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Honest Beliefs, Credible Lies, And Culpable Awareness: Rhetoric, Inequality, And Mens Rea In Sexual Assault, Lucinda Vandervort
Honest Beliefs, Credible Lies, And Culpable Awareness: Rhetoric, Inequality, And Mens Rea In Sexual Assault, Lucinda Vandervort
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The exculpatory rhetorical power of the term "honest belief" continues to invite reliance on the bare credibility of belief in consent to determine culpability in sexual assault. In law, however, only a comprehensive analysis of mens rea, including an examination of the material facts and circumstances of which the accused was aware, demonstrates whether a "belief' in consent was or was not reckless or wilfully blind. An accused's "honest belief" routinely begs this question, leading to a truncated analysis of criminal responsibility and error. The problem illustrates how easily old rhetoric perpetuates assumptions that no longer have a place in …
Male Sexual Assault: Issues Of Arousal And Consent, Siegmund Fred Fuchs
Male Sexual Assault: Issues Of Arousal And Consent, Siegmund Fred Fuchs
Cleveland State Law Review
This Note argues that an erection under these circumstances does not indicate consent to engage in sexual activity. Part II of this Note explores the reality of male sexual assault and offers various medical, psychological, sociological, and cultural reasons to explain why a male victim may maintain an erection while being sexually assaulted and/or raped. Part II also explores the complex relationship between physical arousal and sexual desire. Part III provides a legal background to both the law's treatment of male sexual assault generally and in specific instances where the male victim maintained an erection during his assault. This part …