NCJ Number
223147
Date Published
2007
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides an overview of the influence of feminist campaigning on recent British legislation that pertains to rape.
Abstract
The chapter notes that radical feminism views social change as the core of the political agenda for countering male violence against women. For this reason the chapter defines radical feminism and how it came to identify male violence against women as the key mechanism for oppressing women. The chapter's analysis of rape begins with a discussion of the problem of defining it. From the perspective of radical feminism, rape is not typically committed by a small percentage of deviant, criminal, sex-driven males, but rather is men's "normal" behavior toward women. The discussion of the radical feminist view of the dynamics of rape is followed by an overview of feminist campaigning against sexual violence, with attention to the link between radical feminist ideology and the provision of services to rape victims, the campaign for change in legislation and criminal justice system responses to rape victims, and the development of theoretical understandings of the patriarchal culture that fuels the rape of women by men. The discussion draws on ideas from the United States and Great Britain, but the legal content focuses on law reform in England and Wales. The chapter notes that the feminist campaigning that has influenced changes in legislation and the development of rape crisis services for victims may create the perception that women who have been raped now find it much easier to receive justice; however, rape convictions are at an all-time low in England and Wales, and rape still goes largely unreported. Feminism continues to believe that the most forceful attack on rape is to change patriarchal cultural values that promote men's oppressive and victimizing behaviors toward women. 73 references