And its very fruitful to enshrine consent in law.
And consent wasn't included in the previous definition of rape in Polish law, which is... messed up. So, when I think about it now I have to go back on my statement here that I made in another thread:
the problem wasn't the law
Actually - it was.
After all - this is what rape boils down to - lack of consent. So that should be included in the definition in the first place and not last.
I've just realised that based on the previous definition of rape you would be allowed to rape an unconscious person or someone who is too drunk to resist o_O Because an unconscious or a completely wasted person can't fight back/resist, so the rapist wouldn't have to:
1. Use violance.
2. Use unlawful threats.
3. Use deception.
So, based on the previous definition - if you rape an unconscious or a completely drunk person and you didn't make this person unconscious or drunk yourself by the use of deception then... it's not rape o_O
So, yeah, that definition definitely wasn't complete, to put it mildly.
So now you will tell me : "What does it matter? Every moron knows what rape is!"
Do they though? Clearly not - there are morons who don't know and some of those morons are Polish judges. And Polish judges are not unique in this.
This discussion reminded me of the pretty famous case in the US when a successful student of some prestigious university raped an unconscious girl at a parking lot and was caught during the act by passers-by. He got only 6 months in prison.
So why am I writing about this and why the change in the definition of rape was important and needed? Here is why:
washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/11/a-huge-myth-about-rape-on-college-campuses-gets-to-the-heart-of-the-problem/
"Oklahoma State University professor John Foubert, who designed his school's rape prevention program, asked a group of first-year fraternity brothers in a 2007 study
whether they'd ever raped someone. They all said no. Foubert changed the phrasing, however, and
10 percent of first-year brothers reported they'd penetrated a woman against her permission.
"They don't see this behavior as rape, perhaps as a way to protect themselves, to not be responsible for their behavior if that happens," Foubert said. "It's not just college students. You hear these beliefs in broader society.""