Sexual Assault Legislation

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a number of central themes that help to outline how the current sexual assault laws are falling short of meeting community expectations because of the environment in which they operate and the way in which they are implemented. The paper discusses the law itself and explores the myths that pervade society illustrating how these affect the implementation of the law both outside and within the courtroom. The paper examines evidentiary procedures in sexual assault trials, the notion of consent, the belief of the accused, the chaste woman and sentencing.

From the Paper:

"It is impossible to accurately measure whether the majority of society is more, or less, supportive of rape prone behavior. In any case, it is not that simple to draw the distinction. What I can say with a degree of optimism though, is that just as you didn't have the same level of acceptance for alternative sexual preferences forty years ago, you also didn't have the openness and sheer volume of discussion about sexual assault and the experiences of women who enter the legal system. It is my opinion that community attitudes, while they may always be diverse and divided, are generally becoming more sympathetic to the needs of women and less likely to tolerate a society that allows female subordination. It is a time of transition for the Western world and that is the positive stance I will be taking when I refer to "society's" attitudes. While the laws in their current form are an improvement and a beginning, it is the attitudes of those members of society who fall out of my definition, that need to change before they can be implemented in a way that is truly valuable to women."

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