The Controversy Surrounding the Issue of Sexual Homicide

Debunking the Myth of Sexual Murder as a Crime

Many times, in the realms of legal jargon, people would say that since there is no known legal meaning for a certain form of action, the act should not be classified or even considered a crime. In any case, such a statement is not only obvious but also demonstrably false. For example, others argue that while there is no legal concept of sexual murder, it cannot actually be classified as criminal conduct. This research attempts not only to debunk this myth but also to explain that sexual murder is the same as other types of sexual offenses. The mid-1980s marked a period when interest in the previously mysterious phenomenon of sexual homicide began drawing interest from academic researchers (Meloy, 2000). This was despite the fact that this phenomenon had been in existent for years. At the moment, there is no universally accepted definition of sexual homicide, even in law, and this has led to people, mostly lawyers taking advantage of this loophole to argue that it should not be considered as a crime.

Understanding Sexual Homicide as a Crime

In any investigation whereby investigators try to unravel the nature of a crime, be it a murder or otherwise, they depend on two sources of information namely testimonies from other parties, for instance, witnesses, or material evidence drawn from the scene of a crime. According to Morton et al. (2014), a murder can be regarded as sexual if one of the following factors is evident: the victim’s body is exposed, the victim is found positioned in a sexually explicit position, if there’s evidence of sexual activity, or sexual mutilation. Therefore, sexual homicide is similar to other forms of sex crimes.

References

Meloy, J. R. (2000). The nature and dynamics of sexual homicide: An integrative review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5(1), 1-22.

Morton, R. J., Tillman, J. M., & Gaines, S. J. (2014). Serial murder: Pathways for investigations. Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/serialmurder-pathwaysforinvestigations-1.pdf/view