Rape is assault, not sexuality

Washinton Post story on rape
Cleveland Rape case
East Coast rapist

What do all these stories have in common? Besides being disturbing to read, they all classify rape as a sexual act. Why is this an issue? I think that when we label an assault as "sexual", we change how we consider it and prosecute it. The real problem is that rape is not about fulfilling a healthy sexual need. It is not about desire, lust, or love. It is about power, humiliation, and sadism.

Consider this: If I accused a man of poking my eye out with a knife, and there was medical evidence to back this accusation up, would anyone say I wanted that to happen? Would anyone ask what I was wearing? But if the same man poked my vagina with a knife, my clothes would suddenly have relevance. If the tool was a penis, my intentions and desires would suddenly have relevance.

Rape is assault with a sexual organ. The term "sexual assault" is, in fact, accurate. But I think it does damage our ability to understand the full impact of the crime. And I think it adds an element of sexism to the discussion. Consider priests who sexually assault altar boys. Does anyone say "Well, that boy looked like he was 18 at the time." I don't think so. But if the priest assaulted a middle school girl who had finished puberty, then that's exactly what would be said by someone. Just read the articles about the Cleveland gang rape of an 11 year old, who by all reports, "looked" older than 11.

Mixing up sexuality with rape, sodomy, forced fellatio, and other acts of abuse bring sexism and victim blaming to the table. What's the answer? I'm not sure. Let me know your thoughts!