Geder Inequality in Victorian Period - Book Report/Review Example

This is prevailed in Victoria period (1850-1900) and the practice that was common in that period had a profound effect in the trail system and that implication continued to result changes in modern time also. 3. If a woman was a complaint and he was going to prove the incidence of rape it was very difficult for herself due to social and legal impact. An example is given here in the article here "if the defense raises any circumstantial element likely to cast doubt on the complainant's credibility, she must demonstrate that her moral character and conduct are beyond reproach, directing emphasis away from the conduct of the defendant." 4. The language in the court used for the trial was also some how restricted in the court.

Victorian period had its influences on the behaviour of the female complaint. It is stated that in the article "Given the language employed in rape trials, there is still a need to examine women's experiences from the perspective of victim hood in ways that reflect back on the development of modern societal and legal attitudes towards women and sexual violence." 5. 5. These usefully present not only an impression of the operation of certain underlying social codes and norms, but also of the insidious nature of many rape myths, demonstrating how they might have become embedded in the trial process.6. In Victorian period the role of male was even easier than the role of female in the trial room.

In the words of Stevenson "the sexual victimization of women in the court room tends to be seen from a male perspective rather than from women's point of view.7. Another fault that influenced the role of women was the law of such kind of offences. The laws regarding rape was in vary favour of the role of the male. The incident of rape was not very much clearly described in the statutory law. The article describes "the historical absence of a statutory definition of rape left the door wide open for pernicious judicial intervention and manipulation of the common law, effectively silencing women's voices even more than in the legislative arena."8. However, feminist historians point to significant historical continuities in women's experience.

Roy Porter has acknowledged that "rape looms small in social histories and in histories of crime and sex written by men," justifying this by claiming that "it is a subject fiendishly difficult to research and interpret."9. It was not until after the notorious case of D.P.P v. Morgan in 1976 that there was any legislative attempt to define the constituent elements of rape, some 120 years later.9 In the meantime, the common law not only allowed the phenomenon of marital rape immunity to endure,10 but approved the requirement that rape could only be committed against the will of the victim, necessitating practical proof of the infliction, or threat, of real physical violence and a correspondingly high level of physical resistance.10. For the consequences of Victorian period lacking there was several attempts to reform the laws regarding rape.

The example in terms of consent, shows that "the legislation upheld and enshrined the [Victorian] belief in female passivity" (1981,