Rape And Sexual Assault Historical Review Assignment (Essay Sample)

RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT HISTORICAL REVIEW
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Rape and Sexual Assault Historical Review
Indeed it has been a major issue of concern on the determination and realities of rape and sexual assault cases in the early 17th and 18th centuries. Rape and sexual assault on women and slaves was common in those periods with a high number of slaves and women being defiled by men and upper class men on account of societal perceptions and divisions. During such periods some rape and sexual assault cases involving high profiled individuals were reported and convictions started. In the modern French society, rape involving a virgin was punishable by death. Bur convictions and law on rape and sexual assault were based as a crime against a husband or father. Such incidents were implicated on the basis that women are the properties of men, hence a sexual offence against a woman was considered as an offence against husband if the female was a wife and against a father if the offence was against a child. Indeed the perceptions of rape were not such retorted, then men were believed to be sexual aggressive and ambitious, hence, some raped women with the hope of marrying them. Roy Porter (1986) writes that the common question we should ask ourselves is whether rape and sexual coercion cases were ever recorded in history. This intuition is relevant with presumptions that rape and sexual assault are the cultural constructs. Indeed sexual practices and evenly desires are proven cultural constructs which bore responsibility on the precinct of cultural differences and order. For every meaning, rape and sexual practices in the recent past were culminated with little legal coverage and historians have tried to define these practices while pinning out various cases which contended with such actions (Rampone 2011).
This essay will help to develop a discussion on the examination of legal preferences and attitude towards rape in the past, specifically in the metropolitan periods which cover the period as from the 18th century. The essay will provide assessments of the general nature and basis of different rape and sexual coercion prosecutions in the larger Europe and even in the United States of America. Indeed these two notorious criminal cases were seen to be ignored and performing poorly resulting to the definitions of realities behind most notorious rape and sexual assault cases in Europe and North America. In fact all these cases have facing common challenges for lack of evidence and societal ignorance on the importance of the matter. For example in London, England rape and sexual assault cases were infrequently prosecuted due to the lack culture that was built on the definition of women and common perceptions on slave and salve trade. Out of the cases that were presented to the court of Kings Bench, only one percent of the cases reached conviction. Hence historians have tried to imprint some of these prosecuted cases and identify the background and interests that were presented in the cases.
One of the most notable rape and sexual assault cases in history which has created rape history is the trial of Artemisia Gentileschi. The case which was narrated by Elizabeth S. Cohen of the York University presides over the social challenges and development that have resulted from such influential cases, as far as rape and sexual assault are concerned. The victim, Artemisia who was a painter was raped by another painter who worked for his father. In the past rape was used as a tool by some men to marry wealth women i.e. in the event that a man rapes a woman then she becomes his. Indeed such actions were experienced in Europe until the 16th century when the crime was not allowed. But rape and sexual assault were exempted from only women of nobility background and wealthy women. Hence, the Artemisia was the same with the rapist intending to marry her upon raping her but it never happened.
One year after she was raped, Artemisia’s father initiated a conviction of the painter Agostino Tassi. Elizabeth says that since the rape historians and biographers of Artemisia have never looked past the rape antagonizing her sexual life. The challenge presented here is that, Artemisia after that incident was seen just as a sexual creature hence the society could not look past that and her expensive art of painting and the judicial documents continue to tarnish her sexuality. The evidence that trial had, it was presented lacked sufficient credibility and interpretations then were deviant of women sexual plight. The Artemisia case was so imminent that the case took even up to 7 months. The case involved Tassi taking advantage of Artemisia with the promise of marriage. But later after her father realized that, he took action condemning Tassi of conspiring to deflower his daughter. The case was resolved later with Tassi escaping punishment and Artemisia marrying a different person. Therefore factually the court never took interest on the basis of Artemisia’s case considering her as a person who incredibly accepted the conditions of the sexual encounter with the belief that Tassi will marry her. The trial papers that are available now take blemish on Artemisia considering her impure by selling her virginity for a marriage goal and her conduct to later dignify the act by taking Tassi to court, (Cohen, pg. 56).
The case led Elizabeth to conclude that sexuality was based on three carnal sources upon the case. The first source is the record of the rape trial. Indeed the available court materials shade Artemisia as of tarnished character and image. Hence, the court gave a disappointing result on the wake of such a big crime of rape. Leading to clarify and identify that the culture in the 18th century provided women has the property of men. The second source was the tradition of writing about Artemisia. Artemisia later became one of the most celebrated painters at that period and as a result her father and she were chosen to paint for the King of England in Greenwich. But writers have portrayed her as a victim and mastermind of sexual crime. But it will be seen that in the late 17th century her popularity rose with the dedication of articles about her in Europe which glorified her work (Cohen pg. 47).
The third source is her painting. In the late 17th century another painter Giovanni had an admiration of Artemisia that his wife was so jealousy. The facts about Artemisia’s paints which orchestrated the depth of desire and sexual impasse have created a number of criticism and praise to the legendary female artist. She presented her work in a desirable and sexual manner that also has tainted her name and praised it. Her later work was portraying how the society sees women; as sex properties. Indeed the case has given much insight on how the 17th century society viewed sex, rape and sexual assault. The sources to the case were found in the existing journals and minutes of the presiding judges of the case. Other information was picked from various biographies of her father and her. The case has also been told and retold in the ancient early 18th century and even today.
Another historian Edelstein has given an account of rape and malicious prosecution in the Eighteenth century in England and other parts of Europe. He gave the basic analogies which impacted various malicious prosecutions of rape cases to be sex, class and culture. The culture which existed in the earl 18th was based on sexual and class differences with men and the rich being above others. Hence, prosecutions occasionally were done according to such kind of bidding.
Edelstein (1998) in his book describes the activities and culture that existed in the 19th century especially considering evidence that might have been presented to prove any kind of rape and sexual assault. First the 19th century culture was purely discriminative on the terms of wealth, sex and power. Hence, cases that involved a wealth and respected men defiling a poor and weak people were easily thrown out of court and never reached prosecution. Poor employees who were raped could not reach the prosecution of their defilers if they acted alone. If there could be prosecution the individual could be able to seek a powerful or wealth person, maybe an employer or a relative who could be able to stand for her and voice the crime for conviction. But most of the time such kind of relationships never existed easily and a private arrangement could be made if the case became so dangerous whereby the molested would be compensated or threatened would not pursue further the case. There cases that still are listed up to know which never found answers or evidence of the crime due to the class and sex of the person who was molested (Wiener 2006).
Evidence from lowly and poor people was seen not credible to be presented in front of a magistrate. There was a case of a person of “high respect” who defiled the daughter of his landlord and he was acquitted of the charges because the daughter had “questionable character” and was of low respect. James Miller was a person who came from a family of “high respect” from Ireland, hence his Lawyer on the trial indicated that his client had more than 20 witnesses of respectable character to testify and that the accuser had “a most abandoned character and she has intercourse with other individuals who also may be of wanting character”. The case was dismissed by magistrates when the Lawyer also indicated that Miller had evidence that even the house was “ill frame”. Indeed the evidence and witnessing of a person of low class and of questionable ...