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Path: utzoo!utcsstat!laura
From: laura@utcsstat.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.legal,net.singles
Subject: Rape (anywhere, not just Ontario)
Message-ID: <1509@utcsstat.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Dec-83 23:59:32 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsstat.1509
Posted: Fri Dec  2 23:59:32 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Dec-83 00:16:33 EST
Organization: U. of Toronto, Canada
Lines: 44

Personally, I think that rape is assault. I would like it to not have a
separate classification. this perpetuates the idea that sex is something
either dirty or mysterious, or otherwise very different from the rest of
life. But then i do not find the idea that somebody raped someone else
any different than the idea that someone beat up somebody else, or
otherwise attacked them. I have been told that I am strange in this
respect -- I wonder if I am.

One of the trouble with existing rape laws, is that it is difficult to
decide when a rape has actually occurred. Over the years of reading
a writing netnews about 5 people have written to me after I submitted
something to net.singles with the same problem and the same proposed
solution.

They were shy male virgins who wanted to stop being shy male virgins.
But they didn't know how to talk to women. (Or they thought that they
didn't -- actually they were very good at it, but I had to tell them that).
Only one of them is still on the net, and he still writes to me sometimes.
They decided that they would try to talk to me, hundreds of miles away,
where I couldn't hurt them, and if they could handle that they would
work up to the attractive girl in their chemistry class...

So I wrote to them. But it occurred to me at the time that had I
been so inclined I could have driven to wherever they were and
offered to take away the virginity. I bet that I would have been
accepted every time. It occurred to me also that I'll bet there are
a lot of men in my situation. This is a very scary situation. I
doubt that any of my correspondants, had they gone home and talked
to their parents and decided that they wanted their virginity back
could get away with charging me with rape. I'm 5'4", after all --
it would be hard to conceive of me raping anyone. But suppose I was
6'5" and male... the thought makes me shudder.

Which is why I think that if it is rape, I would like to see some
bruises or the marks where the ropes were. "i was so frightened
that I didn't do anything" doesn't sound very good to me.

So I have a few questions. First of all, do you think that rape
and assault should be considered separate offenses? if so why?
And for you guys out there -- do you worry about getting charged
with rape? If you do, what do you do about it?

Laura Creighton
utzoo!utcsstat!laura