@Arella Mae,
Quote:I am wondering about the different degrees of rape
In New York State, there are 3 degrees of rape, ranging from the most forcible to those in which physical force may not be a factor. Statutory rapes are included within those as are the other instances where the victim is deemed not able to give legal consent. They are all felonies but the sentencing guidelines differ according to the degree of rape. In states where the term "sexual assault" has replaced the term "rape", similar distinctions are made in terms of the nature of the assault and the severity of the punishment.
But generally a person is charged with other crimes besides just rape because other elements are usually involved--weapons, physical assaults, burglary/robbery, injuries etc.--or simply because the act itself prevents the victim from fleeing because someone is on top of her. A D.A. will pile on every violation of law that fits the entire situation, and not just a rape charge, and, because that increases the potential length of sentencing, that puts pressure on guilty defendants to take a plea and avoid a trial.
These home invasions, which do seem to be occurring with more frequency in my area, particularly with the elderly, all have the potential to turn more violent and brutal. There is a big difference between forcing your way into an occupied home and breaking into one which is empty. If someone is at home, you are looking for some sort of confrontation with the victim--whether it is to rape, or otherwise physically attack--the opportunity to discharge aggression, and not just burglary, seems a big part of the motive. The aggression, often of a sadistic nature, is a component of the rape, just as it is the component of rapes in many other types of situations. In that case that just occurred in Boston, the father was forced to watch the rape of his 11 year old son, so part of the sexual aggression was clearly directed at the father and not just the child. The father was stabbed viciously when he then tried to protect the child from further sexual assault, again suggesting the aggression was focused on the father. It is like raping a man's wife in front of him--the violence is really being directed at both the rape victim and the helpless loved one forced to witness it.
Before getting involved with this thread, I don't think I ever gave a great deal of time to trying to understand the crime of rape, and I never really discussed the topic of rape with anyone before--certainly not to the extent we have done in this thread. I knew how victim/survivors were affected, and I understood some of the motives for rape (generally power, dominance), but I don't think I fully appreciated the sociopathic nature of
all rapes, including the date rapes that the trolls would have us believe are either harmless "non rapes" or "grey rapes" or part of "normal" acceptable behavior on the part of males.
I am now convinced that there is a strong sociopathic element in
all rapes, including date rapes, particularly those which are not followed by genuine guilt or remorse on the part of the perpetrator. The most basic rights of the rape victim are not only violated, they seem not to be even considered at all, and neither are the rape laws. Besides the illegality of the rape act, there is a basic immorality operating that transforms a blatantly wrong act on the part of the rapist, into something that is seen as right and as acceptable by the rapist and by those in the larger society who defend such acts. And that is the mentality that underlies all victim blaming. That is the mentality that transforms "what I did to her was wrong" into "she asked for it" or "she wanted it" or "everyone does it, what's the big deal" . I used to think that was sexist thinking, but now I think I see it as much more essentially sociopathic in nature, and much more serious in its implications, because we have ostensibly "normal" people doing things, like date rapes, without any guilt about it at all, and that's why these situations, which seem to occur with considerable frequency on college campuses, become rather frightening in terms of their implications. Just because you can get away with doing something hardly makes it "right"--either legally or morally.
The trolls, in particular, have put forth this rather sociopathic view of such date rapes, with attempts to deny both the illegality or immorality of what is going on. Hawkeye asserts that such rapes are "acts of passion" and part of normal male/female "intimate relationships", rather than seeing them as assaultive crimes of opportunity with vulnerable victims. He sees rape laws as "anti-sex" and "prudish" because he doesn't even connect with the assault, and violation, and exploitation, that is occurring with these crimes. He does exactly the same thing when discussing child pornography and age of consent laws. That's a very sociopathic way to view rape and child porn. And BillRM wants us to believe that really intoxicated women are as fully and freely and willingly consenting as their sober counterparts, and that their next morning "regrets" really aren't sober realizations that they were, in fact, raped. Again, this is a sociopathic way of viewing a rape--the rapist wasn't wrong, he wasn't even committing a rape, because the simple fact the rape was possible, without significant force being used, means
she had to be consenting. That is utter nonsense, and it is a sociopathic rationalization of a sexual assault.
And, unfortunately, the trolls aren't the only people who think that way, which is one reason that such rapes don't get reported, or prosecuted, and rapists continue to repeat their acts. Sure, those brutal stranger rapes that make the headlines grab our attention and make it clear that rape isn't about "normal" sexuality, that it is an aggressive act. But the ones that do not make the headlines are all those date and acquaintance rapes, which are the majority of rapes, which don't have gory or sensational details, but which are clearly the same violations of a non consenting victim's body, and are just as clearly real rapes. It's time to stop pretending, or accepting sociopathic excuses, these are real rapes. Rape is rape.
