Given that rape rarely has any thing to do with sex.
i.e.
a. Most Criminologists, psychologists, generally believe that for the rapist it's nearly always about Power not the sex
b. For the victim it isn't about intercourse but denial of power, violence and a sense of violation.

Therefore shouldn't we honour the equality of sexes before the law and make the charge one of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH)

In most cases the effect is the same extreme trauma.
PST is common to both.
Long lasting psychological effects
Easier to prove.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Dear Examinator,

Why should the laws governing rape be de-sexualised
when the very nature of the crime is sexual?

I agree that Rape is a crime of violence, not of passion -
however it is forcible sexual intercourse against the will
of the victim. It is a terrifying, brutal, and sometimes
life-threatening crime, one that often leaves deep,
long-term psychological scars.

Making it simply a crime
of "grievious bodily harm," (when it is in fact much
more then that) would greatly diminish the legal
impact of the crime.

One reason that rape is so under-reported is that many
victims are unwilling to relive the experience by
submitting to police interrogation, medical examination,
and court proceedings.

Rape is an intolerable crime and should remain as such
under the law. To change the law would send the message
to victims - "Your responsibility is to satisfy me,
you are not my equal, don't compete, your real value is
your body..."

People don't need to be encouraged
to further indulge in uninvited and unwanted sexual advances.
They need to be discouraged. We don't need to water-down
the law concerning rape victims because
the incidence of rape is increasing. We need stronger not
weaker laws and rape is definitely more then just
"grievious bodily harm!"

Weird Exam… my thoughts would be rape is all about sex because it is the use of sex to degrade or take power.

I’d have to ask people who have been raped at one time and grievously harmed in another. They might know the difference. Often it is GBH + Rape.

It would mean changing child abuse laws as well so that sexual abuse becomes part of physical abuse. Oh the menz would spew on their stats being messed with.

It just went from weird to interesting. It may take the stigma away from being raped or molested. Or stigmatize being physically hurt.

I dont believe all this "its not about sex it is about power" talk. If it was just power and domination these scum were after there are much better ways to achieve such ends. Kidnapping and imprisonment, standover crimes, extreme bullying, slavery etc would seem a much more likely type of crime for such a person to commit.

Rapists are frustrated, selfish, spiteful people with no self control and no empathy for other people. They feel it is somehow a right to have sex and they deserve to be able to just take it they see fit. The power and domination is just a secondary effect of the act of taking sex without the other persons consent.

I think the whole "power' trip has been a mistake by people who are highly educated and well meaning but have over analyzed the motivation and drives that lead someone to commit rape. It is much more simple than that and is driven by testosterone, rejection, withdrawal and just plain nastiness and evil.

I dont understand why or how you could "desexualise" rape and I think any attack on another person or their autonomy in any way should be treated very harshly.

No, I don't believe we can de-sexualise the crime of rape and call it grevious bodily harm.

There have been many instances of rape that involved unwanted sexual penetration that resulted in little or no actual injury.

Many of these women/men just froze and lay there in terror. How could this be labeled as grevious bodily harm?
This is most definitely a crime of sexual violation.

I believe that if a woman (or man) is raped, and bashed or hurt physically in any way, then the perpetrator should be charged with BOTH rape and grevious bodily harm.

Well said Suzeonline.

You have addressed my feelings on Examinator's suggestion exactly.

There is a reason rape is a separate crime to others, to eradicate this distinct difference would mean that rapists are not charged as such, therefore, records would be distorted with all sexual assualts going under the umbrella of 'grievous bodily harm'.

I am surprised that someone with Examinator's background in counselling would even suggest this as a topic. As someone who has been raped, I find this suggestion to be extremely upsetting. This is my first and final post to this unnecessary topic.