Rape: A Crime of Violence?

There are some who say that 'rape' is a crime of violence and not sex. Duh. All violent crimes are crimes of violence, but rape is about sex with violence as a means.

If rape didn't require some kind of violence or threat of violence, women (and some men) the world over would simply say 'no thank you, I would prefer to avoid non-consenting sex' and the rapist would have no recourse....aside from violence, that is.

See, violence is the *means* by which someone gets what they want while the other person is resisting or considering it. This is how people make others do what they want right then and there, and it works in law-enforcement too. Don't wanna be arrested? They'll forcibly cuff and carry you to jail. Is it an arrest of violence, or a means to expediently get a perp to jail? Clearly, the latter.

Obviously, I am going to refuse to let some uncouth stranger just have sex with me coz he/she feels like it...so naturally the rapist puts two and two together, predicts this outcome, and shows up prepared, or opportunistically chooses a weak party. If rape were simply about the violence, the rapist wouldn't need to bother adding sex to the equation and would just be really violent.

If you refuse to give up your money to a robber, there's a threat of violence or worse. If you refuse to hand over your car in a car-jacking, there's the fear of getting shot and likewise, some rapes are probably non-violent (aside from the rape itself) simply because the perp has a weapon and is threatening the life of the unfortunate victim.

Rape is not *just* about violence. Rape is a violent means some criminals choose to pursue dangerous, illegal and unwanted sex.

I feel for the victims of rape, I really do, but let's be honest about this crime and not pretend it's something it isn't, and it can't be much consolation to tell someone a 'rape' is about violence and not about sex, when clearly the sex was the harrowing part of the ordeal, especially in rapes where there was only a *threat* of violence (which most of us would take seriously).

This is just another repeated myth I had to address. I am not really sure why people repeat this notion. It doesn't fix anything and I am sure provides no real comfort to anyone who has been raped. No matter how some might spin it, rape by definition includes sex....whether it's 'only about violence' or not.


-dB-