@firefly,
firefly wrote:
Quote:It's a matter of sex being used as a intransitive verb.
You missed my entire point about
penetration (by something other than an object) as being an essential part of the sexual act in a rape. It has to do with how a specific rape law describes the offending sexual act that is called rape. Rapes involve
penetration of the victim's body (either vaginally or anally) in most, if not all, legal descriptions of the sex act involved in rape.
I didn't miss that post, and as you've said, you're using the NYS definition. I acknowledged this in citing that MI has the same wording, and has defined it in agreement with your conclusion.
firefly wrote:
Only someone with a penis can penetrate the body of another person (without using an object to accomplish the penetration). That covers both male on female rape and male on male rape (although I'm not sure that in NY that the male on male situation would be a legal charge of rape, it may be covered under sodomy laws).
This to me seems to be a deficiency in the NYS legal definition. Creating parallel institutions and parallel crimes is a bad idea. Certainly the victims of a non-rape sexual assault are no less a victim than a victim of a rape sexual assault. I'm not going to subscribe to the idea that there is an ultimate form of sexual assault, and it (and only it) earns the title of rape. Further, I don't support the idea that our laws should be making this distinction.
As a note, I'm confused as how NYS can create such a contradiction in terms when rape is defined as you've described it, and yet a woman CAN be charged with rape of a child by forcing him to penetrate her. If NYS wants to create parallel offenses, it seems that they must define "statutory sexual assault" as well. Having a young male victim being raped until a certain age, and then one day the same act becomes a sexual assault is a poor idea.
firefly wrote:
The crime, in rape, is that the victim's body has been penetrated without consent.
Go back and read my post again. Maybe it will be clearer.
I hope you don't agree with this notion.
firefly wrote:
All the things you describe, including the incident with your gay friend and the woman, are all sexual offenses. However, in the law, they are described as being different offenses then the crime of rape. If I, a female, force you, a male, to have sexual intercourse with me, I am not penetrating your body, I am forcing you to penetrate my body, and legally that isn't rape. Rape involves penetration of the victim through a bodily opening. You could have me arrested on other sexual offenses in that situation, but I don't think I would be charged with rape.
I hope you see the injustice in this.
firefly wrote:
Read the rape laws of your state and see how they describe the sexual act involved in the legal charge of rape. They have loads of other laws to cover all the other sexual offenses that aren't called "rape", including those you've mentioned.
You are correct. Many states create a lesser crime for an equally heinous offense. The distinction is meaningless.
In the crime of murder, we don't have a different class of crime for if the murder is done with a knife versus a gun. The creation of which would be meaningless. Both offenses are EQUALLY heinous, and deserve equal treatment under the law.
A woman who has intercourse forced upon her is no less traumatized than a woman who is forced to have oral sex, be urinated/defecated on, or penetrated with a foreign object other than a penis. The same applies for a man. The laws should reflect that. It does not appear that they do (in some places).
firefly wrote:
In the U.S. law, "Rape" and "sexual assault" are not the same. "Rape" has a precise legal definition in each U.S. state. It is only one type of sexual assault. There are many different types of sexual assaults, and the law defines all of them, but only certain types are called "rape", the others all have different names.
As I posted before, this is true in
some states. Not all states/countries separate the two terms. In Canada, the term "rape" is not mentioned once in the criminal code, only "sexual assault." It doesn't mean they don't prosecute rapists, or that they don't use the word "rape," but it means that their legal system equally protects the victims of these crimes.
I'd say to sum up my feelings regarding definitions, I'm of Canada's legal mindset. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in the USA having done a little research in the last few posts. This seems like a terrible displacement of justice.
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