Grisly Fan
Well-known member
Rape is a scourge on humanity and rapists deserve to be caught by all means and rot in jail. That said, could it be in our zeal to punish this crime that we have cast the net too widely? Let me explain.
As you can read in most definitions and has been stated here many times, rape is a crime of control and violence. Prosecuting anyone for rape due to a momentary indiscretion fueled by drugs/alcohol and raging hormones might be the reason so many "rapes" go unreported. The victim in the aftermath (rightly or wrongly) feels some amount of culpability and doesn't want the supposed perpetrator's life ruined. Granted, saying "no" should be enough but participating in helping to create the "perfect storm" needs to (and I believe often does) cause a sense of guilt.
So perhaps in attempting to find justice in cases where is there obviously no violence and no apparent need to destroy young lives by prosecuting for a felony, these kinds of incidents need to be deemed as something like "sexual misconduct", as a misdemeanor requiring counseling for both the accusor (paid for by the state) and the convicted (paid for by self). After some amount of no reoccurence the conviction is droppped from the public record. Note I am not suggesting short-circuiting the legal process of establishing guilt. The goal of this process is of course punishment but also redirection and education to ensure these young adults don't again become victims and perpetrators.
My own model for this was a ticket I received for driving without a seatbelt. I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt except for one day due to unusual circumstances I didn't -- and of course I got caught. In Oregon it is a $187 fine -- except for the first offense. In that case I was allowed to take a class (which I had to pay $40 for) and not commit the same offense for 1 year in which case the fine was waived and the incident dropped from my record.
The course was given by an ER trauma nurse and was simply excellent. Yes it has some gory stuff but it was the case studies of people left in long term semi-vegative states that really woke me up. It wasn't just my life I was impacting, it could be the burden it would place on my family and loved ones for the rest of their lives. I have not since that original incident gone without wearing my seatbelt even in the most unusual circumstances and I never will.
I believe there is a chance to head-off some kinds of what I'll call "near rape" incidents so they don't spiral out of control and there may be a better way to deal with them such that they ARE reported and constructively dealt with.
As you can read in most definitions and has been stated here many times, rape is a crime of control and violence. Prosecuting anyone for rape due to a momentary indiscretion fueled by drugs/alcohol and raging hormones might be the reason so many "rapes" go unreported. The victim in the aftermath (rightly or wrongly) feels some amount of culpability and doesn't want the supposed perpetrator's life ruined. Granted, saying "no" should be enough but participating in helping to create the "perfect storm" needs to (and I believe often does) cause a sense of guilt.
So perhaps in attempting to find justice in cases where is there obviously no violence and no apparent need to destroy young lives by prosecuting for a felony, these kinds of incidents need to be deemed as something like "sexual misconduct", as a misdemeanor requiring counseling for both the accusor (paid for by the state) and the convicted (paid for by self). After some amount of no reoccurence the conviction is droppped from the public record. Note I am not suggesting short-circuiting the legal process of establishing guilt. The goal of this process is of course punishment but also redirection and education to ensure these young adults don't again become victims and perpetrators.
My own model for this was a ticket I received for driving without a seatbelt. I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt except for one day due to unusual circumstances I didn't -- and of course I got caught. In Oregon it is a $187 fine -- except for the first offense. In that case I was allowed to take a class (which I had to pay $40 for) and not commit the same offense for 1 year in which case the fine was waived and the incident dropped from my record.
The course was given by an ER trauma nurse and was simply excellent. Yes it has some gory stuff but it was the case studies of people left in long term semi-vegative states that really woke me up. It wasn't just my life I was impacting, it could be the burden it would place on my family and loved ones for the rest of their lives. I have not since that original incident gone without wearing my seatbelt even in the most unusual circumstances and I never will.
I believe there is a chance to head-off some kinds of what I'll call "near rape" incidents so they don't spiral out of control and there may be a better way to deal with them such that they ARE reported and constructively dealt with.
