Rape is a criminal offence. To commit a rape, you must be criminally culpable. If (horrible offensive image for which I do apologise) an animal were to sexually impose itself on a person then it would be wrong to say that the animal had raped the person.
GN:
We'll, I've seen dogs hump not only my leg but the legs of other people in the expression of god-knows-what kind of enthusiasm. This would be sexual harassment if done by people.
There's a species of ape--anyone know the name--which is perhaps the most uninhibited copulating species there is, at least among mammals. Guys do it with guys. Gals do it with gals. Guys do it with gals. They do it with kids. They do it every which way twenty times a day.
I read an article in Science News a couple of years ago about otter behavior. Otters have a seamy underside. Otters apparently have rape in the sense of violently imposed sex on females that does not conform to usual mating procedures. One rather unforgettable description was of a female with her face half torn off from the violence of the attack. They also have homosexual mating.
I have no idea what all this means.
-- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 12222
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