Rape The Rapist Legally--in Court

A victim of rape does not have to turn to the sometimes suspicious, uncaring, and ineffective police and prosecutors to get legal redress from the rapist. Instead, a victim can personally sue a rapist for damages for assault and battery.

Rape is so serious that normally we think only of criminal prosecution. But the characteristics of the "criminal justice" system lead automatically to almost no convictions for rape even if the assailant has been caught.

To convict a person of rape, it must be shown that there was a sexual assault involving intercourse, that it was forcible, and that it was against the will of the victim. Each of these points must be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" - that is, to a moral certainty. And, when you consider that a defense lawyer will always cast doubt on the credibility of the victim by trying to show that she is "promiscuous" or "really asked for it," it's no wonder that there aren't very many convictions. When you add to this the fact that police and prosecutors don't consider rape offenses as their highest priority, attempting to criminally prosecute a rapist is a lost cause.

But there is a simpler way to gain redress based on the fact that nearly every crime includes within it an act upon which the victim can sue civilly. For example, you can sue a robber for restitution of the money which was taken. And you can sue a rapist for assault and battery.

The value of this method is threefold: First, to win an assault and battery case you have to prove much less than to convict for rape. It only has to be shown that the victim was touched without her consent. Nothing about intercourse or force needs to be shown. And proof does not have to be beyond a reasonable doubt: you only have to have more evidence in the victim's favor than in the attacker's. 

Second, the victim wins money which goes into her own pocket, and the sky is the limit. Of course, no amount of money will really compensate for the physical and emotional harm done, but the standard for awards is so broad that for a rape involving provable emotional damage an award in six figures is very possible - especially from a sympathetic Ann Arbor jury. And once you get a judgment, it's good for twenty years. So even if the rapist happens to be penniless at the time, you can keep track of him and attach his wages or car or anything else of value. Sooner or later almost everyone gets some money or property.

Third, in a civil suit, you (or your lawyer) run your own case. You don't have to depend at all on the police once they have identified the attacker. This means that the normal impulse of prosecutors to dismiss cases which they don't care too much about doesn't affect a civil suit. Even if the criminal prosecution is dropped the civil suit continues, although both can proceed together.

The procedure for suing someone is absurdly simple, although a lawyer is very helpful. You simply file a complaint against the person ( you do have to know his name and address), it is served on him, and in a few months, the case will go to trial. The victim tells her story, the accused attacker tells his, any other witnesses tell theirs, and it's up to the judge or jury to decide who is telling the truth. If the victim is believed, she wins, and the case is over. Since all assault and battery involves is unlawful touching without consent, there aren't any legal issues to snarl up the proceedings.

There will, unfortunately, be a problem in getting most lawyers to take this kind of case. Suing rapists is not very common as yet. However, most women's groups will know of sympathetic lawyers who will be glad to help.

A civil suit also eliminates the possibility of sending someone to places like Jackson or Marquette prisons, where they would have to endure the inhuman conditions of those institutions. But the civil suit does serve the same purpose as a criminal prosecution in that the attacker is exposed to the community and is penalized for his actions.

Of course, none of this eliminates the basic problem of sexism in this society, and until sexism is dealt with, there will be rapes and stopgap solutions only.