Two recent articles explore the outcome of a recent case in Oklahoma and call for states to update their laws on sexual assault.
In The New York Times' "Sexual Assault Ruling in Oklahoma Spurs Calls to Change State Laws" and in the article “Dispatches: How Archaic US Laws Punish Rape Victims,” published on the Human Rights Watch website, a recent controversial decision regarding an accuser who had been intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness is examined with a call to reexamine existing sexual assault laws.
Human Rights Watch author, Meghan Rhoad, writes “Instead, outdated provisions that effectively blame – rather than protect – victims remain in place. For example, while marital rape is illegal in all 50 states, in some states it is still subject to different legal standards – such as heightened requirements that the act have been perpetrated with force – that make it difficult to prosecute.
In the wake of significant advances in thinking about sexual violence, the nongovernmental American Law Institute is revising the model penal code on sexual offenses, stating that the existing one, which is over 50 years old, is ‘no longer a reliable guide for legislatures and courts.’ Hopefully, this will push states to modernize their own codes.”
Read the Human Rights Watch article.
Read The New York Times article. (Subscription required)