Actual rape (which has to be kept apart from a kind of fantasy about rape) is certainly not an act of love or affection but one of violence.

There are many kinds of rape described popularly – date rape, spouse rape, prostitute rape (a term sometimes used by police about prostitutes who report being raped because they didn’t get paid).

Legally, rape comes in a variety of kinds designated by the degree (1st, 2nd, 3rd degree) which are DC and B class felonies). The distinctions are largely about age, mental state or condition. Despite Rhodes Scholar lawyer Bill Clinton’s question “what is sex?” and “What is “is”?” all the definitions legally are spelled out in criminal law. In NY section 130 in the penal code.

Deadly physical force can be used against people committing or attempting to escape from forcible rape (among other things). This varies from state to state and time to time.

A private person acting on his or her own account may use physical force, other than deadly physical force when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such is necessary to effect an arrest or to prevent the escape from custody whom he or she reasonably believes to have committed such offense and who in fact has committed such a offense; and may use DEADLY PHYSICAL FORCE for such purpose when he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to:

(NYS Penal Code Section 35.30 - pp 14-15)

It is only comparatively recently that males were defined as potential victims of rape, although this has been the subject of a number of films such as Deliverance, Fortune in Men’s Eyes and The Rape of Richard Beck to name a few.

The topic of rape has been discussed as both an act of violence and a sex act. The two are not mutually exclusive. If rape is simply an act of violence then it would in a sense be no worse than any other assault, but its sexual nature alters it dramatically.

Another aspect of rape which has been hotly debated is the question of the role of the victim in the act. Some people have argued that the victim in some way, in some instances instigates the event or even knowingly sets up a situation in which a sex act takes place which is later held to be rape. This argument has been made in cases with Mike Tyson and the case of the team that was tried for rape which turned out to be a hoax. The Tawana Brawley case also sparked a controversy about the situation.

Since rape is a criminal act, there is likely to be trial involving the act. Although the trial in Anatomy of a Murder is not a rape trial, rape figures prominently in it. Two major problems have been raised in the discussion of rape that are relevant here: