Whether Rape Is a Species of Lust, Distinct from Seduction?
Objection 1: It would seem that rape is not a species of lust,
distinct from seduction. For Isidore says (Etym. v, 26) that
"seduction (_stuprum_), or rape, properly speaking, is unlawful
intercourse, and takes its name from its causing corruption:
wherefore he that is guilty of rape is a seducer." Therefore it seems
that rape should not be reckoned a species of lust distinct from
seduction.
Obj. 2: Further, rape, apparently, implies violence. For it is stated
in the Decretals (XXXVI, qu. 1 [*Append. Grat. ad can. Lex illa]) that
"rape is committed when a maid is taken away by force from her
father's house that after being violated she may be taken to wife."
But the employment of force is accidental to lust, for this
essentially regards the pleasure of intercourse. Therefore it seems
that rape should not be reckoned a determinate species of lust.
Obj. 3: Further, the sin of lust is curbed by marriage: for it is
written (1 Cor. 7:2): "For fear of fornication, let every man have
his own wife." Now rape is an obstacle to subsequent marriage, for it
was enacted in the council of Meaux: "We decree that those who are
guilty of rape, or of abducting or seducing women, should not have
those women in marriage, although they should have subsequently
married them with the consent of their parents." Therefore rape is
not a determinate species of lust distinct from seduction.
Obj. 4: Further, a man may have knowledge of his newly married wife
without committing a sin of lust. Yet he may commit rape if he take
her away by force from her parents' house, and have carnal knowledge
of her. Therefore rape should not be reckoned a determinate species
of lust.
_On the contrary,_ Rape is unlawful sexual intercourse, as Isidore
states (Etym. v, 26). But this pertains to the sin of lust. Therefore
rape is a species of lust.
_I answer that,_ Rape, in the sense in which we speak of it now, is a
species of lust: and sometimes it coincides with seduction; sometimes
there is rape without seduction, and sometimes seduction without rape.
They coincide when a man employs force in order unlawfully to violate
a virgin. This force is employed sometimes both towards the virgin
and towards her father; and sometimes towards the father and not to
the virgin, for instance if she allows herself to be taken away by
force from her father's house. Again, the force employed in rape
differs in another way, because sometimes a maid is taken away by
force from her parents' house, and is forcibly violated: while
sometimes, though taken away by force, she is not forcibly violated,
but of her own consent, whether by act of fornication or by the act
of marriage: for the conditions of rape remain no matter how force is
employed. There is rape without seduction if a man abduct a widow or
one who is not a virgin. Hence Pope Symmachus says [*Ep. v ad
Caesarium; Cf. can. Raptores xxxvi, qu. 2], "We abhor abductors
whether of widows or of virgins on account of the heinousness of
their crime."
There is seduction without rape when a man, without employing force,
violates a virgin unlawfully.
Reply Obj. 1: Since rape frequently coincides with seduction, the one
is sometimes used to signify the other.
Reply Obj. 2: The employment of force would seem to arise from the
greatness of concupiscence, the result being that a man does not fear
to endanger himself by offering violence.
Reply Obj. 3: The rape of a maiden who is promised in marriage is to
be judged differently from that of one who is not so promised. For
one who is promised in marriage must be restored to her betrothed,
who has a right to her in virtue of their betrothal: whereas one that
is not promised to another must first of all be restored to her
father's care, and then the abductor may lawfully marry her with her
parents' consent. Otherwise the marriage is unlawful, since whosoever
steals a thing he is bound to restore it. Nevertheless rape does not
dissolve a marriage already contracted, although it is an impediment
to its being contracted. As to the decree of the council in question,
it was made in abhorrence of this crime, and has been abrogated.
Wherefore Jerome [*The quotation is from Can. Tria. xxxvi, qu. 2]
declares the contrary: "Three kinds of lawful marriage," says he,
"are mentioned in Holy Writ. The first is that of a chaste maiden
given away lawfully in her maidenhood to a man. The second is when a
man finds a maiden in the city, and by force has carnal knowledge of
her. If the father be willing, the man shall endow her according to
the father's estimate, and shall pay the price of her purity [*Cf.
Deut. 22:23-29]. The third is, when the maiden is taken away from
such a man, and is given to another at the father's will."
We may also take this decree to refer to those who are promised to
others in marriage, especially if the betrothal be expressed by words
in the present tense.
Reply Obj. 4: The man who is just married has, in virtue of the
betrothal, a certain right in her: wherefore, although he sins by
using violence, he is not guilty of the crime of rape. Hence Pope
Gelasius says [*Can. Lex illa, xxvii, qu. 2; xxxvi, qu. 1]: "This law
of bygone rulers stated that rape was committed when a maiden, with
regard to whose marriage nothing had so far been decided, was taken
away by force."
_______________________