RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
EDITED BY KYLE CASEY, JULIET DALE, ROB HOPKIRK, ALEXIS POLLITTO,
SERENA DINESHKUMAR, MELL CHHOY, AND CINDY YAO
I. INTRODUCTION .. ........................................ 872
A. DEFINITION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873
B. STATISTICS ........................................ 878
II. CRIMINAL LAW ......................................... 880
A. PRE-TRIAL ISSUES ................................... 880
1. DNA Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
a. Availability of DNA Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
b. Rape Kit Backlog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
c. Statutes of Limitations in the DNA Era . . . . . . . . . . . 884
2. Sexual Assault Cases in the Media .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887
a. Media Treatment of Survivors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887
b. Media Treatment of the Accused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889
c. Non-Disclosure Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891
3. Special Groups .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892
a. Marital Rape .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892
b. Military Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893
c. Native Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896
d. Campus Sexual Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898
i. Government Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898
ii. Campus Response and Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902
iii. The Legal System’s Response .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 905
iv. Affirmative Consent Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
B. TRIAL ISSUES ...................................... 909
1. Rape Shield Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910
a. The Federal Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912
b. Legislated Exceptions Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916
i. Pattern of Behavior and/or Prostitution . . . . . . . 918
ii. Prior False Accusations of Sexual Assault . . . . 918
iii. Prior Accusations of Sexual Abuse Related to
Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919
c. The Judicial Discretion Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920
d. The Hybrid Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921
e. The Evidentiary Purpose Approach .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 922
2. Defendant’s Past Sex Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
3. Sexually Transmitted Disease Status ................... 924
4. Survivor’s Medical Records .......................... 926
5. Social Media Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
871
III. CIVIL LAW .. .......................................... 932
A. CHILD CUSTODY IN RAPE CASES ......................... 933
B. CIVIL PROTECTION ORDERS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936
C. CIVIL CAUSES OF ACTION .............................. 937
IV. CONCLUSION ........................................... 939
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the 1970s, rape law has been reshaped and expanded in large part due to
an increased awareness of the prevalence of sexual violence. In the last decade,
the #MeToo movement,
1
Nadia Khomami, #MeToo: How a Hashtag Became a Rallying Cry Against Sexual Harassment,
GUARDIAN (Oct. 20, 2017, 1:13 PM), https://perma.cc/XC9C-PRD5.
the Senate’s stalling of the 2019 Violence Against
Women Reauthorization Act,
2
former USA Gymnastics Doctor Larry Nassar’s
prison sentence of up to 175 years for sexual abuse,
3
See Will Hobson, Larry Nassar, Former USA Gymnastics Doctor, Sentenced to 40-175 Years for
Sex Crimes, WASH. POST (Jan. 24, 2018), https://perma.cc/K4RY-U8GV.
the uncovering of high rates
of sexual assault on college campuses,
4
See Richard Perez-Pefia, 1 in 4 Women Experience Sex Assault on Campus, N.Y. TIMES (Sept. 21,
2015), https://perma.cc/3CPX-SKDB.
and the confirmation of Supreme Court
Justice Brett Kavanaugh despite allegations of sexual assault
5
See Clare Foran & Stephen Collinson, Brett Kavanaugh Sworn in as Supreme Court Justice, CNN
(Oct. 6, 2018, 8:02 PM), https://perma.cc/5X5V-A83Y.
have contributed to
increased public awareness of sexual assault. Despite certain legislative reforms,
lawmakers and courts continue to struggle with sensitive issues in the prosecution
of rape cases and protecting survivors.
In Part I, this Article will present statistics on the frequency of sexual assault. It
will address some of the typical characteristics of perpetrators, as well as statu-
tory definitions and interpretations of rape at both the federal and state levels.
Part II.A will examine the criminal prosecution of rape through pre-trial issues,
including DNA testing, maintaining rape survivor privacy in the media, and
issues faced by selected groups including spousal rape survivors, military rape
survivors, Native American survivors, and students on college campuses. Part II.
B will focus on trial issues in criminal cases, particularly the admissibility of evi-
dence, rape shield laws, and the admissibility of defendants’ past sex crimes. Part
III will examine how civil laws have developed to provide rape survivors with
more protections.
1.
2. H.R. 1585, 116th Cong. (2019) (placed on the Senate Calendar on Apr. 10, 2019).
3.
4.
5.
872 THE GEORGETOWN JOURNAL OF GENDER AND THE LAW [Vol. 25:871
A. DEFINITION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE
6
Statutes, news articles, and even academic writings use the terms “sexual assault” and “rape”
interchangeably. Although there is a difference between the two terms, they are often conflated. Rape &
Sexual Assault, CENTRE CTY. WOMEN’S RESOURCE CTR. (2013), https://perma.cc/E8VH-Q53J; see
Sexual Assault, RAPE, ABUSE & INCEST NAT’L NETWORK, https://perma.cc/BUF9-MMA2.
The common law crime of rape is subsumed under federal law as the crime of
aggravated sexual abuse.
7
Federal law concerning rape, like many laws at the
state level, is gender-neutral and does not distinguish between vaginal and other
forms of penetration.
8
An individual is guilty of this offense if they “knowingly
6.
7. 18 U.S.C.A. § 2241 (West, Westlaw through Pub. L. 118-119).
8. Id. There are also many states (and D.C.) with gender-neutral statutes regarding rape and sexual
assault that do not differentiate between different types of penetration or mention gender. See ALASKA
STAT. ANN. § 11.41.410 (West, Westlaw through ch. 26 of the 2023 1st Reg. Sess. of the 33st Leg.);
ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN. § 13-1406 (West, Westlaw through legis. effective through the 1st Reg. Sess. of
the 56th Leg. (2023)); CAL. PENAL CODE. § 261 (West, Westlaw through Ch. 1 of 2023-24 1st Extra.
Sess., and urgency legis. through Ch. 888 of 2023 Reg. Sess.); COLO. REV. STAT. ANN. § 18-3-402
(West, Westlaw through 1st Reg. Sess. of the 74th Gen. Assemb. (2023)); CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. §
53a-70 (West, Westlaw through the 2023 Reg. Sess. and the 2023 Sept. Spec. Sess.); 11 DEL. CODE.
ANN. tit. 11, § 773 (West, Westlaw through ch. 237 of the 152nd Gen. Assemb. (2023-2024); D.C.
CODE. ANN. § 22-3002 (West, Westlaw through Apr. 26, 2023); FLA. STAT. ANN. § 794.011 (West,
Westlaw through July 4, 2023 from the 2023 Special B Sess. and the 2023 1st Reg. Sess.); HAW. REV.
STAT. ANN. § 707-730 (West, Westlaw through the end of the 2023 Reg. Sess.); IDAHO CODE ANN. § 18-
6101 (West, Westlaw through Chs. 1 to 314 of the 1st Reg. Sess. of the 67th Idaho Leg.); 720 ILL. COMP.
STAT. ANN. § 5/11-1.20 (West, Westlaw through P. A. 103-561 of the 2023 Reg. Sess.); IND. CODE.
ANN. 35-42-4-1 (West, Westlaw through all legis. of the 2023 1st Reg. Sess. of the 123st Gen. Assemb.);
IOWA CODE ANN. § 709.1 (West, Westlaw through legis. effective July 14, 2023 from the 2023 Reg.
Sess. and the 2023 1st Extra. Sess., subject to changes made by Iowa Code Editor for Code 2024); KAN.
STAT. ANN. § 21-5503 (West, Westlaw through laws enacted during the 2023 Reg. Sess. of the Kan.
Leg.); KY. REV. STAT. ANN. § 510.010 et. seq. (West, Westlaw through the 2023 Reg. Sess. and the Nov.
8 2022 elect.); LA. STAT. ANN. § 14:41 (West, Westlaw through the 2023 1st Extra. Reg, and Veto
Sess’s.); ME. REV. STAT. ANN. tit.17-A, § 253 (West, Westlaw through the 2023 1st Reg. and 1st Spec.
Sess. of the 131st Leg.); MASS. GEN. LAWS ANN. ch. 265, § 22 (West, Westlaw through Ch. 25 of the
2023 1st Ann. Sess.); MINN. STAT. ANN. § 609.342 (West, Westlaw through all legis. from the 2023 Reg.
Sess.); MONT. CODE ANN. § 45-5-503 (West, Westlaw through chps. effective Jan. 1, 2024 of the 2023
Sess.); NEB. REV. STAT. ANN. § 28-319 (West, Westlaw through end of the 1st Reg. Sess. of the 108th
Leg. (2023)); N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. § 632-A:1 et. seq. (West, Westlaw through Ch. 243 (End) of the
2023 Reg. Sess.); N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:14-2 (West, Westlaw through L.2023, c. 107 and J.R. No. 11);
N.M. STAT. ANN. § 30-9-11 (West, Westlaw through 1st Reg. Sess. of the 56th Leg. (2023)); N.D. CENT.
CODE ANN. § 12.1-20-03 (West, Westlaw through legis. from the 2023 Reg. Sess.); OHIO REV. CODE
ANN. § 2907.02 (West, Westlaw through Files 10 of the 135th Gen. Assemb. (2023-2024)) (found
unconstitutional in part by In re D.B., 950 N.E.2d 528 (Ohio 2011)); OR. REV. STAT. ANN. § 163.375
(West, Westlaw through the 2023 Reg. Sess. of the 82nd Legis. Assemb., pending classification of
undesignated material and text revis. by the Or. Reviser); 18 PA. STAT. AND CON. STAT. ANN. § 3121
(West, Westlaw through 2023 Reg. Sess. Act 12) (validity of subsection (e)(2) called into doubt by
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010)); S.C. CODE ANN. § 16-3-652 (West, Westlaw through 2023 Act
No. 102, subject to final approval by the Legislative Council, technical revisions by the Code Comm’r,
and publication in the Official Code of Laws); S.D. Codified Laws § 22-22-2 (West, Westlaw through
2023 Reg. Sess. and Supreme Court Rule 23-17); TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-13-503 (West, Westlaw
through the 2023 Reg. Sess. and 1st Extra. Sess. of the 113th Tenn. Gen. Assemb.); TEX. PENAL CODE
ANN. § 22.011 (West, Westlaw through the end of the 2023 Reg. Sess. and 2nd Called Sess. of the 88th
Leg.); UTAH CODE ANN. § 76-5-402 (West, Westlaw through 2023 2nd Spec. Sess.); VT. STAT. ANN. tit.
13, § 3252 (West, Westlaw through Chs. 81(end) and M-16 (end) of the Reg. Sess. of the 2022-2023 Vt.
Gen. Assemb. (2023)); WASH. REV. CODE ANN. § 9A.44.040 (West, Westlaw through all legis. from the
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