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In the conclusion, the author reiterates the insidious influence of rape myths within ancient and contemporary culture. These myths only serve to ensure that rape survivors are consistently denied access to a means by which to make their voices heard. Within the text and interpretive traditions of Genesis 34, many of these same myths are given voice, ensuring that, as a literary rape survivor, Dinah too has been and continues to be silenced. Moreover, the failure of biblical interpreters to challenge these harmful misperceptions about sexual violence expressed within the biblical traditions may only serve to validate and perpetuate such misperceptions within the communities in which these texts are subsequently read. The author therefore calls biblical scholars to an increased awareness of their ethical responsibility to lift up their voices in protest against those rape myths which ensure that the voices of rape survivors remain unheard or ignored.

This chapter focuses on the myth of rape victim precipitation, which suggests that rape victims may be to blame for their own rape. After considering the ramifications of this myth for contemporary rape survivors, the author then discusses the interpretive traditions of Genesis 34, which hold Dinah accountable for her rape by virtue of the fact that she was assaulted after she ‘went out’ (Genesis 34.1). A close examination of the Hebrew verb ‘to go out’ suggests however that the myth of victim precipitation is not given voice within the biblical traditions. It is therefore proposed that the narrator of Genesis 34 did not intend the reader to hold Dinah accountable for her violation. Consideration is also given to the contemporary testimonies of rape survivors, and their voices are used to contemplate Dinah's possible response to those interpreters who are intent on blaming her for her assault.

Although knowing other people often seems to offer better exemplars of the complexity of knowing than does knowing medium-sized physical objects, the scope and limits of such knowledge need to be examined. It is unclear how well anyone can imagine/claim to know another person’s experiences, circumstances, situation, feelings; and expressions of empathy are often imperialistic, insensitive, coercive, intrusive. Considering Mark Johnson’s The Moral Imagination, and Marguerite La Caze’s work on the arrogance of the analytic imaginary according to which anyone can, with a little effort, imagine being in someone else’s shoes, this chapter addresses the difficulties of knowing well enough to think responsibly, beyond one’s “own” situation. How might such thinking be possible, and who, specifically, is in a position to claim such knowledge? Issues of vulnerability, both as exposed in the Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1992, and in Susan Brison’s accounts of the aftermath of a brutal rape inform the analysis.

This chapter argues that violence is and has always been a crucial component in the origin and maintenance of oppression. It explores how violence and the threat of violence constrain the actions of groups, harming the victims and benefiting the correlative privileged social groups. It argues that women as a group are oppressed materially through violence, and that there is a credible, psychologically effective threat of greater harm that is transmitted by the obvious material harm that they do suffer.

This chapter addresses the problem of violence toward women and the silencing of women through violence. Through a myth in the Great Blue Tantra (Bṭhannīla Tantra) this chapter examines a metaphorical enactment of violence towards women where the Blue Goddess of Speech is abducted by two demons. In this myth a metaphorical rape occurs where the Goddess of Speech is silenced and metaphorically defiled, registered through her loss of fair white skin. That it is the Goddess of Speech who loses her voice in the face of violence records a psychological acuity on the part of this text's author. This myth narratively makes transparent the links between violence and the loss of speech. How do men and women respond to violence towards women? In this case the myth's calm compassionate response offers a refiguring of the ability and stategies for speech for women as victims of male violence.

This chapter introduces the reader to the subject of rape myths, those stereotyped, false beliefs about sexual violence, which impact upon individual and community responses towards victims of rape. The author outlines some of the more pervasive rape myths that have been prevalent within cultures across time and space, proposing that their origins lie within the androcentric gender expectations and sex role stereotypes that are deeply rooted within the consciousness of many cultures the world over. The chapter also considers the impact of these rape myths on the experiences of rape survivors, noting that they serve to undermine the seriousness of the crime and deny women a voice with which to tell their narrative of suffering. It is recognized that such misperceptions about sexual violence therefore demand to be challenged, in order that victims of sexual violence are enabled to break their silence and speak out against their violation.

This chapter examines the cultural myth that rape victims are ‘damaged’ or ‘defiled’ by their assault. The author suggests that the origin of this myth lies in age‐old ideologies that regard women as men's ‘sexual property’, whose social ‘value’ is measured in terms of their chastity. These ideologies likewise grant an insidious rationale to the use of rape as a weapon of war. Turning to Genesis 34, the author considers the responses of Dinah's family to her violation and ‘defilement’ and suggests that both her father and brothers conceptualize the rape as an offence against their ‘property rights’ and an assault, not against Dinah, but against the political integrity of the entire family. Finally, the author appeals to the testimonies of contemporary rape survivors in order to contemplate how Dinah may have felt in the wake of her rape and, in particular, about her family's response to her ‘defilement’.

This chapter explores the devotion to Sarita Colonia, the most prominent folk saint in Peru. It examines Sarita’s biography in relation to myth formation; compares Sarita’s story of virginity and (attempted) rape to the hagiography of several canonized saints; and discusses contemporary devotion to Sarita at her shrine in Callao (Lima).

This chapter juxtaposes the role of government with the “paradox” of freedom. The U.S. government's varying role in regulating issues of employment (in Lochner), sexual relations (rape law, polygamy, sexual harassment), and questions of income tax, assisted suicide, and abortion are discussed.

This chapter introduces the reader to Dinah, a literary victim of sexual violence, whose story is told in the narrative of Genesis 34. The author raises the issue of Dinah's silence within this narrative and suggests the means by which a feminist interpretation of the text may allow the reader to break her literary silence and grant her a voice with which to tell her story. It is proposed that, by appealing to the cross‐cultural testimonies of contemporary rape survivors who bear witness to their own voicelessness, the reader can gain a new awareness of the complexity of Dinah's silence, understanding it as an intrinsic part of her experience of sexual violence.

This chapter focuses on the common cultural myth that rape is little more than an outplaying of normative sexuality, where the dominant male pursues and conquers the typically reluctant female. The author argues that rape is an act of sexualized aggression and therefore its harmful effects on the victim cannot be underestimated. Attention then turns to the subject of Dinah's rape, where the author offers a close reading of the Hebrew text of Genesis 34.2 in an attempt to refute the suggestion made by a number of biblical scholars, that the sexual encounter between Dinah and Shechem was one of seduction rather than violation. It is suggested that those scholars who cast doubt upon Dinah's status as rape victim may unwittingly be perpetuating the cultural normalization of sexual violence and the concomitant confusion between abusive and acceptable sexuality.

This chapter considers the myths and misperceptions surrounding rapists, including the belief that ‘men just can't help themselves’ and the false stereotypical images of the ‘archetypal’ rapist. Turning to Genesis 34, the author then contemplates the rather contradictory depiction of Shechem, who, after raping Dinah, appears to fall in love with her. The question is raised: did the narrator thus seek to ‘rehabilitate’ Shechem following his initially negative portrayal as Dinah's rapist? Through a close analysis of the Hebrew terms used to depict Shechem within the Genesis 34 narrative, the author concludes that, contrary to the view of many biblical interpreters, the narrator was not seeking sympathy for this character, nor did he intend to redeem him. Using the testimonies of contemporary rape survivors, consideration is then given to the possible effects of Shechem's awakened affections upon his victim Dinah, including his proposal of rapist‐victim marriage.

This chapter explores marriage in the social and legal context. It looks at who marries, and what marriage seems to mean to them. Marriage is a crucial social institution, and many people bemoan the state of American marriage: opponents of same-sex marriage, supporters of the patriarchal family, anti-divorce moralists, advocates for children, and so on. Marriage may be weaker than before, it may have changed greatly; but it is still fundamental to society and to the lives of people in America. And its consequences reverberate throughout society and the law. Thus the chapter discusses what marriage means in law: the rights and obligations of married couples, including economic rights. It also looks at the darker side of marriage—domestic violence and marital rape.

This chapter describes the earliest feminist exploration of child sexual abuse as a political issue, showing how concern with the issue emerged from anti‐rape organizations and began to spread through the feminist movement. These first activists constructed new knowledge about child sexual abuse as a social and political problem rather than an individual pathology, and arguing that it was relatively common. They were highly decentralized, but a coherent view of child sexual abuse as grounded in patriarchy and akin to rape emerged from their work. This chapter documents multiple sources of the earliest activism, including: The International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women, in Brussels in 1975; the Child Assault Prevention Project in Columbus, Ohio, in 1976, which spread to other cities over the next few years; the International Women's Year conference, held in Houston in 1977; the emergence of feminist therapy within rape crisis centers; and the publication of key writings on incest and child sexual abuse. The chapter discusses the forces that facilitated emergence of this movement.

This chapter is the second of two chapters dealing with the issue of proportionality in self-defence. It examines the issue of whether or not it is ever permissible to kill to prevent rape. The approaches taken to the issue in the various major common law jurisdictions are examined. It is noted that the permissibility of killing to prevent rape is often assumed by theorists without further discussion, but that when any accompanying threat to life or of serious physical injury is taken out of the equation, it becomes more difficult to justify killing a potential rapist in order to prevent an attack. Various possible approaches are rejected before the chapter argues that killing probably is permissible on the ground that rape is a serious wrong that involves a denial of the victim's humanity.