ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a constructionist look at the legal regulations and discourses, especially in the official documents about sexual crimes. It analyzes the construction of sexuality in the historical development of Finnish sex crime law. The chapter argues that issues, such as consent, the protection of minors and others in a vulnerable position, prostitution and sexual harassment, can be better dealt with when the emphasis in the discussion is shifted from autonomous subjects to relations. The regulation of sexuality during the Middle Ages and in early modernity was connected with the arrangements of economic relations among families. In rape, the sexual self-determination of the victim is basically denied by the use of force. The denial of self-determination is reflected in the construction of the elements of rape. The provisions aimed at protecting persons who are in dependent or vulnerable positions or in need of special protection are similarly problematic from the perspective of sexual self-determination.
