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The Dimensions of Rape Reform Legislation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Ronald J. Berger ,
Patricia Searles  and
W. Lawrence Neuman
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Abstract

Largely as a result of the feminist movement, most states have passed some form of rape reform legislation. Most rape law research has attempted to ascertain whether the reformed laws have achieved specific instrumental goals. In contrast, this paper emphasizes rape law reform as a symbolic indicator of women's contemporary social status. We believe there is a need for a greater appreciation of the diversity of rape law reform across the country and of the coexistence of traditional and feminist elements in contemporary law. Through a comprehensive empirical assessment of state rape statutes, we identify the different dimensions of rape legislation and provide insight into the degree to which feminist conceptualizations of rape have achieved social legitimacy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , 1988 , pp. 329 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 by The Law and Society Association

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