ABSTRACT

The subject of rape has provided the raw material for propaganda, jokes and pornography. It has been used as an ideological weapon in times of war, to inject an element of humour into otherwise dull lectures on law and criminology, has fed the erotic fantasies of men and inspired fear in women. A framework for analysis of rape in terms of conventional sexual behaviour is provided by Gagnon and Simon's work on sexual scripts. Sexual scripts do not exist in a vacuum, but are bound up with cultural notions of femininity and masculinity. Rape frequently involves many forms of humiliation apart from the straightforward sexual act. Rape is more than an attack on a specific victim. The sexual divisions of our society create a situation where rape is a constant threat to all women. Rape is not always a spontaneous act: there is evidence to suggest that it is often planned.