Look, I won’t – even can’t – go on about the more technical, legal aspects and interpretations of the crime of rape. I did promise to re-visit this sordid issue later. And note the word “crime”.
My layman’s (dictionary) definition of rape is “the crime committed, and hopefully proven, when sexual intercourse is achieved against an individual’s will and consent”.
Yes I know now, from much reasonable research and reading, that there are numerous, intricate, legal variations and implications related to the crime. A few paragraphs from this one, I’ll rely on the observation of Attorney Josephine Whitehead made some fifteen years ago.
At the outset again I must say that I view the excessively high incidence of rape, carnal knowledge, sexual and indecent assault and buggery now extant in our society, as both symptomatic and a consequence of a nearly-complete breakdown of once strongly held normal values and virtues of our grandparents’ era. Also, disrespect for both political and civic authority now breeds a disorderly generation of young men who are unable to see anything wrong in violating young women’s person or character. Some are untutored by young or absent parents; some are just gross; many are ignorant and/or outright criminal-minded. True, many of these young male predators are themselves victims of a negligent society in turn making victims of innocent young ladies.
The bottom line, unfortunately, is an upsurge of criminal activity including the crime of rape. Not meaning to be trivial, I often wonder why certain young and not-so-young males resort to forcing themselves on females not at all interested in them. After all, there are the so-called sex-workers available. And, as a very matured male, I do see and sense that there are also numerous ladies of all ages available and seemingly eligible if the right, patient, civil approaches are employed. So why resort to rape?
Violation…
Often, when something – or someone – is out of bounds and out of reach, those who dream and fantasize about access and ownership, dare to be outrageous to acquire. In the current context of a lawless society deficient in values; a society whose judicial system is, at least, dubious, if not accommodating, young men are given to just “taking” what they want. Then there is often the element of spite.
A young lady perceived as “hard-to-get” must be taught a lesson. Rape violates her self-esteem, her character, her present and her future. To me when someone’s very spirit is as traumatized as the physical body is ravished, that act is heinous that perpetrator must attract severe, lasting and commensurate penalties.
Alas there are hardly penalties here to “fit the crime” of rape. No whippings, no hard-labour, no death penalty actually imposed. Rather, we are very civilized with those who would rape our young women’s future. When we are not condoning settlements out of court, we offer counselling, prayers, meals and comfort for the convicted. Their victims are often left on their own, their psyches scarred for ever.
Additional violation by an uncaring, but “civilized” state bound by the famous “rule of law”. Little wonder sometimes, that people take the law into their own hands!
Violence….
Rape always has sexual connotations. Seen and treated as forced sexual intercourse, it is not always appreciated for something else it also is: outright violence against a person.
Josephine Whitehead has pointed out that “there is the fallacy that the prime motivation for rape is sexual desire. Rape is a crime of violence in which the sexual act is merely the expression of the desire to violate and exert power over the victims and, perhaps through her, those associated with her.”
Ms Whitehead also positions rape in a wider universal context of conflict; how it is employed as a “weapon”. She reminds us that “rape has been and continues to be used as a weapon of war
