These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Issues in statutory rape law enforcement: the views of district attorneys in Kansas.
    Author: Miller HL, Miller CE, Kenney L, Clark JW.
    Journal: Fam Plann Perspect; 1998; 30(4):177-81. PubMed ID: 9711456.
    Abstract:
    CONTEXT: The 1996 federal welfare reform law calls for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy rates through aggressive enforcement of statutory rape laws at the local and state level. Yet there are few quantitative data on district attorneys' attitudes toward enforcement and related issues. METHODS: Anonymous surveys were mailed to all 105 Kansas district attorneys in 1997; 92 surveys were returned. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with seven of the attorneys. RESULTS: Most of the respondents (74%) favored aggressive enforcement, but just 37% believed the public would support aggressive enforcement. Only 24% believed enforcement would reduce adolescent pregnancy. Fifty-seven percent supported the current legal age of consent in Kansas (16 years). Fifty-three percent thought the law should not specify age differences between the partners. Most (77%) believed the law should protect sexually active minors, and that paternity acknowledgments should be admissible evidence in prosecutions (78%). Only 17% believed that enforcement would discourage adolescents from seeking health care. CONCLUSIONS: The potential impact of statutory rape prosecution on reproductive and psychological health should be considered in each case. Educating law enforcement officials about adolescent health care issues and encouraging them to consult with professionals in health and psychological fields may help to minimize the potentially negative effects of enforcement on adolescents' reproductive health. Because there are few qualitative data on the attitudes of district attorneys towards the local enforcement of statutory rape laws called for by the 1996 federal welfare reform law, anonymous surveys were sent to all 105 Kansas district attorneys in 1997. Data were gathered from the 92 returned surveys and from in-depth telephone interviews with seven of the respondents. It was found that 74% of the respondents favored aggressive enforcement, but only 37% believed the public would support such action, and only 24% thought enforcement would reduce the incidence of adolescent pregnancy. While 57% supported the legal age of consent in Kansas (16 years), 53% thought the law should not specify age differences between the partners, but prosecutions are the exception when the age difference is less than 3 years unless the victim was mentally disabled or the case involved force. Most of the district attorneys (77%) rejected the view that a minor who is already sexually active does not merit the protection of statutory rape laws, and 78% felt that paternity acknowledgements should be admissible evidence in prosecutions. Only 17% expressed the opinion that enforcement would discourage adolescents from seeking health care. It was concluded that the impact of statutory rape prosecution on reproductive and psychological health should be considered on a case-by-case basis and that potentially negative impacts can be minimized by educating law enforcement officials about adolescent health care issues.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]