:: The Bitch Girls ::

:: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 ::

The Rape Issue I just saw this on Fox. It's a very strange decision, but I've decided that Califonia is full of crazy people anyway. While the discussion of the court decision should be read in the article, I did like this bit that talked about rape and its evolution quite a bit.

No one wants to return to the '70s when women who took rape cases to trial were emotionally shredded in cross-examinations. None of us long for the days when the reports of a raped woman were summarily dismissed by a cynical police department. But the recent California decision is not a remedy for such problems surrounding the issue of rape.
Sixties feminism deserves a lot of credit for bringing sanity to bear on the crime of rape. They broke down a mythology that claimed only "bad" girls who walked alone at night in tight clothing were raped. Research showed exactly the opposite to be true. Every woman was vulnerable to attack, even in her own home and especially from men she knew.
Sixties feminism attacked a court system that believed rape complainants were less reliable than other victims. Feminists attacked the "reasonable resistance" requirement imposed by most states; that is, rape was not deemed to have occurred unless the woman had manifested strenuous resistance. Meanwhile, other crimes did not require a victim to resist in order for a crime to have occurred.
The prosecution of rape used to be skewed against women. Now it seems to be skewed against men. No longer is criminal intent necessary for criminal guilt. No longer is an explicit "no" necessary for the withdrawal of consent.

I also thought that this paragraph was interesting to note.

Brown -- the dissenting judge -- continued, "and even if we conclude persistence should be criminalized in this situation, should the penalty be the same as for forcible rape?" In essence, Brown is asking whether consensual sex that becomes nonconsensual at some point should be treated in the same manner as a back alley rape committed at the point of a knife. Or should there be another category of rape, such as negligence, which carries a lesser penalty?

I'm sure there are many arguments against such laws, and I'd love to hear them. But, I can also think of instances where they would be appropriate that I don't feel the need to get into.

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:: Bitter 11:01 PM [+] ::
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