England: Sex mit betrunkener Frau nicht zwingend Vergewaltigung

Der “Daily Telegraph“ berichtet:

Sir Igor Judge, sitting with Lady Justice Hallett and Mrs Justice Gloster, said sex would amount to rape if the complainant had lost her capacity to choose as a result of drink. "However, where the complainant has voluntarily consumed even substantial quantities of alcohol, but nevertheless remains capable of choosing whether or not to have intercourse, and in drink agrees to do so, this would not be rape," he said.

Das Urteil ist momentan deswegen von besonderem Interesse, weil in Großbritannien ein neues Gesetz, der Sexual Offense Act, in Kraft treten soll. Josie Appleton erklärt in der Londoner “Times“ worum es sich dabei handelt:

In a nutshell, the Act says that the defendant in a rape trial must show that he took reasonable steps to ensure that the woman gave consent. The onus is on him to prove that she agreed to sex.

Josie Appleton findet dieses Gesetz problematisch:

The Sexual Offences Act risks poisoning personal relations, suggesting that partners need protection against each other and that rape is just one end on the spectrum of heterosex. The low view of men is obvious: all men are seen as potential rapists who need to prove their innocence each time they step into the bedroom. But these laws strike no blows for women’s lib either. They treat women as feeble creatures who need to be asked for their consent (as if we are not capable of making our views on the matter quite clear). After a few glasses of wine, we apparently lose all capacity to make choices and need to be tucked up in bed, alone. Behind this are some pretty old-fashioned assumptions, with the State standing in as chaperone to make sure we aren’t getting into anything we can’t handle. How does this fit with today’s liberated young women, who march around city centres matching men for drinks and forthrightness? These sex laws effectively shift the presumption of innocence, placing the burden of proof on the accused, with dangerous implications for legal rights. Rape is a serious crime that carries a deservedly heavy sentence; it is important that it is proven “beyond all reasonable doubt”. (…) Bad behaviour — insensitivity, persuasion or opportunism — becomes defined as criminal. Rape gets mixed up with everyday, messy sex: sex that is regretted, or sex that you didn’t feel like but went along with.

Mit herzlichem Dank an Oliver Marc Hartwich, dessen Blogeintrag mich auf diese Artikel aufmerksam machte.