Discussion assignment:

Original discussion response must be 250 words free of grammatical errors and a comment to a classmate’s discussion post with 50 words the class mate post is below:

Should different types of rape receive different legal sanctions? For example, should someone who rapes a stranger be punished more severely than someone who is convicted of marital rape or date rape? If your answer is yes, do you also think that someone who kills a stranger should be more severely punished than someone who kills their spouse or partner?

Remember: Your posts must be 250 words of substantial content and your response to a classmate must be at least 50 words of substantial content as well.

Classmate Jennifer Gates discussion response:

Jennifer Gates

No, I do not believe that different types of rape should receive different legal sanctions. Rape is a heinous crime and if we start to pick and choose which type of rape is least and most serious, it may 1) cause victims to not report because they think that what happened to them wasn’t serious enough, and 2) cause criminals to commit the “least serious” rape because, if they get caught, the time served won’t be as great. Date rape, marital rape, stranger rape, etc. are all rape. There is no justification for any type of rape, and therefore, perpetrators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Giving more severe punishments to rapists who victimize strangers would only do one thing: empower the rapists who victimize their spouses. If abusive spouses knew that they could rape their partners over and over and receive little to no punishment (or that it would be viewed as less of a crime), they likely wouldn’t even think twice. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has come a long way over the years, and a large part of the work that has been done, surrounds the issue of consent. Consent is needed in all situations, no matter what. For example, just because a woman is married to a man (or vice versa) does not mean he/she can have her/him any time he/she wants without her/his consent. The issue of spousal rape has been a longstanding controversy, but if an individual does not provide consent, it’s rape. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. All rape victims deserve to have their voices heard and all rapes are serious crimes. There really is no other way to put it.

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