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Rape is a form of Assault where one individual forces another to have Sexual Intercourse against that person’s Will . Most experts believe the primary cause of rape is an Aggressive desire to dominate the victim rather than an attempt to achieve sexual fulfillment. DiCanio, Margaret. ( 1993 ). The encyclopedia of violence: origins, attitudes, consequences. New York: Facts on File They consider rape an act of violence rather than principally a sexual encounter. Rape is generally considered one of the most serious Sex Crime s and can be very difficult to prosecute. Sexual violence can also be a War Crime under international law. Consent may be absent due to Duress arising from the use, or threat, of overwhelming force or violence, or because the subject is incapacitated in some way such as Intoxication or being Underage . In some cases coercion might also be used to negate Consent . There is no universally accepted distinction between rape and other forms of assault involving one or both participant's sexual organs. Some criminal codes explicitly consider all kinds of forced sexual activity to be rape, whereas in others only acts involving Penis penetration of the Vagina . Many restrict rape to instances where a woman is forced by a man. In recent years some women have been convicted of raping men; this is classed as either rape or Sexual Assault .http://www.fathermag.com/news/rape/spokane.shtml In some jurisdictions rape may also be committed by assailants using objects, rather than their own body parts, against the sexual organs of their target. . The Bulgarian martyresses. 1877 Atrocities of Bashibazouk s in Bulgaria ]] The rape of women by men is the most frequent form of the assault. Male-male rape is common, primarily in correctional facilities. There are an increasing number of female assailants being convicted for the rape of men,http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050825071820256C880914 most commonly, statutory rape. It is thought that female rapists who rape other women are almost never caught or convictedhttp://www.sfwar.org/node/view/33 and research on female rapists is rare.http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/sexoffender/female/toc_e.shtml In almost every legal jurisdiction children are considered unable to consent to sex with adults and thus the Sexual Abuse of children is considered to be a form of rape. HISTORY OF RAPE See Also: History of rape , a 1582 sculpture by Giambologna .]] The word '' had no sexual connotation and is still used generically in English. The history of rape, and the alterations of its meaning, is quite complex. The Latin term for the crime of rape is '' Vim '' (assault). ''Raptus'' was a general term used to refer to abduction, elopement, or rape in its modern meaning. Confusion over the term led ecclesial commentators on the law to differentiate the terms into ''raptus seductionis'' (elopement without parental consent) and ''raptus violentiae'' (ravishment) during Late Antiquity . Both forms of ''raptus'' had a civil penalty and possible excommunication for the family and village receiving the abducted woman, although ''raptus violentiae'' also incurred punishments of mutilation or death. Basil Of Caesarea , ''Letters'' circa 374 AD {Link without Title} Throughout parts of Ancient History , the crime of rape was viewed less as a variety of assault on a female's autonomy, but rather a serious property crime against the man to whom she "belonged." This was especially true in the case of betrothed Virgin s, as the loss of Chastity was perceived as severely depreciating her value to her husband. The law, in such cases, would void the betrothal and demand financial compensation from the rapist, payable to the woman's household, whose "goods" were "damaged." Hammurabi's Code #156 & Under ancient Jewish law the rapist might be married to the woman instead of receiving the civil penalty. This was especially prevalent in laws where the crime of rape did not include, as a necessary part, that it be against the woman's will, thus dividing the crime in the current meaning of rape and a means for a man and woman to force their families to permit Marriage . Deuteronomy 22:28-29 From the classical antiquity of Greece and Rome into the Colonial Period , rape along with Arson , Treason and Murder was a Capital Offense . "Those committing rape were subject to a wide range of capital punishments that were seemingly brutal, frequently bloody, and at times spectacular." In the 12th century, kinsmen of the victim were given the option of executing the punishment themselves. "In England in the early fourteenth century, a victim of rape might be expected to gouge out the eyes and/or sever the offender's testicles herself."''The Medieval Blood Sanction and the Divine Beneficene of Pain: 1100 - 1450'', Trisha Olson, Journal of Law and Religion, 22 JLREL 63 (2006) The English Common Law defined rape as "the Carnal Knowledge of a woman forcibly and against her will."''Rape - Overview; Act and Mental State'', Wayne R. LaFave Professor of Law, University of Illinois, "Substantive Criminal Law" 752-756 (3d ed. 2000) The common law defined carnal knowledge as the penetration of the female Sex Organ by the male sex organ (it covered all other acts under the crime of Sodomy ). The crime of rape was unique in the respect that it focused on the Victim 's state of mind and actions in addition to that of the defendant. The victim was required to prove a continued state of physical resistance, and consent was conclusively presumed when a man had intercourse with his Wife . "One of the most oft-quoted passages in our jurisprudence" on the subject of rape is by Lord Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale from the 17th century, "rape...is an accusation easily to be made and hard to be proved, and harder to be defended by the party accused, tho never so innocent."''Ibid'' Lord Hale is also the origin of the remark, "In a rape case it is the victim, not the defendant, who is on trial." This propensity to "blame the victim" endured well into the 20th century and modern judicial reforms have sought to eliminate this perception. Additionally, gender neutral laws have combated the older perception that rape never occurs to men,''Ibid' while other laws have eliminated the term altogether.''see'' for example, Michigan Statutes for the first degree felony, section 520b, "(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree if he or she engages in sexual penetration of another person." Many additional developments in law with regard to rape took place during the twentieth century. These included landmark decisions by the International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda that defined rape as an institutionalized weapon of War and a crime of Genocide . The modern criminal justice system is widely known for being unfair to sexual assault victims. (Macdonalds, 2001) Both sexist stereotypes and common law combined to make rape a "criminal proceeding on which the victim and her behavior were tried rather than the defendant". (Howard & Francis, 2000) Since the 1970s many changes have occurred in the perception of sexual assault due in large part to the used female officers to investigate sexual assault cases and the rate dropped to 2% according to the FBI . (DiCanio, 1993). An important part of the history of rape is the foundation of RAINN in 1994 by Tori Amos and Scott Berkowitz. RAINN is central to the modern history of the rape crisis movement as it founded the national sexual assault hotline and provides statistics and information to the Media . Male-male Rape has historically been shrouded in secrecy due to the stigma Men associate with being raped by other men. Fewer than one in ten male-male rapes are reported, according to one expert. As a group, male rape victims reported a lack of services and support, and legal systems are often ill equipped to deal with this type of crime.1 Most cultures worldwide have not considered the possibility that women can commit rape against men and women. Most legal codes on rape do not legislate for this as a crime, as rape is generally defined to include the act of penetration on behalf of the rapist. As of 2007, in South Africa a Gang of women has reportedly been raping young men.2 However, the relevance of this issue has been overshadowed by more prominent instantiations of rape, and it is widely regarded, particularly by Feminists and academics interested in feminist issues and sexual matters of intellectual interest, that until the more prominent issues of rape are addressed first, not much will come of the former, less common instances of rape, as addressed here. DEFINITIONS OF RAPE In most jurisdictions the crime of rape is defined to occur when sexual intercourse takes place (or is attempted) without valid consent of one of the parties involved. It is frequently defined as penetration of the Anus or the vagina by a penis. In some jurisdictions the penetration need not be by penis but can be by other body parts (''e.g.'' one or more fingers, i.e. s1 Other jurisdictions expand the definition of rape to include other acts committed using the sexual organs of one or both of the parties, such as Oral Copulation and Masturbation , for example, again enacted without valid consent. The lack of valid consent does not necessarily mean that the victim explicitly refused to give consent. Generally, consent is considered invalid if it is obtained from someone who is:
In Pakistan , under the Hudood Ordinance in force from 1979 to 2006, the definition of rape required a woman to have supporting evidence from four male Eye-witness es. The sexual act was otherwise considered Adultery . Statutory Rape refers to a sexual act that is considered rape by the Law regardless of whether it was coercive or Consensual . Such laws are common and exist in order to prevent adults from having sex with Minor s who are deemed legally unable to give effective informed consent. Sexual activity involving a person below the Age Of Consent is often known as statutory rape although some jurisdictions prefer terms such as "unlawful sexual intercourse" to avoid the forcible connotation of the word. The ''Brazilian Penal Code'' defines rape as unconsensual Vaginal Sex . Therefore, unlike most of Europe and the Americas, male rape, Anal Rape , and Oral Rape are not considered to be rape crimes. Instead, such an act is a "violent attempt against someone's modesty" ("Atentado violento ao pudor"). The penalty, however, is the same. The definition used by the International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda in its landmark 1998 judgment was "a physical invasion of a sexual nature committed on a person under circumstances which are coercive." Fourth Annual Report of ICTR to the General Assembly (1999) March 23, 2007 In certain jurisdictions, it is not possible to be guilty of the rape of a spouse, either on the basis of "implied consent" or (in the case of former British colonies) because of a statutory requirement that the intercourse must have been "unlawful" (which is legal nomenclature for outside of wedlock).See for example in the British Virgin Islands under the Criminal Code, 1997 However, in many of those jurisdictions it is still possible to bring prosecutions for what is effectively rape by characterizing it as an assault.Under the English Common Law , marriage has not been a defense to rape since 1991, see ''R v. R'' 1 A.C. 599.[http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/hamlyn/rvr.htm TYPES OF RAPE See Also: Types of rape There are several types of rape, generally categorized by reference to the situation in which it occurs, the sex or characteristics of the victim, and/or the sex or characteristics of the perpetrator. Different types of rape include but are not limited to: date rape, gang rape, marital rape, prison rape, acquaintance rape, and wartime rape. For more information on specific types of rape, see UCSB's SexInfo . It is important to note that almost all rape research and reporting to date has been limited to male-female forms of rape. Research on male-male and female-male is beginning to be done. However, almost no research has been done on female-female rape. Such widespread research biases and social double standards can and do cause systemic biases in how rape is reported and acknowledged. Sometimes animals are accused of rape, yet sometimes it is unclear who was doing the raping in these situations. Women can be charged with rape, although it is usually in situations involving underage males.[http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/75022-0/ english.pravda.ru However, there have been cases where women have raped adult men. english.pravda.ru RAPE STATISTICS See Also: Rape statistics A United Nations report compiled from government sources showed that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded by Police annually. The reported data covered 65 countries. The Eighth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2001 - 2002) - Table 02.08 Total recorded rapes Many reports suggest that rape statistics are not reliable because some kinds of rape are excluded from official reports altogether, (The FBI's definition for example excludes all rapes except forcible rapes of adult females by males), because a significant number of rapes go unreported even when they are included as reportable rapes, and also because a significant number of rapes reported to the police cannot be verified and possibly did not occur.Dick Haws, "The Elusive Numbers on False Rape," ''Columbian Journalism Review'' (November/December 1997). {Link without Title} In addition, rape by women is a barely understood phenomenon that is widely denied in most societies and one that usually causes surprise, shock, or utter revulsion.Myriam S. Denov, ''Perspectives on Female Sex Offending: A Culture of Denial'' (Ashgate Publishing 2004) - ISBN. In the United States, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey , the adjusted per-capita victimization rate of rape has declined from about 2.4 per 1000 people (age 12 and above) in 1980 to about 0.4 per 1000 people, a decline of about 85%. Anthony D'Amato. Porn Up, Rape Down. ''Northwestern Public Law Research Paper'' No. But other government surveys, such as the Sexual Victimization of College Women study, critique the NCVS on the basis it includes only those acts perceived as crimes by the victim, and report a higher victimization rate. Bonnie S. Fisher, Francis T. Cullen, Michael G. Turner. Sexual Victimization of College Women While researchers and prosecutors do not agree on the percentage of false allegations, one study has shown that approximately 40% to 50% of charges are recanted by the victim. This number does not include unresolved allegations held “in limbo” where evidence is too weak to try the case even under shield laws, relaxed rules, and comparatively weak evidential standards applied to rape cases. Many times this is cited as being "false" reports. However, one can only guess at what really happened. Recanting can have many causes. It could be that the rape never occurred. Or it could be that legitimate victim found going through the legal system harder than they imagined and felt blamed by those around for it. Some perpetrators threaten their victims not to tell. Some statistics:
The belief that rapes are often "false" is very common, another factor that makes victims feel like they are put on trial for reporting:
However most rapes-63% are not even reported to police. One factor relating to this is the myth that rapists are strangers hiding in bushes. In reality 38% of victims were raped by a friend or acquaintance, 28% by "an intimate" and 7% by another relative. Only 26% were committed by a stranger to the victim. About four out of ten sexual assaults take place at the victim's own home. Two in ten take place in the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. And only one in ten take place outside, away from home. http://www.rainn.org/statistics/punishing-rapists.html The myths make it hard for many victims in the majority, who are raped by someone they know in a familiar place, to even understand what happened to them as "rape". According to a study by MS magazine almost three quarters of women who experienced acts that met the definition of rape did not identify the act as such. http://www.students.haverford.edu/masar/documents/MsMagazineStudy.pdf Even when rapes are reported to the police, the chance of a successful conviction is very small:
More than 67,000 cases of rape and sexual assaults against children were reported in 2000 in South Africa . Child welfare groups believe that the number of unreported incidents could be up to 10 times that number. A belief common to South Africa holds that sexual intercourse with a virgin will cure a man of HIV or Aids . South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive citizens in the world. According to official figures, one in eight South Africans are infected with the virus. Edith Kriel, a social worker who helps child victims in the Eastern Cape , said: “Child abusers are often relatives of their victims - even their fathers and providers.” South African men rape babies as 'cure' for Aids According to University Of Durban-Westville anthropology lecturer and researcher Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, the myth that sex with a virgin is a cure for AIDS is not confined to South Africa. “Fellow AIDS researchers in Zambia , Zimbabwe and Nigeria have told me that the myth also exists in these countries and that it is being blamed for the high rate of sexual abuse against young children.” Child rape: A taboo within the AIDS taboo EFFECT OF RAPE After being raped it is common for the victim to experience intense, and sometimes unpredictable, emotions, and they may find it hard to deal with their memories of the event. Victims can be severely Traumatized by the assault and may have difficulty functioning as well as they had been used to prior to the assault, with disruption of concentration, sleeping patterns and eating habits, for example. They may feel jumpy or be on edge. In the month(s) immediately following the assault these problems may be severe and very upsetting and may prevent the victim from revealing their ordeal to Friend s or Family , or seeking police or medical assistance. This may result in Acute Stress Disorder. Symptoms of this are:
In 1972, Ann Wolbert Burgess and Lynda Lytle Holstrom embarked on a study of the Psychological effects of rape. They interviewed and counseled rape victims at the emergency room of Boston City Hospital and observed a pattern of reactions which they named Rape Trauma Syndrome .Burgess A., & Holmstrom L. (1974). ''Rape Trauma Syndrome.'' American Journal of Psychiatry.. They defined this as having two components which they called the Acute and '''Reorganization''' phases. During the Acute Phase the survivor may experience shock and disbelief, or feel frozen, and may attempt to disconnect themselves from "the person who was raped". They may feel humiliated, confused, dirty, ashamed, or at fault for the assault, particularly if the assailant was an acquaintance. Extreme nightmares, heightened Anxiety , frequent Flashbacks , and a strong attempt to disconnect from one's emotions are common, as is Denial - trying to convince oneself that the assault did not actually occur. If raped by an acquaintance the victim may try to protect the perpetrator. Victims may respond to the rape in either an expressive or a controlled way. The expressive way involves obvious outward effects and emotions such as crying, shaking, rage, tenseness, ironic and uncomfortable laughter (part of their denial), and restlessness. The controlled way occurs when the victim appears to be quite calm and rational about the situation, even if facing severe internal turmoil. There is no single response to rape; every individual deals with their intensely traumatic emotions differently. After the acute phase, the Reorganization Phase begins and the survivor attempts to recreate the world that they once knew. This stage may last for months or even years following the assault and despite their best efforts this phase is often riddled with feelings of Guilt , Shame , Fear , and anxiety. Emotions such as Anger , anxiety, Denial , and loss (of security) surface. Development of an inability to Trust is a frequent consequence of sexual assault. This loss of the fundamental need for security can wreak havoc on the survivor’s life, causing them to feel powerless and not in control of their body. They may feel unsafe, which can cause a heightened state of anxiety as well as difficulty with Intimate Relationship s. Victims may attempt to return to normal social interaction (i.e. go out to social engagements) and find themselves unable to do so and their attempts to re-establish themselves in Relationships may be hindered by a lack of trust. Survivors often isolate themselves from their support network either physically or emotionally. The survivor may feel disconnected from peers as a result of the perceived personal experience. The shattering of trust can adversely affect intimate relationships, as survivors may have a heightened suspicion of others' motives and feelings. Another area of research referred to as "second victimization," has to do with the caustic and interrogatory way the police and medical staff sometimes treats people who allege rape or sexual assault. Sexual assault can affect an individual forever, changing them into someone living in a constant state of turmoil. In extreme cases the outcome may be Suicide .http://www.giftfromwithin.org/html/journey.html VICTIM BLAME "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in whole or in part responsible for what has happened to them. In the context of rape, this concept refers to the Just World Theory and popular attitudes that certain victim behaviours (such as flirting, or wearing sexually-provocative clothing) may encourage rape.Pauwels, B. (2002). Blaming the victim of rape: The culpable control model perspective. Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering, 63(5-B),. In extreme cases, victims are said to have "asked for it", simply by not behaving demurely. In most Western countries, the defense of provocation is not accepted as a mitigation for rape. Abrahms, D., Viky, G., Masser, B., & Gerd, B. (2003). Perceptions of stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent and hostile sexism in victim blame and rape proclivity. Journal-of-Personality-and-Social-Psychology, 84(1), 111-125., A global survey of attitudes toward sexual violence by the Global Forum for Health Research shows that victim-blaming concepts are at least partially accepted in many countries. In some countries, victim-blaming is more common, and women who have been raped are sometimes deemed to have behaved improperly. Often, these are countries where there is a significant social divide between the freedoms and status afforded to men and women.http://www.globalforumhealth.org/filesupld/vaw/attitudes.html SOCIOBIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES Some argue that rape, as a defines rape among humans. ''See also'' Non-human Animal Sexuality . Some Sociobiologists argue that our ability to understand rape, and thereby prevent it, is severely compromised because its basis in human Evolution has been ignored.Thornhill, R., & Palmer, C.T., ''A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion'' (MIT Press, 2001). Some studies indicate that it is an evolutionary strategy for certain males who lack the ability to persuade the female by non-violent means to pass on their genes.Thornhill, R., & Thornhill, N.W., "Human rape: an evolutionary analysis," ''Ethology and Sociobiology'' (1983). American social critic Camille Paglia , and some sociobiologists, have argued that the victim-blaming intuition may have a non-psychological component in some cases. Some sociobiological models suggest that it may be Genetically -ingrained for certain men and women to allow themselves to be more vulnerable to rape, and that this may be a biological feature of members of the species.Paglia, C., ''Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence From Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson'' (Yale University Press, 1990). LOSS OF CONTROL AND PRIVACY Rape has been regarded as "a crime of violence and control" since the 1970s. Psychological analysis literature identifies control as a key component in most definitions of Privacy :
Control is important in providing:
Violation of privacy or "control" comes in many forms, with sexual assault and the resulting psychological traumas being one of the most explicit forms. Many victims of sexual assault suffer from eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia , which also center around control issues. Therefore, some argue that it makes more sense to look at the issue of sexual assault as an invasion of privacy (Mclean, D. 1995): The more comfortable a person is with talking about invasion of privacy and in insisting that he or she has privacy that deserves respect, the clearer that person’s understanding of rape will be… Approaching rape through the concept of privacy helps bypass certain Social Stigma s. SEE ALSO
NOTES FURTHER READING Academic and reference books Reference books
Secondary victimization and victim blame
History of Rape
Self blame
Causes of multiple victimization
Male victims
Theories
Child rape and child sexual assault
Female Sex Offenders
Marital/Intimate Partner Rape
Male Sexual Offenders
Others
EXTERNAL LINKS Further research and information
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