Comparison and Contrast of Definitions of Rape in Common Law and Modern Law - Research Paper Example

Many states have different variations of the definition of rape which fits their Modern Statutory Law. The most general definition of the rape is as follows: any unlawful sexual penetration, which is also called a sexual assault. For instance, in California, rape is defined as “an act of sexual intercourse . accomplished against persons will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another” (qt. in Lyon, 2004, p. 277).

Introduction of the Model Penal Code in the Modern Law, as the result of general feminist movement in the 1970s, brought some changes to the definition of the rape, hence gave additional grounds for charges against the criminals. The two major reforms were: “(1) the partial abolition of the marital rape exemption; and (2) the increased emphasis on the nonconsent of the victim, rather than the use of force by the attacker, in defining rape” (Lyon, 2004, p. 278). The reforms brought both positive and negative attitudes of the public.

The reform concerning marital rape was criticized for ambiguity and for victimization of men (Kilpatrick, 2000).Each of these reforms was meant to add something new to or change the definition of the rape in order to take into account all the circumstances of this type of criminal actions. However, there always has been some kind of confrontation in the lawmaking system. Only in recent years some amendments, for instance, the inclusion of the marital rape into the general definition of rape, brought improvements to the modern law, which “explicitly prohibits forced, nonconsensual intercourse at any time during the sexual act, rather than just at penetration” (Lyon 285).