Redrawing the Boundaries: The Adequacy of the Sexual Offences Act in Addressing Female Sexual Offending
| Author | Andrew O’Hagan,Jeremy Robson,Lucy Newman |
| Published date | 01 August 2021 |
| Date | 01 August 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0022018320984451 |
Article
Redrawing the Boundaries:
The Adequacy of the Sexual
Offences Act in Addressing
Female Sexual Offending
Jeremy Robson
De Montfort University, UK
Lucy Newman
Nottingham Trent University, UK
Andrew O’Hagan
Nottingham Trent University, UK
Abstract
Discussion around sexual offending traditionally focuses on the notion of male offenders and
female victims. In this article, we argue that there is clear evidence that females commit
offences and that males are often the victims of these offences. We discuss the evidence for this
and the impact it has on the victims of these offences. We argue that the processes which have
informed policy in this area have dismissed this class of offending and as a result the Sexual
Offences Act and associated policies do not provide a clear enough framework for the
prosecution of these offenders. We present some suggestions for how this lacuna could be
addressed.
Keywords
Criminal law, sexual offending, rape, male victims, sentencing guidelines
Introduction
In this article, we discuss the failure of the criminal justice system to adequately address the problems of
sexual assaults perpetrated by female assailants on both male and female victims. We argue that the law
as it currently stands (contained in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA)) is heteronormative and rooted
in gender stereotypes and, as such, fails to achieve the policy aims of ‘gender neutrality’ and ‘univers-
ality’. This is due to an attempt to maintain gender neutrality in the language of the legislation, at the
Corresponding author:
Jeremy Robson, Faculty of Business and Law, De Montfort University, Hugh Aston Building, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK.
E-mail: jeremy.robson@dmu.ac.uk
The Journal of Criminal Law
2021, Vol. 85(4) 253–267
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0022018320984451
journals.sagepub.com/home/clj
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