NCJ Number
100300
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1985) Pages: 367-383
Date Published
1985
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Rape statute modifications, enacted to ensure fairness, may have the unintended effects of offense trivialization and victim devaluation.
Abstract
Numerous jurisdictions have made changes in their rape statutes in recent years, including the abolition of capital punishment, lowered sentence structure, a graduated continuum of offenses and penalties, reformulation of statutes to sex-neutral definition of participants, and a change in terminology away from rape to such nomenclature as criminal sexual conduct. Many of these changes were made for pragmatic reasons such as streamlining processing and increasing conviction rates. Others, such as rape shield laws, victim support services, and more humane processing have benefited the victim. However, it is argued that many of these law reforms have been the product of an attempt to make the crime of rape less special by making it more like other crimes in terms of victims, evidentiary requirements, and punishment. It is suggested that by trivializing the offense and devaluing the victim's experience, some of these reforms have done a disservice to victims. 3 notes and 66 references. (Author abstract modified)