Discussion: Should Rape be a Capital Crime?

[IdaBriggs]

60. MORE: Should a victim kill a rapist during an attack? Or immediately thereafter?

An example of the challenges presented in this attitude involve Rape in the Military.

The female victims are armed, trained to kill, frequently know their attackers - and yet the rapists are still alive/walking/not in prison.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/us/politics/joint-chiefs-testimony-on-sexual-assault-dismays-senators.html

(snip)

The hearing followed several weeks of reports of sexual assault in the armed forces and a Pentagon survey that estimated that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, who on Tuesday called sexual assault in the military “beyond the pale,” said the Senate would move to address the problem in the coming defense bill. “Something has to be done about it,” he said.

(snip)

Ms. Gillibrand also chided the leaders for sometimes understating the gravity of some of the crimes before them, noting that one commander had told a victim that he believed her assailant had not “acted like a gentleman” but had not committed a crime. “Not every commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape,” Ms. Gillibrand said.

Several advocates for victims of sexual assault also testified, in some cases offering chilling testimony about women and men who had been sexually abused and then lost their careers by seeking justice. “The military does not create rapists,” said Anu Bhagwati, who served as a Marine captain and is executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. But, she said, it does “condone sexual violence.”