630. [Accessed on 24 September 2019].
The Guardian, (2019). Australia's first female genital mutilation trial: how a bright young girl
convinced a jury. [Online]. The Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/13/female-genital-mutilation-trial-young-girl-
convinced-jury-australia. [Accessed on 24 September 2019].
The Guardian, (2019). FGM trial: accused developed technique that would leave no scarring, court
told. [Online]. The Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/29/fgm-trial-accused-developed-technique-that-
would-leave-no-scarring-court-told. [Accessed on 24 September 2019].
The Hasting Centre Report, (2012). Seven Things to Know about Female Genital Surgeries in
Africa. [Online]. The Hasting Centre Report. Available at: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-
com.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/doi/epdf/10.1002/hast.81 [Accessed on 24 September 2019].
Hernlund, Y., & Shell-Dunkun, B., (n.d). Female Genital Cutting in Global Context. Transcultural Bodies.