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Old 07-18-2011, 11:53 AM   #19 (permalink)
KirStang
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Split it in to categories.

Sexual Battery in degrees. Some element of non-consent. Some element of force, including trickery or battery (i.e. causing someone to touch an offensive liquid, such as roofies, and just plain force). First degree includes penetration of any orifice with any object. Aggravated involves a weapon and or severe physical trauma. Second degree probably involves touching or rubbing the organ against the other person. All other touching i.e. touching another's breasts would fall under the normal definition of Battery.

No requirement for man or woman.

You'll also run in to issues of consent, of some prior sexual conduct, of he said she said, and issues of evidence. Most states have statutory presumptions to aid the victim, such as asking for a contraceptive does not equate to consent, and past sexual history is prohibited from evidence, unless it is used to show prior consensual sex, a habit of participating in risky sex, etc. Finally, you will also have to make sure that this isn't some trumped up charge to get back at a boyfriend or to avoid looking bad.

It's a hard crime to prosecute, and contains much social stigma.

Re: UCR--it's following a definition of rape that is very old, but took hundreds of years of case law to fashion. You may easily point out the UCR's weaknesses, but it's one of the most reliable and comprehensive sets of data in the United States. There are others, of course, like the National Crime Victimization Survey (National Crime Victimization Survey Resource Guide), but IIRC, this involves calling up households and asking them to self-report. Eitherway, you're going to have criticisms of the data-set when obtaining such a broad swath of information.
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