When I was a lad, rape was non-consensual sex. Pure and simple !
In recent weeks I have become aware of something new (to me at least) – retrospective rape.
First to catch my eye was the story of a Palestinian man imprisoned for ‘raping’ an Israeli woman.
http://tinyurl.com/2ejkefu
What struck me as odd about this case was . . .
that the couple concerned had started a relationship that involved consensual sex.. The man, however, had ‘pretended’ to be an Israeli and when the woman discovered his deception – she had been having sex with a Palestinian – she had him arrested and charged with rape.
Now granted, he deceived her, but he wouldn’t be the first man who has lied to a woman (e.g. about his name, address, employment, marital status etc) to get into bed with her, so I struggle a bit to accept that the woman in this case was ‘raped’ – in the sense that I understand the word.
Then more recently, we have the on/off/on rape charge levied against Julian Assange. Admittedly the details are sketchy and what follows may not be an accurate description of events as they unfolded, but from the accounts I have read about this case, what appears to have happened is that Woman A had a great admiration for Assange, helped to organize the conference he was attending in Sweden, made sure to meet and greet him, and offered to let him share her flat for the night. They had sex. He went off to another meeting in a different town the next day, met Woman B and had sex with her too. Later, Woman A and Woman B met up, got talking, and realized that Assange had been toying with both of them that same weekend. At which point, woman B decided to go to the police with accusation that Assange had refused to wear a condom when they had sex. Woman A accompanied her to provide support and the outcome of that was police charging Assange with rape.
Assuming this scenario is correct, this too does not fit the definition of rape as I understand it – sounds more like a spurned woman (or two) seeking revenge ?
Is it just me or does anyone else find these ‘rape’ cases puzzling ?
