Rape
The justice systems, of late, have been fine tuning their message for the prospective rape victims of the '90s, and women would do well to consider the following.
If you are a single woman on a date, do not allow your boyfriend to rape you. When three women came forward in the US last year to allege that Kennedy Smith either raped or attempted to rape them while out on dates, the press and judge were concerned that he would not get a fair trial. He did. He was acquitted. The collective evidence of the three women was apparently offset by their willingness to go out with Kennedy in the first place and have a few midnight drinks.
If you are a child, make sure you don't allow your father, uncle or grandfather to rape you. Alleged child victims of incestuous sexual assault are not faring well in the courts. Australian judges are obliged to warn juries that the uncorroborated evidence of children may not be credible. Despite government estimates that one in four girls are sexually assaulted by a male relative, few of the offenders are ever brought to trial, let alone convicted.
If you are a prostitute who lives in Victoria, you are one of the lucky ones — you don't have to worry much about being raped. The Victorian Supreme Court last month upheld a ruling that men who rape prostitutes are entitled to a lighter sentence than that for other rapes, because "rape on a prostitute is not as heinous as when committed on a happily married woman living in a flat when the miscreant breaks in and commits rape upon her". This was happy news for the victim, who had been raped at knife point in the attacker's locked van.
The Prostitute's Collective of Victoria said the decision gave the green light for rapists to attack prostitutes, but as a Sydney barrister pointed out to a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, raping a prostitute is like stealing a car left in the middle of George Street with its doors unlocked and the key in the ignition.
This leaves married women. Married women are not like unlocked cars with the key in the ignition. They are like cars locked up safe in the family garage — and it is strictly forbidden for passers-by to take the wife for a test drive. Ummm ... not always. The Morgan Case of 1976 is still the leading authority for Australian courts on this matter. Mr Morgan put it to his mates one night to come home and have intercourse with his wife. He told them to ignore her protests because it was her way of expressing pleasure. The court held that, because the accused men honestly believed the victim's resistance was consent, they should be acquitted.
It is clear, however, that strangers are not allowed to rape wives. If you are raped under these circumstances, this is your best chance of getting a conviction — unless, of course, you were provocatively dressed, had had something to drink, have a past sexual history other than with your husband or were walking alone on the street at night. Finally, married women should not allow their husbands to rape them. Rape in marriage is illegal in theory, but if you're going to park your car in his garage, you should expect that he will use it.
Despite all the amendments and changes which feminists and concerned members of the justice system have fought for in sexual assault laws, the court system still does not comprehend the fundamental nature of rape. The offence entered English common law centuries ago as a branch of property law, a measure to protect male property — daughters and wives — against trespass by other males. But as women have been pointing out for the past 30 years at least, rape is a form of sexual assault — penetration without consent, irrespective of the woman's age, social or marital status.
By Angela Matheson