Rape is not a myth - Court should stop using this word!!
Judges across the country have often used the word 'ravished' or 'ravishment' in their judgments to refer to rape, while it is usually used in a 'romantic sense'. The term was used by a judge last month while discussing marital rape. When a woman is ravished (victim of rape), she is not only hurt physically, but the feeling of shame also runs deep.
'… our women don't react like this when they are raped.'
Judges across the country have often used the word 'ravished' or 'ravishment' to refer to rape in their judgments. In the dictionary, the word means not only 'to capture and forcibly take away' and rape, but also to 'boil of feelings (joy or enthusiasm)'.
Legal experts say that even though the term is usually used in a 'romantic sense', evidence from language and history suggests that this 'archaic' word has been used as a synonym for rape. The use of the term originated at a time when women were 'viewed as property', and hence its use only extends the 'notion of a woman's sexuality as property'.
In recent months a number of experts have insisted that 'this archaic and patriarchal synonym should be resisted (in judgments)', and that in the context of legal language 'the time has come for us to stop these archaic, malicious And stop using vague words. The demand to stop the use of such language in courts has gained momentum especially after a judge used the word 'ravishing' last month during a discussion on the subject of marital rape.