ABSTRACT
A major theme of this chapter is how engrained false beliefs about rape and other forms of sexual assault are in contemporary society are. Part of the problem is the tendency to blame the victim, which is a problem in the prosecution of all crime, but much more so in the case of rape. People want to believe that bad things don’t happen to good people, so if they can blame the victim their belief in a just world is confirmed. And the sexual nature of this crime brings all sorts of emotions into play, so much so that few such crimes are even reported. This chapter looks into legal aspects of handling cases of sexual assault from acquaintance rape on the college campus to stranger rape (now given a boost through the use of DNA rape kits) to mass rape in the U.S. military and in foreign wars. Biological and psychological factors in trauma are addressed as well.
