Washington Post Speaks to Dave Ring on Female Sexual Predators and Male Victims

Sexual abuse is rarely talked about in the media when it involves a female predator and a male victim. Partner Dave Ring discusses this paradox in the Washington Post article, “He was abused by a female teacher, but he was treated like the perpetrator”. In a sexual abuse case in Minnesota, a black high school student was abused by his young white female teacher; however, the victim was treated like the perpetrator by police and school administrators. The teacher entered an Alford plea, meaning she did not admit guilt, but recognized the prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her, and was charged with a fifth-degree gross misdemeanor with a one-year sentence.
Mr. Ring states that jurors and prosecutors don’t have the same outlook when a female teacher abuses a male student. He says society typically looks at this type of situation like, “‘So what? Good for him.'”

Studies show that male victims experience the same mental anguish as female victims, yet male victims rarely receive the same monetary award in civil cases and female perpetrators get lighter sentences. Most male victims don’t even understand the psychological effects of the abuse until later on in life.

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