NCJ Number
182406
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This essay discusses the existence of systems behind violence against women in 15th century France, especially the ways in which systems of ideology, belief, and prejudice inform patterns of violent behavior and how systems of social control enable repression or prevention of violent crimes.
Abstract
The author first looks at the legal tools for prosecuting judging crimes against women and then examines the interpretation of individual cases. He notes that the analysis of cases from legal records conveys a struggle to control the dialogue and the narrative so that judicial opinions or negotiated outcomes of cases conform to prevailing ideologies. The author also considers the variety of crimes against women, and resulting moral and physical harm. These crimes include deviant sexual behavior by consenting partners, prostitution, the seduction of women, and abduction and rape. Discourse in the 15th century on crimes against women is reviewed, with emphasis on different levels within the juridical system. The author points out that the regular juridical system for the repression of crime appears to have worked for most complainants, at least for the initiation of prosecution, and analyzes the social control of violence against women by crime type. 55 notes