CRJU 4430 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Sex Organ, Equal Protection Clause, Victimology
Document Summary
Legal definitions of rape -common law definition - carnal knowledge of a female, not a spouse, forcibly and against her will (our original laws, common from england (common laws)). Two elements - force and against the will carnal knowledge - penal vaginal penetration (specifically penal and vaginal, not including other objects). This common law defines only men being the offender and women only being the victim. Originally rape was a property crime because women were property to man. That means that the crime is against the husband or father of the girl or women because it was property crime. Being a virgin makes a woman more valuable to marriage. For married couples, the concern is if she were to become pregnant, there is no way to determine if that offspring is the rapists or the husbands. She had to scream immediately while it was happening and right after. Limitations: gender specific, spousal exemption, and penile-vaginal rape only.
