Criminal Sexual Conduct Law Passes

Don't do it or I'll see you in court!

"We achieved an excellent result even though we had to shed blood over it. The new law is revolutionary in comparison to the old myths that surround sexual assaults. We all feel proud that Michigan is finally taking some leadership in this matter - even though they were pushed into it. " - Jan Ben Dor, from the Women's Crisis Center, and lobbyist for the new Criminal Sexual Conduct bill.

After more than a century of archaic rape laws, the Michigan Legislature finally passed a new law that will protect women who have been sexually assaulted.

Among the innovations of the new bill is that a victim need not prove that she didn't consent to the assailant. Many juries require that a woman prove that she put up a fight against her assailant, even though police often advise women to offer no resistance, especially if the attacker is armed. The new law states that even if there is only a threat of bodily injury a woman can justifiably submit to her attacker.

There are now four degrees of severity and type of coercion used to grade sexual assault. By setting up the degrees, the act of rape is criminalized and makes the point clear that even if the victim doesn't sustain injuries it is still a crime.

Criminal penetration now includes situations where the victim is forced to perform sexual acts such as fellatio and analingus upon the accused.

The law completely bars defense lawyers from making courtroom inquiries into a woman's past sexual conduct, the point being that a victim's activities with men other than the accused are irrelevant. Previously, a lawyer could ask a victim how many men she had slept with in the past week, month, or year, and manage to discredit her testimony.

People who have filed for divorce or separation and are living apart from one another are protected from the spouse.

The new law is sexually neutral in that victims attacked by members of either sex are protected.

Because emphasis is no longer on sexual penetration itself but instead the varying degrees of the offense and of severity of violence used, the word "rape" has become obsolete. The new term, "criminal sexual conduct" has a much broader connotation and is applicable to the wide spectrum of offenses included in the new law.

In 1973 there were 51,000 sexual assaults reported in the US, a 10% increase over 1972 and a staggering 60% over 1968. Some of the rise can be attributed to women's greater willingness to report the crime. Yet many women are too embarrassed to do so, or hesitate to expose themselves to a trial. In California there is an assault committed against a woman on the average of once every 20 minutes. And yet, only 133 out of every 1000 men tried for rape in 1972 were convicted -- the lowest rate of any violent crime. Michigan's new law is aimed at certainty of conviction as opposed to the severity of conviction.

According to Ms. BenDor, many of the state senators were vehemently opposed to the new proposal and fought against it's passage to the bitter end. Among the bill's strongest opponents was state senator from Highland Park, Basil Brown.

Exhausted after hours of lobbying, members of various women's rights groups waited patiently for word on the bill's passage when Brown shouted, "I would like to say to the Misses, Mrses, and Mses in this room: girls, get some sleep and keep your legs crossed. We'll be back in September."

--Janelle Crandell