被禁止的性行為與性暴力

性暴力: 強姦

在過去，強姦（rape）常常被非常狹義地定義為“強制發生的性行為”，而“性行為”曾經被定義為陰道的性行為，即性交。其結果是，許多暴力的性舉動並不被認為是強姦，而且也不被作為強姦案起訴，例如與女人和男人的強制手交、口交和肛交都不被認為是強姦。這樣的行為可能會作為性攻擊（sexual assault）而受到懲罰，但是從來不會作為強姦而受到嚴厲的懲罰。此外，在許多刑法條款裏，並沒有法律條款反對丈夫強姦妻子或沒有法律條款反對主顧強姦妓女。

同時，很大程度上由於婦女運動的教育成就，許多立法機構已經改革了各自的法律。它們現在會認可兩個事實：

人們現在完全明白，女人和男人都可能是強姦的受害人，而且也明白，強姦一名配偶與強姦其他任何人一樣都是犯罪行為。不過，在我們討論本主題之前，回顧一下強姦的歷史狀況也許是有益的。

Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Sexual Violence: Rape

In the past, rape was often very narrowly defined as “forcible sexual intercourse”, and “intercourse” was defined as vaginal intercourse, i.e. coitus. As a result, many violent sexual acts were not considered rape and were not prosecuted as such, for example the forcible manual, oral and anal intercourse with women and men. Such behavior may have been punished as sexual assault, but never as severely as rape. Moreover, in many criminal codes there was no law against husbands raping their wives or against a customer raping a prostitute.
In the meantime, thanks largely to the educational efforts of the women’s movement, many legislatures have reformed their respective laws. They now recognize two facts:

- rape is not so much a sexual crime as a crime of violence, and
- rape is by no means restricted to a single type of sexual activity.

It is now also well understood that both women and men can be victims, and that raping a spouse or a prostitute is just as criminal as any other rape.
Before discussing the present situation, however, it may be useful to take a brief look back at the history of rape.