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Law and Society

2003

Women

Katharine K. Baker

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Asking What Before We Ask Why: Taxonomy, Etiology And Rape, Katharine K. Baker Jan 2003

Asking What Before We Ask Why: Taxonomy, Etiology And Rape, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

This article presents a spectrum of sexual coersion. By looking at the social meaning of the different acts of coercion along the spectrum, the author suggests that most acts of sexual coercion can be classified as either rape (a sexual act with intent to do harm to the victim) or sex (a sexual act engaged in without any intent to harm the victim). Ironically, though, the author suggests that the most and least egregious acts of sexual aggression, that is, the acts we most readily identify as rape and the acts we are most reluctant to label rape are the …