Date Rape Essays (2797 words) - Rape, Date Rape, Acquaintance Rape

Date Rape OUTLINE This research paper is about the issue of acquaintance rape, also known as date rape. In this papers context, I will define acquaintance / date rape. I will discuss how and why it occurs. This paper explores the laws and the judicial system and how they work. I will discuss ethics, myths about acquaintance / date rape, and victims reactions. I will discuss how misinterpretation of sexes are comprehended and misunderstood. I will show how the movie industry and the news media glorifies rape cases. Finally, I will look into false accusations of rape by women against men. DATE RAPE Date rape can generally be defined as occurring whenever a man forces his date to have sex with him against her will. Some people expand this definition to include forced sex by any acquaintance, whether it be in context of a date or not. Despite the simple definitions, however, there is a great deal of controversy over the exact legal and moral implications of date rape or acquaintance rape. The legal definition of date rape is extremely limited and it tends to place the burden of proof on the victim. A date rape victim will have a difficult time in court if the defence attorney can show a lack of evidence or can imply that the women is loose or immoral in any way. This, in prosecuting a date rape, it helps if the victim has visible bruises or is a woman of shining charter, because otherwise the strict definitions of rape will prevail in court.1 Whereas the legal view threats date rape as if it was a regular rape by a stranger, moral definitions tend to take other factors into account. For example, date rape raises a number of ethical questions regarding the line that divides normal courtship behavior from violent assault. Many offenders argue that they forced their dates to have sex with them because they believe that is how women like being treated. despite this, however, it is obvious that there is a difference between mutual consent between partners and own person using force against the other. As noted by Susan Jacoby, even the most callow youth can understand the difference between a halfhearted no, we shouldn't and tears or screams.2 There are a number of moral questions which are raised by the issue of date rape. For example, it is obvious that a rape has occurred if the man has used physical force. However, it is also rape if he has used coercion or threats or has gotten his date drunk in order to have sex with her. Because of the moral difficulties in defining date rape, lots of women are even confused about whether they've been raped. Moral definitions of date rape are often attached to ideological schools of thought. For example, there is a feminist perspective on date rape that holds it, as well as rape in general, is the product of a mans traditional dominance over women.3 This point of view has sparked controversy, however, for example, Murry Rothbard criticizes the feminist definition of date rape because it suggests that all men are potentially guilty of committing the crime. Rothbard claims that this extremist opinion often results in men being unjustly accused of rape. For example, it is argued that there are cases in which a women doesn't say no and doesn't resist, but latter claims that she was raped anyhow, simply because she had been influenced by feminist thinking in the mean time.4 John Leo also disagrees with the feminist definitions of date rape. According to Leo, the feminists failure is in there emphases on rape as an act of political or social oppression.5 From this view point, the feminist argue that sex has nothing to do with the act of rape. Leo counters the argument by claiming that sexual drives are obviously involved in the act of rape. In addition, Leo promotes a biological definitions of date rape, which claims that rape exists because men have a high sex drive and are intimately aggressive. Nancy Rue provides a definitions for date rape which seems to straddle the middle ground between these extreme points of view. According to Rue, date rape occurs whenever a man demands sex