Citation

Schwartz MD, Clear TR. Crime Delinq. 1980; 26(2): 129-151.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/001112878002600201

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Forcible rape has become a major issue in the past decade, not only for political reasons but also because of the unique practical roadblocks placed in the path of prosecution by criminal law. A number of approaches to removing these obstacles are discussed here, based largely on the idea, acceptable from both a feminist and a practical standpoint, that rape law be "normalized" as part of a general assault code, rather than remaining a separate sex crime statute. Such a change would not only be an important political statement by the criminal law, but would also automatically remove most of the problems discussed in the literature. A suggested basic statute takes into account problems ranging from psychological harm to rape shield laws to statutory rape, in addition to the usual complaints about rape law.