Sex Offender Restrictions

The Efficacy of Sex Offender Restrictions:

Do They Really Keep Us Safe?

Jacob Wetterling. Megan Kanka. Adam Walsh. The list goes on of child victims viciously sexually assaulted and murdered, with the details bombarding our television screens. The stories of these victims, and the names that each of us know in our families and communities, put a face on violent sexual offenders. Their stories have shaped state and federal policies enacted in their remembrance. Yet, the stories continue. Campus sexual assault is increasingly in the news today. Brutal sexual assaults by college and professional athletes take up increasing time on our airways. Despite these state and federal laws, and the time and resources devoted to administer them, there is not evidence that we are safer as a society from sexual violence or that sex offenders living under these restrictions are less likely to reoffend. It is time to take a new approach if we are to have an impact on preventing sexual violence and increasing public safety. It is time for an approach that is based on facts, not on myths and misperceptions, and that is aimed squarely at primary prevention – that is, preventing sexual violence from occurring in the first place. It is time for policy that cuts through misperceptions and is based on an acknowledgement that most sexual violence is committed within the family or by someone known to the victim. It is time for human service professionals, policymakers and the public to act from a base of information rooted in research and evidence, and not based on fear of the bogeyman hiding around the next corner.

Sexual violence is a serious public health problem in the United States. Approximately 300,000 women are victims of rape in the United States each year, and 9 percent of children experience sexual abuse each year. (Bonnar-Kidd, p. 412 or the references she cites?] Almost 20% of women and 1 in59 men have been victims of tape in their lifetime. (CDC...