The History of RAPE- from 1860 to present

Source (Bourke,J, The History of Rape, London 2007 ( page 1-441))

1. RAPE MYTHS :

The Vibrating sword:
The penis was coded as a weapon, the vagina as its passive receptacle and merely by vibrating this receptacle could ward off attack. Therefore in 1830"s it was believed that it is almost impossible to rape a resisting woman. If a woman was raped she failed to use all her strength to protect herself. It was said that women was equipped with effective obstacles to protect themselves.

Women lie:
The belief that women are prone to lie about rape were very strong, and even up to the 1980"s accusations made by children were strongly distrusted. Doctors advices one another to be guided only by the physical conditions that present themselves to your eye and finger, and forget what the sense of hearing has suggested.

Rape is not serious:
Some acts of forced sex were described as "not really rape". The only true rapist was the stranger who employs physical violence. If there was no wound, there was no rape. Husbands, boyfriends and close acquaintances might only get carried away. Most men believed that forced sex was acceptable, if the couple had been dating for a period of time, if she had touched his genitals or if either had performed oral sex on the other.

2. No means Yes

To be found guilty of rape, a man must have believed that his victim was not consenting. No sounds erotic to many people, particularly men. Men often find "no" sexy and worse, some men believe that "no' really does mean "yes".

The Betraying body:
During 1815 it was strongly believed that conception required a woman's orgasm. And female orgasm was impossible in rape, because if any desponding or depressing passion presides, this will not be accomplished.

In the late 19th century the fear came to light that young women are being raped during alcohol and drug fuelled parties. The spread of the drug GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate) also known as the "easy lay" drug turned these fears into a moral panic. The use of alcohol to sidestep consent continues to elicit concern. But then the view started that it was women's responsibility not to get drunk and the consumption of alcohol was viewed as making women looking for trouble.

From the 1870"s anxieties about the erotic imaginings of young women under the spell of chloroform began to plaque doctors. But doctors used the courts to prove their innocence. Dentist's, doctors and assistants started to rape women in their offices after they had been administered chloroform before an operation. Some women later claimed that they were quite conscious when the rape took place, but were speechless and to powerless to move. Doctors claimed that chloroform caused delusions of sex.

The Unconscious:
The body can be an unreliable defense against assault; it could be rendered vulnerable and passive through sleep, intoxication and administration of drugs. The rise of Hypnoses in the 90th century threatened the entire free-will doctrine. Many men learned the skill of hypnoses and made brains excited without the victims' power to control the brain. Hypnotists claimed that what they were doing was nothing more than seducing a woman to act on her desires.

Women's bodies were considered to be inherently painful and sexual suffering is a woman's lot. Cries of no could never be relied upon and women were seen to trigger crimes against them.

Humans incapable of consenting:
For some people consent did not apply, slaves were simply not human enough and slave women were regarded as he absolute property of another person. They were rapable. Mentally ill women were thought to be always "ready for it" and such women were seen as easy targets. For children in the 1880"s the age of consent was 10, but the age was raised throughout years to 12 and later to 16. But some countries even had 8 years of the age of consent.

3. IDENTITIES:

The Science of degeneracy:
The rapist could be seen at a glance. People who had confusing expressions were dangerous and the shape of the jaw and cut of the ears also played a role, usually blue eyes, fair hair, especially red hair, men with a tiny penis and imperfect teeth and jaws could be seen as rapists.

Racism:
Indian and Black men were common rapists. When a man was convicting of raping a black woman he could be sentenced to prison for 2 years. This increased to 5 years for an Indian woman or Latino women, and if the was white, more than 10 years imprisonment was the norm. Race therefore affected the seriousness of the crime.

Evolutionary Psychology:
Rapists were men of lower class and status. An irresistible force compels them to commit crimes in order to seek reproductive success. The fittest men are rapists because they historically have been able to impregnate as many women as possible, and the fittest women are rape resisters because they want men who will help them care for their offspring.

4. BRUTALIZING ENVIRONMENTS:

Social Explanations:
Working class or unemployed men was prone to alcohol abuse and rape. African Americans and Immigrants were the major offenders. The lower class who was poor was also rapist because people huddled together and many of both sexes had to sleep in the same room. Unmarried men who were lacking permanent family ties, prayed on vulnerable women in their communities.

Subcultures of Violence:
Among working class communities, hitting and violent sex were acceptable. Pack Rapists were acting according to the norms of their culture. Aggression was a sub cultural norm. Black men took out their aggression against white men by raping white women. Gang rape was a natural hazard for young women living in the slums and run-down suburbs. Male individuals were impelled to sexual violence by a blind obedience to the norms of their adolescent communities. And girls were pictured as prepared to stand still for gangbang.

Developmental Failures:
If home standards and controls break down, children will get exposed to morbid elements of the street. Parents who were divorced, drunkenness, cruelty or domestic violence were common forms of troubled families.

Crisis of masculinity:
From the 1970"s many men were going through an identity crisis caused by unmarried, white and educated women who demanded equality with men, particularly in the workplace and education, but also at home. Gender roles became confused and faced with the rise of a generation of strong, confident women. Men felt desperate and started to act in sexually aggressive ways.

5. THE KNIFE:

Sterilization:
Sterilization of sex offenders was allowed in most states. Sterilization was imposed on the violent man as an additional punishment for crime and to prevent reproduction. But women in rape crisis centers observed that rape is a crime of violence and if a man was motivated to rape by an urge to humiliate or course pain, castration would not prevent him from carrying out his mission. Chemical castration was also administered where men were given medication in order to stop sexual lust. The problem was that the true sex offenders did not take their medication.

Behavioral Revolution:
People are creations of their environment rather than their genes. Some men have distorted thinking, and since all forms of behavior are learned, they can be unlearned. Aversion therapy started where patients were encourage to imagine distressing images of being arrested or stabbed while attempting rape. This was however ineffective with serious offenders and a more serious approach war required. Electric shocks were given to sexual offenders when they fantasized about rape. Social skills training including sex instruction, sensitivity and empathy training, communication and exercises in dealing with emotions such as anger, frustration and anxiety, and tips about conducting relationships in a healthy manner was taught.

6. THE COUCH:

Moral insanity:
Not knowing what one was doing and being unable to distinguish between right and wrong were the hallmarks of insanity. Most of sex offenders claimed that they obtained little or no sexual pleasure from their actions and this was further evidence that the act of rape was in the service of the reduction of anxiety rather than aimed predominantly towards sexual gratification and enjoyment. Rapists were seen as having serious psychopathology.

Treatment:
Imprisonment was seen as unhelpful and counterproductive. Ideally each rapist needed extensive therapy, for years. Due to time constrains, group therapy was initiated. Group therapy appeared successful for a while. Psychodrama was introduced and abstract painting. But treatment constantly faced funding constraints and diagnoses and the cure became increasingly questioned.

Impact:
Younger people wanted rapists to be hospitalized and older people wanted severe punishment. The trend that sex offenders legally had the right to treatment started in 1930"s. Legal Authorities had a duty to provide treatment for sex offenders.

Critique:
Sadistic rapists could find themselves placed in the same diagnostic category as masturbators or homosexuals. Part of the problem was that offenders had started to fake mental illness in order to escape punishment. Harry Mills was a serial offender who had every possible treatment that there is and his words were: "imprisonment, drugs, aversion, therapy, group therapy, psycho-therapy- but nothing worked. It only works while you are in hospital and it helps you understanding the reasons for your actions, but when you are outside, that doesn't matter". Most offenders failed to understand the relationship between their inner feeling and their crime.

Psychopathic Laws:
A person could be committed to a mental institution as a psychopath and he had to stay there for any length of time ranging from one day to an entire life. Protecting society required that the sex offender had to be treated and not just imprisoned. Imprisonment could even exacerbate their dangerousness by encouraging them to turn to sexual acts in prison. The question remained, Are psychopaths treatable?

7. VIOLENT INSTITUTIONS':

The home/marriage:
By definition a husband could not rape his wife. A wife gave lifelong consent to sexual intercourse with her husband. Under the marriage vows husband and wife became one person under the law. The husband could not murder his wife because he may not have absolute rights over his wife's entire body, but her vagina was legally assumed to be his. Forcing sex on an unwilling wife risked giving the husband heart problems and the sexually abusive husband would literally observe his strength seeping away. From the 1870's onwards Andrew Dauds started defining sexual violence within the marriage as rape, and the first Bill of Rights were formulated. In the 1970's the feminist groups claimed that married or not, a woman's body belonged to one person, herself. They also claimed that the breach of trust made marital rape especially traumatizing, and victims often felt unable to escape. Only in 1992 the English Commissioner of Law's report stated that rape within marriage was as physically, emotionally or psychological disturbing for a woman as rape with a stranger.

Prison:
Virtually every slightly built young man committed by the courts would be sexually approached within a day or two after his admission to prison. Many of these men would be repeatedly raped by gangs of inmates. In the absence of women they turn their sexual aggression towards men.
Levels of forced sex were also significant in women's prisons.
Claiming that it would improve a man's ability to give a good blowjob, teeth are frequently knocked out, and gang rape is the norm. Prisoners of both sexes are vulnerable to attack by prison staff. Prisoners claimed that the strip and body searches were used more for entertainment value then a real security measure. Women are frequently subjected to decrutching (the forcible removal of drugs from the vagina). White prisoners were raped more frequently and more severely than black prisoners. The rapist of prisoners demanded respect and manliness and the victims are seen as queer or girls.

Men were use to getting away with rape, sexual offence and domestic violence in the past. Most women still do not report their rape cases out of fear for their lives, an unfair justice system placing blame on the victim and not the perpetrator, and very poor conviction rates. There is however a slow but steady progress for improved protection of women's rights, dignity and respect. No harm is supposed to be inflicted on any person, regardless race, age or gender.