Are Females Treated More Lenient Than Males?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4662312/Housewife-35-sexually-abused-13-year-old-boy.html

Recently a footballer got six years and he never had full sex with his young victim.

Earlier I mistakenly posted this question in Editor's Blog, and asked if it could be removed and posted in the news section, but my request went unheeded, so I have been forced to duplicate it here.

[woofgang]

leniently....its leniently.

[bednobs]

yes i thin in general they do

[ToraToraTora]

yes, undeniably they are.

[albaqwerty]

dear lawd. give the Ed/Mods a chance to recover from lunch !

No, and as we are never privvy to what the Court hears, only what is reported on, you may well think that they are treated leniently.

[jno]

I can't see anything in the Editor's Blog so your request must have been heeded.

The answer is: I don't know. You'd need a statistician to go through the cases and find out what actually happens, not just what gets reported in the newspapers.

[Mamyalynne]

I'm sure we could safely say - sometimes yes and other times no.

Comparisons are tricky unless each case is 100% identical and as we usually only get scant details as opposed to the reams of evidence given we come from a poor stand point.

[agchristie]

It may well be.

In this case, the guilty party has 4 kids, felt disconnected from her family, became depressed, drunk more etc. These are the factors that this particular judge would have borne in mind.

None of these were factors in the Johnson case (assuming that is the case you are referring to?)

[anotheoldgit]

agchristie

That must be the secret then, have some kids, feel disconnected and depressed, and take to the bottle?

If only Johnson had realised.

[Islay]

I think she did get off lightly, however, the footballer abused his position of trust to take advantage of the young girl.

[Old_Geezer]

Not read you link, but my life experience says, yes. Learnt that early in primary school. Earlier if I count experiences regarding the different standards my sister and I were expected to keep, even allowing for her being younger than I. Girls are generally treated by teachers as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouth (save for a few they can't ignore) so can't have done anything wrong, whereas boys were always assumed to be up to something and told off for anything.

[andy-hughes]

I think each case of this type is judged on its individual circumstances, so it would be a sweeping generalization to say that one gender is treated differently from the other purely on a gender basis.

[-Talbot-]

What position of trust was the footballer in?

[Islay]

Talbot, he is looked up to, hero worshipped by some, that puts him into a position of trust.
Trust not to abuse his position and not to groom a young girl!

[-Talbot-]

Eh?

[Islay]

Talbot I am not going to argue with you. We are allowed to disagree.

[andy-hughes]

Personally, I don`t subsribe to the notion of famous people - sports stars or musicians or whatever, being an a position of trust, or being a role model because of their status.

I think it behoves them to behave like sensible thinking considerate rational human beings, because that is part of being an adult member of the human race, and that set of rules applies to every adult on the planet - famous or not.

[-Talbot-]

Agree ... you're also allowed to be wrong.

[douglas9401]

When it comes to bedding minors, yes.

[agchristie]

AOG - As you know, the Defence barrister(s) can put forward pleas of mitigation. As to what credence or weight is attached is considered by the judge.

Would Adam Johnson have been given as stiff a sentence had he been in front of a different judge?

There again, a different jury may have acquitted him!

If 'ifs and ands'...

[sp1814]

AOG

No - women are not treated more leniently than men.

Here's the stats:

http://cps.gov.uk/data/annual_report/ar2016.html

Or to support your position:

http://mra-uk.co.uk/?p=215

Or...

http://library.college.police.uk/docs/hofindings/r10.pdf

Or...

http://www.parity-uk.org/Briefing/MenandWomenandtheCJSfComplete.pdf