[Avodah] rape

[Ilana Sober Elzufon]

All of the following is IIRC. Sorry - did not have time to look up.

1) The Torah often does not prescribe criminal penalties in bein adam
l'chaveiro, except for very extreme cases (murder, kidnapping) that warrant
the death penalty. The Torah does specify civil penalties (restitution) in
such situations.

The same is true for theft - the penalty is paying back double. That means
that if the thief can avoid being caught most of the time, he will do just
fine. When he does occasionally get caught, he pays the kefel - that's just
the price of doing business.

This does not mean that the perpetrator shouldn't be punished, perhaps
severely, by the government. Thus, the government can put the thief in jail.
But setting punishments, and defining specific criteria for imposing them,
is very dependent on the specific society. This is an area of law that is
entrusted by the Torah to the melech and should be applied appropriately in
each era.

The above I learned from my first husband, Moshe Sober z"l; I think mainly
based on Drashot HaRan.

>From what I have heard, the way rape laws are enforced by the secular gov't
nowadays is not a 100% perfect model. The victim can be subject to really
humiliating questioning in order to create a reasonable doubt. And the main
goal is to send the perpetrator to prison - which does not always happen,
because the defense can open up the possibility that it didn't really happen
or, if it did, was consensual. I don't know if the question of restitution
of some kind gets addressed at all.

2) The girl and her father have the OPTION of forcing the perpetrator to
marry her. They don't have to. In some cases, it is to the girl's benefit
(especially in pre-modern societies); in others not. Someone - I forgot who
- explains that this is a deterrent measure. Upperclass young men might be
tempted take advantage of poorer girls - but will be more likely to think
twice if they know that they may be creating a situation they will be stuck
with for life.

- Ilana
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