What should the penalty for rape be?

i think it should depend on context - severity of crime should change the length of term. i don't think rape itself should be punished by the death penalty.

I find it amusing that 'rape' wasn't one of the options. You know, let the punishment fit the crime, eye for an eye, etc.

Probation with constant video surveillance, a decapacitating collar, and the requirement that they spend an hour every day writing a journal on the topic or researching it, which would be accessible for psychological evaluation. Some people require more time or a new opportunity to develop ethics.

Ah, Hammurabi amongst us.

I chose "mental help" I'm not a great believer in the prison system. I might feel differently if it happened to me, but I don't think so.

Other -- I don't really know, but I'm mostly sure that putting the rapist in prison will give them a taste of what it means to be raped. Not that I approve of the "an eye for an eye" philosophy or of violence in prisons, but it happens. I don't believe in any form of castration, given that I don't believe rape is about sex -- it's about power.

Sentenced to be raped to death by Big Bubba.

or melancholy fairy folk.

It's difficult to mandate one sentence for rape. The punishment should depend on the individual case.

What ever the victim of the rapist wants it to be.

Melancholy fairy folk are hard to find, but you'll find Big...wait...nevermind. >

Good, see you in a few

Rape.

I think life in prison is appropriate. They love rapists in prison.

10 years in jail for each rape

Try to view it from the eyes of a victim. If you got raped what would you want to happen to the rapist.

I think judges should be given much more latitude in sentencing.

Would anybody consider a girl forcing a guy to have sex with her rape. Lets say the girl had a gun pointed at your face and said she would kill you unless you got it up.

I noticed a few of you said life in prison. What If he was sentenced to solitary confidment? How would you feel about that?

Wicked_D...
1) Yeah, that's rape I think, although depending on the guy it would be likely that it either wouldn't work (if he couldn't get it up) or it wouldn't be minded (in which case it might not be rape, I'm not sure). If he managed to get it up and do the deed against his will, then I think that's rape. The poor guy would probably be laughed out of the courtroom unfortunately.

2) I'd rather see him in the general population where he's more likely to get a taste of his own medicine.

I don't know.

The punishment for rape in Hammurabi's laws is actually death, but the whole scenario is completely different. Basically, only betrothed or married women in the ancient Near East could be "raped," according to the laws we have at least. It was all about violating another man's property; if she was an unbetrothed/unmarried virgin, then the "rapist" had to pay the father the bride-price. In the Code of Hammurabi, a man who rapes a betrothed virgin is put to death (she now "belongs" to someone besides her father; she's been paid for already). It doesn't actually cover any other cases where force is used (or where a woman uses force), although it does cover various instances of adultery and incest, with punishments such as fines, drowning, burning or other unspecified methods of death. No rape-for-a-rape though; and no castration.

I think the victim should choose the sentence.

they should be put in prison...tied to a barrel bum up... and everyone who wishes to should be able to use them for sexual gratification for 5 hours daily.

Yeah, I guess if two wrongs won't make a right, then maybe seven or eight or nine or ten...will. >

En: death isn't wrong?

I think that for a lot of crimes mental help is the answer. I don't really believe in criminals per se. But failing that I guess I'm thinking 10-20. Under no circumstances should the victim ever be allowed to decide the punishment of any criminal. That effectively removes the justice system from the process of justice and leads to reprisals and vendetta. Very bad idea.

I say they should have 10-20 years and should be chemically casterated. Of course that's only in the more extreme cases.

jaff: I wasn't advocating death; I was just informing everyone what Hammurabi's Code says, since it got brought up earlier. I am against the death penalty, for any crime, the two-wrongs argument being but one reason why.
And I agree with joachim--the victims should not be allowed to decide the punishment.

I don't think that the victim should select the punishment, but I do think that the victim should be protected much more. There is a huge tendency in american society to blame the victim, and for the courts to make the victim prove that s/he didn't ask for it. I think that the stigma should be squashed, and then it should be treated somewhat more harshly than other physical attack style crimes.

For anyone that isn't sure what to do to someone that would perpetuate this type of crime, try this: Get a large pillow and a couple of HEAVY mattresses. Lay down and tie the pillow over your mouth, eyes and nose. Then have the mattresses laid down on top of you, in a sound and air proof vault, lay there for about 10 hours with a clock ticking so you can hear every second go by. After you do this, try to explain why you would even want to put yourself in a situation like this, to make others really understand your actions. If you can do manage that then I think you would know how it feels to be raped. Oh yes, also in the air proof vault, though you will be there for ten hours there will only be enough oxygen to last for 8 hours, so the constant threat of death will be there. Of course if you breathe real soft and are careful you might just make it. I don't know if this helps explain the feeling, but it is the best I can do from my past experience. I wouldn't want some one to be put to death, but I can think of a few things I would like to do and they weren't in the options. Just typing this has put me in a place I don't want to be ever again, I need a breathe of fresh air.

Except for a couple of fool occasions where I've for instance got in the path of runaway car to stop it going over a cliff, A've never been threatened in any way. There was the was the time I was visiting my brother, ex, and kids, and the drunk neighbors had their guns out threatening to shoot at the house if he didn't come out. My bro insisted we all lay low, but I didn't. I said something like "fùck this, this isn't my karma".
Still I can quite imagine the sensation described, except any horror involved, there are days I can't feel fresh showering or anything, though a mountain hike or swim in the ocean would fix that.
Victims certainly can't decide punishments otherwise 9 year olds would be sending fibbers to the gas chamber.
a#1: Sorry. this world should & could be a realm of angels if everyone agreed on such & knew how to do it. As is, we have a battle of milleniums of misinformation having been propogated. My own children are entirely surrounded by this realm of misinformation.
On the lighter side my friends & I used to enjoy hiding each other in the folding sofa bed.

Here in Boulder they were doing these studies on how it is one of the more natural things...rape, like it is something that men are drawn to no matter what. I didn't really do any reading on it, since I am so busy, but I wouldn't doubt it. I mean, in nature sex is just taken from most of the females, it is just nature.
But I am not saying that rape is anything but disgusting, evil, careless, selfish, cold hearted, and should be punished to the highest extent.

mary -- the part I disagree with is that "in nature sex is just taken from most of the females" and, as a matter of fact, lots of different animals (felines and canines, at the very least) routinely kill their offspring when they were raped and refuse to have anything with the maintenance of the newborns when stopped from killing by humans.

pcpr: My neighbors then have then all obviously been raped.
My male sex drive and my female one are quite different beasts. My male drive is a mental & specifically physical thing, my female drive is a more ambient romantic intuitive tactile immersion thing. The M lust is object centered self-gratification, the F drive is self-subject-centered collective expansiveness.
I've had 1 1/2 marriages, two sexual partners; but I haven't mentioned my one time experience years earlier. It was when I was 13, and my cousin was 9, we were consenting, but still. It's been about the heaviest guilt trip of my life. When we were both adults, she told me it was no big thing, forget about it. I think that was a major stepping stone to my becoming a man hater; knowing that a mans sex drive can overrule the wise judgement of ones heart. I didn't get over my low opinion of men till I became a woman, though even then, I still wouldn't want to be one. In a sense, some psychologist could claim I was punishing myself with castration for something bordering on rape.

KR -- you might be right about your neighbors. It's very common among poor people in Brazil, who have no access to/education about birth control, to abuse their unwanted children by {spanking, cutting, burning, killing} them not to mention all the psychological abuse.

I've seen animals like cats and dogs being very choosy about their mates, show restraint and even trying suicide when raped. There's a huge difference between animals who are promiscuous and animals that don't want to have offspring by particular individuals. I've seen male dogs refusing to copulate with random females just because the owners wanted a "good" pedigree and being monogamous with their particular "wife". In that respect, I think that animals frequently behave better than humans, as I already mentioned in the coed room mates survey. (For all of you who don't know me, I don't mean to say that being monogamous is good, just that I've seen animals being monogamous despite our ideas to the contrary. If all of those who know me would indulge me this once, "Some of my best friends are not monogamous...")

I only use my monogamy as a point of reference for those less open minded, I don't particularly believe it's 'the way'. Ducks are monogamous.

I think chemical castration sounds good along with life in prison.

*Death*
I am totally against rape its not even funny how much I am against it

Is chemical castration where they dip it in sulfuric acid until it's gone?

As much as I dislike rape, it's hard for me to consider death an appropriate punishment (now this is of course assuming that we're talking about appropriate punishments rather than effective ones). A person who has been raped can continue to live and can in fact return, eventually and certainly not in all cases, to a happy life. Obviously someone who is dead does not have that option.

A sentence, counselling and some form of appropriate education. For example, some education about what rape does to the life of a victim. In some cases (such as incest or rape by a friend) some involvement of the victim could be appropriate, especially when making decision on the penalty. For example, if pregnancy was a result, and the child was kept the victim may request child support payments. I really don't know if this would ever be desired, but it might be useful.

"Some education about what rape does to the life of a victim"??
Why are you assuming they'll care? Like all rapists are great people who just didn't realize what the effect of their actions would be??

First chemical castration. If there is reincidence, physical.

If male to female rape...remove the penis, If female to male rape sew the vagina closed to only allow alimination of urin

buglar: Obviously you have never looked very closely at a vagina.

I am skeptical that there is such a thing as a female "raping" a male.

I'm sure it has happened. There's a lot more to rape than penetration. It's also about power and controlling someone, and women can do that, too, although I am inclined to think that they do it way less often than men do.

I think it is offensive to call anything a female could do to a male "rape". Maybe in rare cases sexual assualt happens, but not rape.

Anon #4 -- please wake up. As far as I can tell, rape doesn't necessarily involve intercourse. If it did, women raped in prison by their own (female) inmates (broom handles seem to be a common theme) could not prosecute their rapists. Altho the number of female rapists is way smaller than the male rapists, it happens a lot. A large number of child molestation is actually kids being raped by females. Also, the argument that the man got an erection is bogus -- electrical shocks, among other means of torture, provoke erections that last long enough for a female to rape a male. Something to do with the surge of adrenaline induced by fear makes it quite simple for a female to rape a male.

Really? Whenever I've had a surge of adrenaline, my wanker has shrunk so much I've wondered whether I misplaced it. I think your other points are right on, though.

anonymous #2: I made no comment about all rapists being "great people". There are certainly some people who have raped who are not sadistic bastards, and who have learned that rape is something they would never want to put someone through again. This is probably more useful in date rape cases (which we've already discussed elsewhere). And I'm not suggesting it for every rapist.

Completely depends on the circumstances. In any event, no more than a 5 year prison stay. After 5 years, you are no longer punishing the same person who committed the crime.

Women rape men as well as men rapeing women. Men should be castrated in public, women should have something similar

I voted

Physical castration
11-20 years
Mental help

Second offenders...life in prison

Turn about is fair play.

1-10 year sentence and mental help.

Mental help. People who do that type of thing are obviously sick.

I suppose mental help is not enough. Castration would stop them from doing it again and also a 21-30 year sentance should teach them a lesson.

Life in Prison.

The victim should get to decide between life in prison (until they die) or a painless death.

Mandatory sentences are a bad thing. It is much better, once a jury has reached a 'guilty' verdict, to let the judge use his or her judgement for the sentence. However there should be guidelines written down and so I have selected 11-20 years as the range I would suggest as a suitable for the guidelines.

Hang em.

Counseling and jail time depending on how much damage was done. If it was a seven year old who can never have kids now, that's different from a twenty-five year old who can move on with her life.

Penis and scrotum should be ripped off and the bastard should not get any medical help.

Off the top of my head, for a first offense, 15 years in jail with no chance of parole and serious psychological help.

Umm, I'm 26 and I think rape would still be devastating for me. I also haven't had any kids yet, and if it messed up my reproductive ability, I'd be crushed.

Well, that's different yet again. The concept still holds.

die die die

there are two type of rapes, those that are considered illegal with a certain age group where the person agrees to have sex. and those that are violent rape, in both cases the laws and sexual rights should further defines and equall nationally, without all the silly mismatch of state laws, then decide the punishment for the crimes

Maybe the victim should be given power outside of the law to render vengeance.

Cut it off, shove it up the person's *ss, then throw them in prison with a bunch of large, angry men named "bubba" for quite a few years.

I know someone who raped a close friend of mine and I am not going to live happily until I have sorted the bastard out

While my first inkling was the death penalty I choose physical castration, although chemical castration might not be a bad idea either I think they should let the victim perform the procedure followed by pouring a large amount of salt over the wound. That would definately make a potential rapist think twice.

Shot at the wall!!!

A female cannot make a man get an erection.

You just need to meet a more talented female.

Physical castration and a 50 year sentence. Death would be too compassionate.

major foul

Not all cases of rape are the same, the sentence should be different in different cases. But only prison sentences, I don't believe in the death penalty, nor in castration and I certainly don't think the victim should be able to decide.

castration, so he never rapes anyone else. although, rape is a crime of violence, and not just about sex.

It depends.

on what?

It depends of the circumstance of the crime.

An eye for an eye all the way!

Huge fare.

Surveys like this one, in which more than a third of the participants recommend draconian and irreversible physical punishments like castration or death for any crime, let alone a non-fatal one, make me reconsider the value of Survey Central and shake my faith in democracy as a tool for progress. Shame on you! Perhaps you should consider what the penalty should be for wishing horrible pain and death on someone, even a criminal?

I chose mental help and "other"--the length of the jail term should depend on the severity of the rape, whether the victim was a minor, whether the crime was repeated, etc. Innocent victims of rape often get a "life sentence" themselves--they suffer from PTSD (which wrecks their personal relationships, work life, etc.), they find themselves unable to have a healthy love/sex life, they live in fear--either because of psychological fall-out from the rape or because they are young and live with their rapist, AND they suffer stigma in a society that frequently blames a woman for her rape. Maybe the shame of a conviction and the fear/danger of living in prison gives the rapist some small taste of the pain that they have inflicted on their victim but punishing the criminal will not give the victim back what s/he lost. Maybe counseling will help the rapist to develop some measure of humanity/compassion for others or at least make the rapist less of a threat after release from prison.

I'd argue that democracy is not at all a tool for progress. Democracy is a tool for allowing a group of people to make a single decision. This single decision reduces diversity and so impedes progress but sometimes, rarely, it's necessary to have one and only one decision.

The rapist is likely a mentally disturbed person who may have once been abused themselves. I don't think a prison sentence will help rehabilitate them. I believe a psychiatric hospital geared toward protecting the society and the criminal from his/her own behavior is more reasonable. In society we often lash out at the criminal (this is understandable), but it would be better to realize that people are not just born deviant there are experiences in life that have provoked these mental problems. If anything prison will make this person more deviant and violent. It is highly unlikely that the other options (except prison sentences) on the list would be supported by the government and these options seem overly cruel and ignorant.

On one hand, I can say that bad needs replaced with good, and that's not going to happen in a prison except for a rare few who find direct spiritual salvation.
On the other, I've seen those whom I counsel time and time again about things they could do to turn to bring joy into their household of misery, but they never learn, and I'm finding that they relish misery and it's propogation. It's starting to change my ideas on what works. Karma alone is not working, because some can't see it, and others still don't care.

A wild night with Roseanne, no blindfold.

Death would be too kind.

Depends if the female was lying or not!

I like that "Let the victim decide". That would be very interesting to see what they came up with.

After heated discussion, my college class voted 2-to-1 in favor of complete physical castration for rape; stalking, and other male crimes against women. Let's take it to a state-by-state vote!

I think the majority of rape and stalking is motivated by a lack of understanding about the nature of society, communication, other psyches, and opportunity. This can be improved by increasing inclusion and understanding. If biological sexual attraction itself was the source of the problem then all people should have their sexual organs removed. Although it can, generally disclusion does not inspire loving respect.

There are many things that people should just not do, and sexual assault or rape is one of them. It does much more than physical damage to a person. Anybody who does this deserves to get there ass severely beaten. If I ever were to confront a person that did this I would go ape crap and tear this fudgeer a new one. There are some things that people just don't do, there is no excuse and no punishment severe enough.

Wow, this old thing's still active!

An eye for an eye...I hear tell of a guy in prison named Bruno who eats viagra like candy.

Ya know, I have a friend whose initials would match your "handle".
D**? Tudo bem?