A lot of feminists argue that rapists aren't getting convicted or don't get punitive sentences because the criminal justice system hates women and because of misogyny. This post challenges this notion.

First of all, criminals in general receive relatively lenient sentences except for criminals like murderers and their sentences aren't that different from rapists' sentences. Here's some data according to Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2016 on how long a sentence is served in state prison before first release by offense (Keep in mind that hands-on sex offenders such as rapists, statutory rapists and child molesters go state prison. Federal prisons are for child pornography offenders/viewers):

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Most serious offense Median time served before first release Mean time served before first release
Murder (including voluntary manslaughter) 13.4 years 15 years
Negligent manslaughter 4 years 5.2 years
Rape/sexual assault 4.2 years 6.2 years
Robbery 3.2 years 4.7 years
Assault (including 72.2% aggravated assault, 21.4% simple assault, and 6.4% assault on a public safety officer. 1.4 years 2.5 years
Other violent (including blackmail, hit-and-run with injury, kidnapping, extortion, etc.) 1.6 years 3.1 years
Burglary 17 months (slightly below 1.5 years) 26 months (slightly above 2 years)
Larceny/theft 11 months 17 months
Motor vehicle theft 12 months (1 year) 17 months
Drug possession 10 months 15 months
Drug trafficking 17 months 26 months

As you can see here (Table 1 from the data), only murderers and non-negligent/voluntary manslaughter perpetrators have a longer sentence than rape/sexual assault perpetrators. According to Table 2, rapists were the 2nd most likely to have 20 or more years in prison before first release (4% of rapists) with first place being murderers/voluntary manslaughter offenders (30.4% of murderers). When it comes to those who only served 6 months in prison before first release, rapists/sexual assault perpetrators were the 2nd least likely to serve under 6 months (5.8% of rapists) before first release compared to 2.4% of murderers. 28.5% of drug possession offenders and 15.3% of drug traffickers served under 6 months before first release (drug possession offenders were the most likely criminal to serve under 6 months before first release). Rapists also were the 2nd least likely to serve less than a year in state prison until first release (12.8% of rapists compared to 3.8% of murderers, the #1 least likely). Table 3 shows the maximum sentence each type of criminal received on average and the percentage of time served:

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Most serious offense Average sentence length Percent of time served
Rape/sexual assault 12.2 years 61.9% (7.55 years)
Robbery 9 years 57.7% (5.19 years)
Assault 5.6 years 47.9% (2.68 years)
Other violent, including hit-and-run with injury, kidnapping, extortion, blackmail, etc. 7.2 years 47% (3.38 years)
Burglary 5.8 years 43.1% (2.5 years)
Larceny-theft 3.7 years 43.7% (1.62 years)
Motor-vehicle theft 4 years 41.5% (1.66 years)
Drug possession 4 37.5% (1.5 years)
Drug trafficking 6.7 years 40.9% (2.74 years)

Murderers were given the longest sentences, but rapists/sexual assault offenders had the 2nd longest sentences and no other type of criminal's sentence lengths came even close to matching, let alone exceeding, rapists/sexual assault offenders' sentence lengths.

In 1998-2004, when it comes to how many felony defendants were released before trial, the data showed this (percent of felony defendants released before trial by type of offense, 1998-2004):

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Most serious felony arrest charge 1998 2000 2004
Murder 13% 13% 12%
Rape 47% 56% 52%
Robbery 38% 44% 42%
Assault 62% 61% 55%
Burglary 50% 49% 46%
Theft 73% 68% 58%
Drug trafficking 63% 62% 60%
Other drug 72% 66% 60%

As you can see here, assault offenders, theft offenders, drug traffickers, and other drug offenders are more likely to be released before trial than rapists. Data also reveals the average number of months sentenced to state prison for each type of crime and estimated time to be served in 2004 (remember that hands-on sex offenders like rapists, child molesters and statutory rapists go to state prison. Typically, child porn offenders go to federal prison.):

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Most serious conviction offense Mean state prison sentence Estimated time to be served
Murder and voluntary manslaughter 241 months 147 months
Sexual assault (includes rape) 116 months 79 months
Robbery 100 months 64 months
Aggravated assault 61 months 42 months
Burglary 56 months 29 months
Larceny (including motor vehicle theft) 35 months 20 months
Drug possession 37 months 16 months
Drug trafficking 60 months 28 months

In the 2010s, the average sentence of sexual abuser offenders was 191 months. It was 262 months for child porn offenders (93.9% of the offenders were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty; their average sentence was 274 months. The average sentence without a mandatory minimum was 89 months.) The average sentence for offenders convicted of travel to engage in prohibited sexual conduct with a minor was 147 months. 63.8% of these offenders were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty; their average sentence was 187 months. The average sentence without a mandatory minimum was 76 months. The average sentence for offenders convicted of rape was 178 months. 19.1% of these offenders were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty; their average sentence was 318 months.The average sentence without a mandatory minimum was 145 months. Both people who were convicted of abusive sexual contact and statutory rapists received relatively lenient sentences, with average sentences of 27 months and 30 months, respectively.

In fiscal year 2016, over half (52.8%) of offenders convicted of an offense carrying a drug mandatory minimum penalty faced a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years or greater. However, in fiscal year 2016, the average sentence for offenders who were convicted of an offense carrying a drug mandatory minimum penalty was 94 months of imprisonment, more than double the average sentence (42 months) for drug offenders not convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty. Offenders who qualified for relief received significantly lower sentences (64 months) than those offenders who remained subject to a mandatory minimum penalty at sentencing (126 months). Even when offenders received relief from a mandatory minimum penalty, the average sentence (64 months) was still one and half times greater than the average sentence for those not convicted of an offense carrying a drug mandatory minimum. This shows that contrary to popular belief, drug offenders usually don't receive longer sentences than rape/sexual assault offenders and instead, the opposite is typically true.

The criminal justice system is viewed as lenient on rapists but they are just as lenient, if not more lenient, on most other types of crimes. The myth that drug offenders receive more time in prison than rapists might come from the emphasis on black men in particular who get arrested for drugs, but not all drug offenders are black and black people tend to receive longer sentences in general.

Feminists like to cherrypick cases like Brock Turner and act like this is the majority of rape cases when it's not. Brock Turner most likely receive a lenient sentence due to being white and possibly wealthy, not because of his crime being sexual assault. It's possible he would've receive the same sentence if he was convicted of robbery, burglary, drugs, etc.

It's not misogyny that makes the criminal justice system lenient on rapists. It's due process. According to Richard Felson on Violence and Gender Reexamined:

Using a comparative method to determine how violence against women differs from violence against men, Felson illustrates not only that violence against women is less frequent than violence against men but also that our culture and legal system treat it more harshly. Contrary to the claims that our courts "blame the victim" in cases of violence against women, the author shows that the tradition of protection of women sometimes produces the opposite effect, and that it is due process and not sexism that makes, for instance, rape cases seem biased against women.

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Sentence lengths for rape of a woman. Brock Turner's exceptionally lenient sentence is rare but still emphasized by the media. Source: https://fullfact.org/news/five-years-average-prison-sentence-rape/

Even this source shows that the criminal justice system treats rape just as punitively, if not more punitively, than most other types of crimes.

Also, of all criminals who receive life sentences, rapists/sexual assault offenders are the 2nd most likely to receive one, with #1 being homicide offenders by a long shot. Rapists were slightly more likely to receive life than robbers, kidnappers and aggravated assault offenders, and rapists were significantly more likely to receive life than drug offenders, property offenders, and offenders in the "other" category. (Source: https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Facts-of-Life.pdf )

Due process makes the criminal justice system seem lenient on rapists, not misogyny. Due process, not sexism, makes rape cases seem biased against women. Not to mention that rapists are often put on the sex offender registry after prison, which is fundamentally a life sentence and this restricts where they live and what they can do and their personal information is available publicly online. Additionally, the criminal justice system is more lenient on female sex offenders and female criminals in general, women who commit intimate parter violence are less likely to be arrested for it than men who do it, 25% of men who report domestic violence get arrested for it, the criminal justice system gives more punitive sentences to men whose violent crime victims are women, and the criminal justice system is more likely to execute a murderer if his victim is a woman.

Also, many crimes have low clearance rates. In 2017, the clearance rate is 61.6% for murder cases, 53.3% of aggravated assault cases, 34.5% of rape cases, 29.7% of robbery cases, 19.2% of larceny-theft offenses, 13.7% of motor vehicle theft offenses, 13.5% of burglary cases, and 21.7% of arson offenses. This means rape has a higher clearance rate than most crimes aside from aggravated assault and murder. Source: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/topic-pages/clearances Virtually identical rates were found for 2019 clearance rates. Currently, it's 2021, so this info isn't even outdated/obsolete.