Coerced sex IS rape

[EatsBrainsAndLeaves]

This thread comes out of a discussion I had with a friend who didnt seem to think coerced sex is rape. I think coerced sex clearly is rape. If a man has to persuade, cajole and pester you for sex, you are not consenting. Non consensual sex is rape.

What do others think?

Zippey - to quote from the article you linked:
"Previous research has shown in the week near ovulation women become attracted to sexy, rebellious and handsome men like George Clooney or James Bond."

No, no, no, it really really doesn't. And shame on Christina D for saying such a thing (if she got any say in the press release). Fluctuations in the degree to which women like (or don't like) masculine/risk taking/symmetric/dominant men say nothing about whether at any time women actively prefer that kind of man over all others. It simply shows that aversion may be weaker at some time points.

There's no evidence for you statement at all in attraction research, and believe me, I've spent 17 years reading it!

Sadly, as we know it is hard enough to get convictions on straight forward date rape cases and such, so I would never even consider pursuing criminal action.

Though it is interesting to consider, that given my mental state at the time, possibly, under law I would be considered incapable of giving consent, but how that would run in the real world would be interesting to see.

Cote, can I clarify what you mean when you say "reasons why I consent are irrelevant"? You seem to me to be saying that once consent is given, it's given and it doesn't matter what came before that. So if a woman has a gun to her head and agrees to have sex because of that, she has given her consent and the man can go ahead, and what he does to her will not be rape. Is that what you mean?

Princess - it is a very complicated scenario because there are so many factors involved. If it could be proven that you were not in a fit mental state to consent, it would still be necessary to prove that the man knew that, and had no reasonable belief that you were consenting. Given that it was a BDSM situation that muddies that water further because even if he did, deep down, know you weren't consenting, he could claim that your lack of participation was all part of the role play.

Do you think he knew you weren't happy?

I am one hundred percent sure that he knew I was not happy. But it is such a murky area that really I have chalked it up to experience and if, should I ever hit a manic episode again (unlikely as my health team were fairly certain that it was being on venlafaxine that triggered it, looking at the stats it does this for a quarter of people put on it) I will be heading straight to my pyschs office.

Rape prevention tips for women might be of interest to some readers: yourdaughterswillbenext.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/10-rape-prevention-tips-for-the-modern-day-woman/

AngryJoanna, I hope you realise that wordpress post is totally tounge in cheek. Your post did not make it clear if you did or not.