According to the Law: Rape and Marital Rape

In recent weeks, famous personalities have hogged the limelight after figuring in controversies: on the local scene, there's the mauling of actor Vhong Navarro due to the alleged rape attempt on model/entrepreneur Deniece Cornejo. In Hollywood, multi-awarded director Woody Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow recently spoke about the sexual molestation she experienced as a child in the hands of her own father. Their common denominator: (alleged) rape.

What is rape?
We all know rape as being forced against your will to have sexual intercourse. While this is correct, rape is not so simple. There is also rape when the victim is threatened or intimidated into having sex, when the victim is unconscious or otherwise incapable of giving consent to the act, or when rape is committed through fraud or grave abuse of authority.

In other words, it is rape if the victim did not give his/her consent, which must be clear and certain. If the victim is under twelve years of age or is mentally handicapped, then he/she is considered as incapable of giving consent, so any sexual act committed under these circumstances is automatically deemed as rape.

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It used to be that the act of rape is committed when a person has “carnal knowledge” of a woman—but Republic Act 8353, or “The Anti-Rape Law of 1997” has broadened this definition to include acts which aren’t necessarily limited to sexual intercourse. Under this law, rape can also be committed by anyone by “inserting his penis into another person's mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument or object, into the genital or anal orifice of another person.” With this provision, rape was broadened to include rape committed against a man, something that was lacking in the earlier law.

Marital rape
Can rape be committed within a marriage? Is there such a thing as marital rape? The answer is yes, there is such a thing as marital rape. A woman has the right to refuse intercourse with her husband if she doesn’t want to do it. As long as the sexual act was done against the spouse’s will, then there is marital rape.

Republic Act 9262 or “The Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Law” also specifically states that sexual violence can be committed by the woman’s husband, boyfriend, or sexual partner, through rape, or by forcing the victim to engage in any sexual activity by force, threat of force, physical or otherwise, or through coercion.

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Penalties for rape
The law takes rape very seriously, and it is now considered as a crime against persons, like physical injuries or homicide. Thus, the penalty imposed on those found guilty of rape is very harsh. The perpetrator can be imprisoned for thirty years (reclusion perpetua) if the rape was committed through force or intimidation, if the victim was unconscious or otherwise unable to give consent, or if the rape was committed through fraud or grave abuse of authority. The same penalty is given to anyone who rapes someone who is under twelve years of age or is mentally handicapped.

The following instances, when present in the commission of rape, used to raise the penalty to death:

a. Whenever the rape is committed with the use of a deadly weapon or by two or more persons;

b.When the rape is attempted and a homicide is committed by reason of or on the occasion thereof;

c. When by reason of or on the occasion of the rape, homicide is committed;

d. When the victim is under eighteen (18) years of age and the offender is a parent, ascendant, step-parent, guardian, relative by consanguinity or affinity within the third civil degree, or the common-law spouse of the parent of the victim;

e. When the victim is under the custody of the police or military authorities or any law enforcement or penal institution;

f. When the rape is committed in full view of the spouse, parent, any of the children or relatives within the third civil degree of consanguinity;

g. When the victim is a religious engaged in legitimate religious vocation or calling and is personally known to be such by the offender before or at the time of the commission of the crime;

h. When the victim is a child below seven (7) years old;

i. When the offender knows that he is afflicted with Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), or any other sexually transmissible disease and the virus or disease is transmitted to the victim;

j. When committed by any member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines of para-military units thereof or the Philippine National Police or any law enforcement agency or penal institution, when the offender took advantage of his position to facilitate the commission of the crime;

k. When the offender knew of the pregnancy of the victim at the time of the commission of the crime; and

l. When the offender knew of the mental disability, emotional disorder and/or physical handicap of the victim at the time of the commission of crime.

However, since the death penalty was suspended on June 24, 2006, the highest imposable penalty for rape was reduced to imprisonment for thirty years, or reclusion perpetua.

If the rape was committed by “inserting his penis into another person's mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument or object, into the genital or anal orifice of another person”, then the penalty is imprisonment from six years and one day to twenty years (prision mayor and reclusion temporal), depending on the circumstances. If the victim becomes insane or is killed because of this kind of rape, then the penalty is raised to imprisonment for thirty years.

Still, the crime of rape can be extinguished, if the offender offers to marry the victim, and the offer is voluntarily accepted by the victim. The subsequent marriage between the offender and the victim shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty imposed. When it is the legal husband who is the offender, the subsequent forgiveness by the wife as the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty. However, for both instances, the crime shall not be extinguished and the penalty shall not be abated if the marriage between the offender and the victim was void from the beginning.

Some facts about rape and sexual violence in the Philippines
According to the Philippine Commission on Women, “Rape is one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women (VAW) in the Philippines. Reported rape cases ranked third (13.1%) of the total reported VAW cases in the country from 1999 to 2009.”

The 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO)revealed that:

• One in twenty five women age 15-49 who have ever had sex experienced forced first sexual intercourse.
• One in ten women age 15-49 have experienced sexual violence.
• Overall, 4 percent of women who have ever been pregnant have experienced physical violence during pregnancy.

Source: http://www.pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201304/statistics-violence-against-filipino-women

Images from www.abs-cbnnews.com (Deniece Cornejo), push.abs-cbn.com (Vhong Navarro), thatfilmguy.net (Woody Allen), nytimes.com (Dylan Farrow)