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After all, judges and jurors are humans with the same biases and gender or sexual stereotypes as others.ĭespite recent enlightenment jump-started by the Me Too movement, gender and sexual stereotypes persist in the minds of many. Dress, behavior, consent to some sexual contact-all can factor into how credible an alleged rape victim seems to a judge and jury. A person who accompanies his or her date home (or invites him or her in) might have a harder time convincing the police and a jury that rape occurred. Such stereotypes persist in the context of date rape in other ways, too. Another social or cultural problem with the term date rape is that it refers back to the time when women were expected to resist sexual advances (regardless of their level of interest in pursuing them) and men got a pass for being sexually "aggressive," especially on a date. As noted above, force is not an essential element to the legal definition of rape. Unfortunately, the reference to date rape can lead to the misperception that the rape isn't a "true" rape (in other words, forcible). "Date rape" is a term colloquially used to refer to sexual assault by a person involved in a romantic or potentially romantic relationship with the victim. Date Rape or Acquaintance RapeĪccording to some surveys, the vast majority of women (as high as 80%) who report being raped say that they knew their rapist. You may also want to learn about possession of rophynol ("roofies" or the "date rape drug"). This article discusses the crime of date rape generally. The mere fact that a victim knows his or her assailant is irrelevant to the legal definition of rape. A person can be raped by an acquaintance, a friend, or even a relative. The victim might refuse to give consent to sexual intercourse or be unable to give consent due to physical or mental infirmity.Ī relationship between the victim and offender doesn't negate a crime. Rape or sexual assault doesn't always involve force or violence (although when an assailant physically overcomes the victim, that is rape).
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In general, however, rape is defined as sexual intercourse without one party's consent.
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As a result, the definition of rape differs somewhat from state to state. However termed, rape is a crime defined by and punished under state law. Most state laws do not use the term "rape" any longer but rather refer to the crime as "sexual assault," " sexual battery," or criminal sexual conduct.