Rape by deception
Rape by deception is a crime in which the perpetrator gains the victim's sexual consent and compliance through deception. The crime—known in Tennessee and California as rape by fraud[1]—is only recognised in some jurisdictions.
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[edit] Notable cases
[edit] United States
In 2008, it was reported that a Massachusetts woman unknowingly had sex with her boyfriend's brother in the dark basement that she was sleeping in. He was ultimately acquitted, because Massachusetts law then required that rape to include the use of force.[1][2]
[edit] Israel
In 2010, a conviction of rape by deception drew international attention when it was first reported that a man deceived a woman into consensual sex within ten minutes of their first meeting by lying by omission about being Jewish and unmarried. This case was a plea bargain in which the records were sealed by the judge to protect the identity of the victim and avoid the cross-examination of her. The sex was consensual according to one of the judges.[3][4]
Sabbar Kashur, a Palestinian Muslim, accepted a plea bargain and an 18-month sentence on the reduced charge of rape by deception in 2010 after a period of incarceration and house arrest. After Israel was widely condemned in the international press,[5] due to perceived anti-Arab racism in the conviction, the judge unsealed the records to show that this had in fact been a plea bargain, in a case in which Kashur was originally charged with violent rape of a Jewish woman allegedly left bruised in an apartment building stairway.[4] The court sent the victim to a mental hospital for treatment and convicted Kashur on the lesser charge.[3] Prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain in order to spare the woman a long cross-examination that might undermine her evidence.[4] The conviction is currently under appeal.
[edit] Traditional Samoa
In her book Coming of Age in Samoa, Margaret Mead describes "rape by stealth", where a man comes to a woman in the dark, expecting that she will think he is someone else.
[edit] Abrahamic religions
The Book of Genesis includes two accounts of sex while the man is deceived about the woman's identity.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Rape 'by Deception' May Become A Crime In Massachusetts". CBS News. 2008-02-29. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/29/politics/uwire/main3894875.shtml. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ If Your Neighbor Poses as Your Husband, Is it Rape?
- ^ a b "Arab rape-by-deception charge 'was result of plea bargain'" Rachel Shabi, September 8, 2010, The Guardian.
- ^ a b c "Unravelling the Israeli Arab 'rape by deception' case" Dina Newman, September 17, 2010, BBC.
- ^ Arab guilty of rape after consensual sex with Jew July 21, 2010, The Guardian.
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