[Battalion]

After a discussion I had with some freinds a while back, I've decided to ask you lot for your views on this delicate subject.

Before I go one step further, I'd like to clarify my views on rapists of any kind. They are the lowest of the low, and the moment you remove another person's human rights, you remove you own rights to treated like a human.

The point we were debating is this:

I was speculating that the predatory rapist, ie. the guy who goes out at night with a knife up his sleeve and hides in the bushes for some unsuspecting victim, is a far worse offender, than the guy who is laying in bed with a woman and doesn't take no for an answer.

That's not to say that the husband who rapes his wife is any less an offender, or the man who thought he was in with the girl he just met is any less a rapist, but the cold blooded calculations of the predatory rapist seem to outweigh the sexualy charged actions of the other.

My freinds pointed out to me that those poor women who are raped by their 'loved ones' feel such a greater betrayal because of who it was that raped them, and as such the event is all the more terrible for those victims. But I believe that those grabbed from the street suffered a greater, more terrifying crime.

Any victim of rape has suffered, of course. I would simply suggest that the sheer horror of becoming a victim to a preditory rapist would be that much worse.

Any views on this?

[Gem Windcaster]

My first thought on reading your post was that it's not right to compare the crimes - or try to. Every act of extreme violence should be regarded as a single event, since it effects single individuals. But I think you agree with that, so lets move on.

I honestly don't understand what you think would be different in the two cases you presented - knowing the offender or not. All rapes are predatory. Period. It is part of the very concept. I don't imagine the pain being any less, or the horror of it would be less just because you know the offender? Rapes are in the least as much an act of violence as beating someone up or shooting them - but with the extra psychological trauma that comes with it. It comes down to levels in your discussion - but the problem is that all rapes have the same level of psychological and physical trauma, and on such a high level - we're talking the same amount of trauma as the worst torture scene you can imagine (electrocution included) - that in the end the rather small question of who did it becomes ludicrous in a sense.

As for the rest, it all depends on the actual case, the individuals involved, and the aftermath. Only the victim herself can be the judge of what has happened to her, comparison or not.

I don't have any personal experience, but I do know enough to not want my worst enemy to have to go through it. I give you props for daring discussing the subject though.

[Dolorous Menhir]

Mods, shut this thread down please.

[amphibian]

Gem Windcaster;369153 said:

My first thought on reading your post was that it's not right to compare the crimes - or try to. [...] I honestly don't understand what you think would be different in the two cases you presented - knowing the offender or not. All rapes are predatory. Period. It is part of the very concept. I don't imagine the pain being any less, or the horror of it would be less just because you know the offender?

Actually, I'd be more screwed up if it was someone I knew. To me, that would be a more complex emotional and mental process to sort through than what would essentially be a random act of violence. But that's me. People react differently to different things and I, like Gem, can't really consider one worse than the other in an abstract sense.

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Every act of extreme violence should be regarded as a single event, since it effects single individuals. But I think you agree with that, so lets move on.

That event can be and often is like other events that have happened before. Are you saying that the effects of rape limited to individuals?

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Rapes are in the least as much an act of violence as beating someone up or shooting them - but with the extra psychological trauma that comes with it. It comes down to levels in your discussion - but the problem is that all rapes have the same level of psychological and physical trauma, and on such a high level - we're talking the same amount of trauma as the worst torture scene you can imagine (electrocution included) - that in the end the rather small question of who did it becomes ludicrous in a sense.

I don't even want to touch your probably sketchy assignation of trauma levels to homicide, assault and sexual assault, but I will say this: "Who did it" seems like a very important fact to know.

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As for the rest, it all depends on the actual case, the individuals involved, and the aftermath. Only the victim herself can be the judge of what has happened to her, comparison or not.

I disagree with you. I would be comfortable with a judgment delivered by other people that have been shown the facts, observed the people involved, and informed of the (real) statistics and impact of sexual assault by professionals ie. a trial.

I would say that unless the victim gets repeatedly assaulted in all kinds of situations over time and develops some kind of rubric for comparison, he or she is going to consider either situation given in the original post extremely awful (Gods, that's a depressing situation to contemplate). I think that it would take a long time of dealing with the physical, emotional and social fallout, both alone and with others, before a real judgment could be delivered by the victim. The trial would probably be over and done with before that happened.

In a trial, I would speculate that the bushes rapist would be sentenced to a lot more years in jail. However, I think that either situation is similarly awful and really there's not much of a debate to be had here.

[wolf_2099]

Seriosuly, shut this thread down, this is going to go no where good.

You're seriosuly fucking arguing who's the less evil rapist? That's fucking sick.

[relentless]

My rape can beat up your rape!

... yeah, yeah... but come on. You were asking for it.





Wait, is this a serious question? You really had a discussion with your friends about which type of rape is worse? Don't see how you could generalize on that one, and I don't quite see the point of doing it, either.

[Morgoth]

I generally don't like closing threads down before they turn nasty, but this is taking it a bit too far. I'm sure some might find this an interesting topic, but then I'd prefer if it was discussed through private channels