Rape—A primer  on  this  crime

The description of rape is always a controversial one because of the concept of it that separates the various descriptions of it however I have narrowed it down to four descriptions of that crime. They are called—statutory rape (in which the victim is under age), date rape (in which the victim is a generally a friend or an acquaintance of the rapist) impaired rape (in which the victim is first given a drug which the victim is immobilized and general unconscious) and rape by violence (in which the victim is more often than not a stranger to the victim).

In the United States, a woman or young girl is sexually assaulted every 45 seconds. One of the most startling aspects of sex crimes is how many cases of rape go unreported. The most common reasons given by women for not reporting these crimes are the belief that it is a private or personal matter, and the fear of reprisal from the assailant or being ostracized by one’s parents or boyfriend.

In 1994, a study was conducted by the FBI in 1994 on the subject of rape. I believe that the statistics below haven’t changed that much in the last 18 years.

One of every four rapes takes place in a public area or in a parking garage. 31% of female victims reported that the offender was a stranger. 68% of rapes occur between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. At least 45% of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 29% of rapes, the offender used a weapon.  In 47% of rapes, the victim sustained injuries other than rape injuries. 75% of female rape victims require medical care after the attack. These are indeed very frightening statistics.

Family violence and sexual abuse are among the most prevalent forms of interpersonal violence against women and young children—both boys and girls. The sexual abuse of a child should never be "just a family matter," but many children are afraid to report an incident to the police because the abusers are too often a family friend or relative and the young victims don’t want to create friction in the family or alternatively, they are too embarrassed to admit that they were victimized by a member of the family. I was sexually raped by my father and later by a foster father and in both cases. Yes. Males can be raped by other males. I am sure I don’t have to explain what part of the male’s anatomy is violated. I never told anyone after these events had occurred as I was too embarrassed to say anything as to what they had done to me. In my father’s case, he moved away right after that and in the foster father’s case, the other boys told the Children’s Aid worker what he had done to them and we were all sent elsewhere. According to conservative FBI statistics, only 40% of all forms of rape are even reported.

61.5% of rapes are never reported to the police. Approximately 28% of rape victims are raped by their husbands, 35% by an acquaintance, and 17% by a relative other than one’s spouse. Strangely enough, it wasn’t considered rape when a man raped his wife but decades later, that law was no longer in force. The wife is no longer a husband’s property that he can do what he wants with her. 74% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by assailants well known to the victim and in some instances; it is often involving what is called as a date rape.  Nearly 6 out of 10 sexual assaults occur at the victim’s home or the home of a friend, relative, or neighbor. 15% of rape victims will contract a sexually transmitted disease as a direct result of being raped. 1 in 15 rape victims become pregnant as a result of being raped. 61% of rape victims are females under the age of 18. Contrary to common belief that violent crime rates are notably lower in rural areas, an analysis of location data collected for the 1999 National Women’s Study found that 10.1% of women living in rural areas had experienced a completed rape as compared to 13.6% of women living in urban and suburban communities.                

Statutory Rape

The term "statutory rape" generally refers to sex between an adult and a sexually mature minor past the age of puberty. Sexual relations with a prepubescent child, generically called "child molestation", is typically treated as a more serious crime.

The term "statutory rape" is used in some legal jurisdictions to refer to sexual activities in which one person is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior. Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sex with minors  under the age of consent, it is a generic term, and very few jurisdictions use the actual term "statutory rape" in the language of statutes. Different jurisdictions use many different statutory terms for the crime, such as "sexual assault", "rape of a child", "corruption of a minor", "carnal knowledge of a minor", "unlawful carnal knowledge", or simply "carnal knowledge".  

 In statutory rape, overt force or threat need not necessarily be present. The laws presume that coercion was used because a minor or mentally challeneged adult is legally incapable of giving consent to the act.

 The age of both the victim and the rapist in the United States differs between some of the states in that country. In many jurisdictions in the USA, the age of consent is interpreted to mean mental or chronological age. As a result, victims can be of any chronological age if their mental age makes them unable to consent to a sexual act. Other jurisdictions, such as Kentucky, eliminate the legal concept of "mental age" and treat the  offence of having sex with a mentally incapacitated person as a specific crime irrespective of the victim`s age.

 Laws in the United States vary in their definitions of statutory rape. The laws in the States are generally intended to punish heinous cases of an adult taking sexual advantage of a minor. For this reason, many jurisdictions in the USA prohibit allowing a juvenile to be tried as an adult under this law (most jurisdictions have separate provisions for child molestation or forcible rape which can be applied to juveniles and for which a minor can be tried as an adult). Some jurisdictions also specify a minimum difference in age in order for the offense to be applicable. Under such terms, if the adult is, for instance, less than three years older than the minor, no crime has been committed or the penalty is far less severe. These are called "Romeo and Juliet" clauses.

 Statutory rape laws generally are based on the premise that until a person reaches a certain age, that individual is legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse. Thus, the law assumes, even if he or she willingly engages in sexual intercourse, the sex is not consensual between the victim and the rapist. This would also apply in cases where the victim is mentally challenged.

 Critics will argue that an age limit cannot be used solely to determine the ability to consent to sex, since a young teenager might possess enough social sense to make informed and mature decisions about sex, while some adults might never develop the ability to make mature choices about sex, as even many mentally healthy individuals remain naive and easily manipulated throughout their lives.

One way to make those determinations is to have the victims psychologically analyzed by psychologists representing both the prosecution and the defence.

Another argument presented in defense of statutory rape laws relates to the difficulty in prosecuting forced rape (against a victim of any age) in the courtroom. Because forced sexual intercourse with a minor is considered to be a particularly heinous form of rape, these laws relieve the prosecution of the burden to prove lack of consent. This makes conviction more frequent in cases involving minors.

The original purpose of statutory rape laws was to protect young, unwed females from males who might impregnate them and not take responsibility by providing support for the child.

 In the past, sex involving an adult female and an underage male was often ignored by the law, and was often interpreted as a sexual initiation for the younger male. However, in recent years, some countries' social perceptions have shifted partly because mental health experts have noted that such sexual encounters can often be characterized as abusive, resulting in serious, long-term problems for the boys involved. That is because the boys become emotionally attached to their abusers and when they are later separated, trauma lingers with the boys. 

There are less prolific cases when the adult female is in a position of responsibility over the boy such as being a teacher.  However, there have now been a number of high profile cases in the United Sates mary Kay Letourneau, Debra LeFave and Pamela Rogers Turner),  in which adult females have been prosecuted for participating in sexual relationships with male minors. Under English and Scottish common law, (non-legislative law) such cases would be viewed as indecent assault and some have been prosecuted of those crimes. In Canada, the crime is called,   “Sexual interference with a minor”.

 In at least one case, the U.S. courts have held that male victims of rape can be held  liable for child support for any children resulting from the crime. In County of San Luis Obisbo v. Nathaniel J. the young male victim discussed a future relationship with the adult female perpetrator and stated that the sex was "mutually agreeable." After having listened to the teenager`s testimony, the California Court of Appeal held Nathaniel J. financially responsible for the upkeep of the woman`s baby.  

 In May 2006, the Irish Supreme Court found the existing statutory rape laws to have been unconstitutionaL since they prevented the defendant from entering a defense (e.g., that he had reasonably believed that the other party was over the age of consent). This has led to the release of persons held under the statutory rape law and has led to public demands that the law be changed by emergency legislation being enacted. On June 2, 2006 the Irish Supreme Court upheld an appeal by the state against the release of one such person. The person (we will call Mr. A) was rearrested shortly afterwards to continue serving his sentence in prison.

 Date Rape

This kind of rape often referred to as acquaintance rape is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by an acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without the mutual consent of both parties. The perpetrator is almost always a man, and though both men and women can be raped, however women are most often the targets of this form of violence.

It is difficult to determine how prevalent this form of sexual abuse is because of a lack of research on the subject and the tendency for rape survivors not to report attacks in order to come up with precise statistics on male survivors. However as said earlier, men are raped by other men and for this reason, they are also victims of this form of sexual violence.

 Date and acquaintance rape is quite prevalent on campuses. One in four college women has been raped; that is, has been forced, physically or verbally, actively or implicitly, to engage in sexual activity. A 2000 study revealed that ninety percent of college rape survivors knew their attacker before the incident. In those instances, it was a date rape the victims endured. My mother was date-raped by my father. I was conceived as a direct result in this manner of sexual abuse brought against my mother. More on that later.

 Drug-facilitated rape

Drug-facilitated date rape is brought about by the use of drugs to assist the attacker in a rape. The drug can be any substance that brings about physical control of the victim such as unconsciousness or has the effect of mind altering such as reducing the victim’s ability to object to the assault.  Drug facilitated sexual assault (which is considered an umbrella term for crimes such as drug-facilitated date rape, differs from many rapes in that it is not typically a crime of physical violence but rather of sexual hedonism (self-indulgence) and entitlement. 

Funitrazepam (Rohypnol) is often cited as a date rape drug because of its high potency, strong effects and the ability to cause strong amnesia during its duration of action. However, investigations into its actual use as a date rape drug have contradicted what is commonly believed to be the main drug used. According to research conducted by Michael Robertson from the San Diego  Medical Examiner's office and Dr. Mahmoud El Sohly of El Sohly Laboratories, test results indicated that flunitrazepam was only used in around 1% of reported date rapes according to Robertson and 0.33% according to urine lab tests done by El Sohly. On the other hand, the benzodiazepines Midazolam and temazepam were the two most common benzodiazepines utilized for date rape.

 Victims may not be aware that they ingested a drug at all.  Butyrolactone or GBL) is a hydroscopic  colorless oily liquid that is soluble in water. It is also invisible when dissolved in water and it is also odorless. It has a somewhat salty taste, but is indiscernible when dissolved in beverages such as sodas, liquor, or beer.  Also, GBL can pass through the skin so the flavor is irrelevant. In some cases, GBL has been allegedly administered by applying it to jewelry that is designed to break (presumably to prevent overdose).

 Rape by violence

 Rape is a unquestionably a violent crime—in particular, the third worst crime that can be foisted on a victim, male or female after torture and murder.  Violent rape is a form of a hate crime, like lynching. Actually raping someone is a violent crime that is really an act of oppression. For the most part, it’s all about male domination of women.

 Rapists during their trials, will permit their lawyers to use a variety of excuses to attempt to discredit the character of the women they raped in order to justify their own crimes. Rape is a terrifying, violent and a humiliating experience that no woman, man or child ever wants or asks for. 

It doesn’t matter whether or not they are prostitutes or Sunday school teachers, their bodies are inviolate. The perpetrators who rape innocent victims want everyone to believe that they too should be seen as victims of malicious allegations, carelessness or stupidity. There is no other crime in which so much effort is expended to make the victim appear responsible.  

 There is a widely held belief that women enjoy rape or that it is ‘just sex at the wrong time, in the wrong place’. Rape is a crime of sexual violence and humiliation which can involve being beaten, physical restraint, the use of knives and sticks, urination and defecating. Just because the German dictator, Adolf Hitler was a freak and enjoyed being urinated on and defecated on by women, doesn’t mean that normal woman go in for that kind of abuse.

 Often when a woman is raped, she is afraid that she will be killed and this is why rapists often use the threat of killing a woman or her children to ensure her submission and her silence after the attack.

 Women do not enjoy sexual violence any more than do victims of murder, robbery and other similar crimes. To these victims of rape, they should never be portrayed as enjoying the experience. I have nothing but the highest level of contempt for any lawyer who will go into a court room while representing a violent rapist and then claim that the rapist’s victim enjoyed it.

 There are other kinds of violent rapists other than lone violent rapists.

 There are the serial rapists such as a Canadian rapist (later a killer) called Paul Bernardo. He raped 20 women and murdered two of them in his home after he and his wife (Karla Homolka) abducted them.

A study by US social scientists had concluded that an average of 48 women and girls are raped every hour in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study, in the American Journal of Public Health, found that 400,000 females aged 15-49 were raped over a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007. Most of the rapes were committed by government soldiers and insurgents. Soldiers in Syria are known to be raping innocent men, women and children as part of them exerting pressure on the rebels to go away. Strangely enough, the guards in the German concentration camps during World War II were forbidden from having any form of sex with Jewish women on pain of death if discovered. The reason was that the German hierarchy believed that the Jews were sub-human (which is outright outlandish). 

Stupid statements made with respect to the crime of rape

 Generally it is the politicians who make stupid statements and that is probably because most of what they say publicly is recorded in the media. Here are some examples of pure lunacy made by three American politicians.

 Todd Akin

 This inane Missouri Republican Congressman who is running for office again was speaking about women who are raped. He said, (brace yourself for it) “It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s (impregnation) really rare.” unquote

 I can only presume that the doctors he spoke with are all quacks. Did he speak with a gynecologist? Probably not. My mother was raped by a man she was going out with and believe me when I say that my ensuing birth was not a rare event. My birth was inevitable as all births that are not aborted whether or not the mother was raped. This political hack actually believes that a woman who has a child because of a date rape or a violent rape and enjoys the raping experience will invariably have a child but if she doesn’t enjoy the experience, she won’t have a child. Give me a break. Does this nitwit have any idea as to how babies are conceived?  What is really frightening is that some of his constituents with the same lack of brains might actually vote him into office despite the fact that though the Republicans are asking him to withdraw from the Congressional race.

 George Galloway

 This British member of Parliament is another nitwit who when discussing the accusation of a Swedish woman that Julian Assange allegedly raped while she was sleeping said, (Again I suggest that you brace yourself) “It may be sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or (otherwise) you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning.” unquote

 Does what he said apply to a man who with aforethought, murders another by knifing him in the back thereby committing first degree murder? If so, then he would also say, “It may be sordid and bad manners, but whatever else it is, it is not murder or (otherwise) you bankrupt the term murder of all meaning.”

 I really feel for the Brits since they have to have a twit like this one serving them as a member of their parliament.

 Should babies conceived by a rapist be aborted?

 Another Republican politician called Barnes was quoted by The New York Times said in part, “Abortion is never an option. If God has chosen to bless this person (the rape victim) with a life, you don’t kill it.”

 I agree with him to some degree but certainly if a child is raped and she conceives, I don’t believe that she should be submitted to the distress of giving birth to another human being that could damage her both physically and mentally during the birthing process that she would have to undergo.

On the other hand, is it possible that an aborted child may have later found the cure for cancer or later become a great leader of a nation?

If my mother had chosen to abort me since I was conceived as a result of her being raped, my early death would have not have brought out the effect which my life did on the lives of millions of people worldwide who years later would be born long after I was gone.  Let me explain.

I am the precursor of the United Nations bill of rights for young offenders. It has two names—The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules on the Administration of Juvenile Justice and it is also known as the Beijing Rules.  This bill of rights was passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1985 and has an effect on the treatment of young offenders in over a hundred countries. Before the Scouting Organizations in various countries adopted a new organization in scouting called Venturers, I was the person who at the age of 22 in 1956 designed its predecessor which was called the Order of the Bow. Hundreds of thousands of boys and girls in at least 14 countries became in the past and are in this present year serving their communities as Ventures. Back in the 1980s, I spoke at a Canadian crime conference in which I advocated that there should be a legal aid lawyer on call 24 hours a day so that anyone arrested and taken to a police station even a three in the morning would be given a phone number to call and speak to a lawyer free of charge. Three months later my proposal was adopted by the Ontario Legal Aid and now that service is offered by other provincial Legal Aids to thousands of persons arrested in Canada. Hundreds of thousands of people, both guilty and innocent alike have benefited from my original proposal. I could go on and mention other areas of justice I incorporated but I won’t. It is suffice to say that there are no doubt thousands of men and women in the world who could have been aborted by their mothers after they were raped but their mothers chose to give birth to their babies. And there is no doubt in my mind that some of them who were born brought about even more benefits to their fellow human beings that I didn’t even dream of.

I have always felt that if a victim of a rape is made pregnant as a result of that rape, she and she alone should make the decision as to whether or not she wishes to abort the fetus. I don’t believe that that decision should be made by members of any parliament or congresses especially those members who because of their sex are incapable of giving birth to a baby.