Legal & Moral Views of Date Rape
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Date rape can generally be defined as occurring whenever a man forces his date to have sex with him against her will. Some people expand this definition to include forced sex by any acquaintance, whether it be in the context of a date or not. Despite these simple definitions, however, there is a great deal of controversy over the precise legal and moral implications of date rape or acquaintance rape. The legal definition for date rape is extremely limited and it tends to place the burden of proof on the victim. A date rape victim will have a difficult time in court if the defense attorney can show a lack of evidence or can imply that the woman is loose or immoral in any way. Thus, in prosecuting a date rape case, it helps if the victim has visible bruises and is a "woman of shining character," because otherwise "the strict constructionist definitions of rape will prevail in court." Whereas the legal view treats date rape as if it were a regular rape by a stranger, moral definitions tend to take other factors into account. For example, date rape raises a number of ethical questions regarding the line that divides normal courtship behavior from violent assault. Many offenders argue that they forced their dates to have sex with them because they believed that is how women like being treated. Despite this, however, it is obvious that there is a difference between mutual consent between partners and one person using force against the other. As noted by Susan Jacoby, "
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ne With the Wind. At their worst, the glorification of rape scenes in movies and other media encourage some men to copy the acts that they have seen. However, even at their best, such scenes do little more than to further confuse people on the issue. Thus, for example, in a real life situation in which a woman feels she is being raped, it is possible that the man "may envision a celluloid seduction, in which he is being commanding, she is being coy."
Clearly, misunderstandings are frequently involved in allegations of date rape. This can be seen in the differing perspectives of the typical rapist and the typical victim. The typical offender generally claims that his date sent him mixed signals, or that she really wanted sex even though she resisted, or that she agreed to sex at the time but changed her mind after the fact. Thus: "It's not rape; it's just a misunderstanding, they say. It's not rape; it's just that a female wants to be pushed. It's not rape; it's just a case of guilt the next morning." By contrast, the typical victim claims that she did not agree to sex and that the act was forced upon her against her will. Recently, a controversial case has arisen in the public media which highlights the different sta
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Approximate Word count = 2770
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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