Swedish rape legislation from use of force to voluntariness - critical reflections from an everyday life perspective

• In this contribution the authors set the Swedish rape legislation in a his- torical context and discusses the previous and current rape legislation in relation to some of the main arguments from feminist legal scholars and the feminist movement. The authors point out that the new consent-based offence is offering an important shift in which the responsibility of the act is moved from the victim and placed at the offender. Additionally, the new construction of rape sends a clear message that a woman’s body is no longer available until she says ‘no’, but unavailable until she says ‘yes’. Yet, there are some problems that still remain. The authors also scrutinise parts of the preparatory works and show that men’s knowledge and experiences permeate the preparatory work. In this regard it is pointed out that one effect of the male ratio- nale within the legislation is that women as a group, at least not all women, get access to the protection that the new rape legislation is supposed to offer them.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

rape legislation

criminal law

gender equality

everyday life perspective

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)