are all rapes the same?

COMMENT

Poor old Kenneth Clarke got himself into an awful pickle yesterday when he stepped into the minefield of sexual politics. For once, his jocular, laid-back style did not endear itself to the nation, which rose up as one to condemn his position that all rapes are not the same. Yet he is quite correct to say this, and indeed it is already recognised in law, where the range of punishment varies between 5 years and life in prison. Take these 2 examples:
1. A couple, who are already sleeping together, have a meal at home, have too much to drink and begin kissing and cuddling. The man wants to take it further, but the woman has cold feet and says no. But the man insists, and they have sex anyway, against the woman's will. Is this rape? Yes, of course it is.
2. A woman is walking home late at night when a masked assailant jumps out of the shadows and rapes her at knifepoint. Is this rape? Once again, of course. Are they "the same"? Of course they're not. While the former scenario might attract the minimum sentence, the latter might tend more towards the maximum.

The real problem here is that the concept of radically reducing time served if a suspect pleads guilty early in the proceedings should never have been attached to rape, which is, after murder, the most serious crime a human being can commit against another. And it should be remembered that the proposal comes purely from a desire to reduce the prison population and has nothing to do with appropriate punishment for any given crime. Ken Clarke was wrong to treat this most serious of subjects in such a light-hearted way, especially when he suggested that the media likes rape because of its "sexy" appeal, but the essence of what he said is perfectly valid.