Page 6 - Klinika Nr 33–34 (38–39)/2022

WPŁYW KLINIK NA PRZYSZŁOŚĆ SPOŁECZNĄ

6 years ago. The element of “consent” also exists in most European century, the only evidence that the resistance was broken, and thus
legislations as well as in the United States and Canada . In light the rape was committed, were “characteristic traces of injuries in-
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of the above, in every criminal case, Polish courts must consider flicted by the perpetrator (injuries of the genitals and their regions,
whether the intercourse took place as a result of violence under- choking marks, strangulation marks, bruises on wrists, scratches,
stood as forcible exertion of force by the perpetrator on the victim and bruises on the inner thighs, etc.) as well as signs of defense on
which is supposed to lead to breaking the resistance or making the body of the perpetrator (scratches, bruises, etc.)”. In the ab-
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his/her expression impossible . Another possibility is to prove sence of such evidence, the absence of resistance on the part of
that the intercourse took place using deceit or unlawful threats, the victim and thus the existence of consent to sexual intercourse
which also presume to influence the will of the victim and con- was assumed. Even presumed consent excludes the criminal ille-
stitute manifestations of male domination. Threats are treated as gality of sexual intercourse, which remains a lawful act. The wom-
a type of so-called psychological violence when “the perpetrator, an’s resistance and, consequently, the necessity to prove the lack of
by giving the victim the alternative of inflicting a certain disadvan- consent to sexual intercourse are examined further in most cases
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tage or submitting to his will, determines the course of the motiva- of rape . Although, as mentioned above, the requirements for
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tional process in the desired direction” . In contrast to the other the intensity of resistance have been somewhat changed, they have
two conditions, deceit does not cause coercion of the victim but not been excluded entirely and it is still considered that the imma-
consists in misleading the victim to obtain her consent to sexual nent characteristic determining the lack of consent is the resist-
intercourse. Using deception, the perpetrator may also take advan- ance of the victim.
tage of the victim’s already existing error – what is important here For many years there was a standard of maximum resistance ,
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is above all the fact that the perpetrator uses or leads the victim which required that the resistance must be firm, continuous, real,
to such a state in which he or she is unable to make a rational, free not simulated, and sufficiently noticeable to the perpetrator. Such
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decision . a thesis was promoted especially in the pre-war jurisprudence of
This issue relates to yet another problem – the required degree of the Supreme Court . Nowadays, although the prevailing view is
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resistance on the victim’s part. The lack of consent of the victim, that of so-called rational resistance – “a woman must still resist
and thus the attempt to resist must be externalized and noticea- strongly, but the courts are more inclined to take into account
ble to the perpetrator, which is emphasized in the doctrine and the whole range of circumstances surrounding the act rather than
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jurisprudence . The current provision requires the fulfillment of focus solely on the woman’s behavior” .
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the elements construed in such a way that in effect requires the oc- The feminist literature emphasizes that sometimes women
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currence of events proving the existence of resistance by the vic- do not actively resist unwanted sexual intercourse because they
tim, which creates problems in terms of efficiency of prosecution are burdened by all the cultural and gender stereotypes, and they
of perpetrators. This seeds out the cases in which the rape took are just too afraid of the consequences . Students dealing with
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place, but the victim did not manifest resistance against the per- the crime of rape must be aware of the existence of these stereo-
petrator. It should also be pointed out that in the jurisprudence types. The conservative and patriarchal view of women’s need for
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and doctrine there were various, often very divergent, opinions sexual restraint continues to be present not only in morality and
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on how intense the resistance needs to be and whether the victim politics but also in the justice system. As Płatek rightly points out
should use force or other available means of defense. As stated regarding the judicial assessment of resisting “the assessment will
by Widacki and Szuba-Boroń , even at the beginning of the 20th therefore depend on whether or not the court shares the prevailing
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moral standards with the inherent prejudices, misogynistic stere-
17 About british legislation: K. Banasik, Przyszłość angielskiego prawa karnego, otypes and double standards towards men and women”. There is
Prokuratura i Prawo 10, 2013, p. 134‒135; about french legislation: J. Brzezińska,
Z rozważań o znamionach zmodyfikowanych odmian przestępstwa zgwałcenia no doubt that stereotypes and patriarchal vision of society have
z perspektywy polskiego i francuskiego prawa karnego, Nowa Kodyfikacja Prawa a huge impact on the perception of women as weaker than men,
Karnego T. XLI, 2016, p. 21‒22; about german legislation: Z. Jędrzejewski, Bez- submissive, and indecisive. The conviction that a “woman of easy
prawność jako element przestępności czynu, 2009, p. 283
18 About New York State and Canada legislation: Z. Szczucki, Rola zgody w struk- virtue” cannot be raped was a standard in prewar jurisprudence,
turze przestępstwa na przykładzie przestępstwa zgwałcenia, Czasopismo Prawa and the admissibility of raping a woman engaged in prostitution
Karnego i Nauk Penalnych, 2011, No. 1, p. 51
19 T. Hanausek, Przemoc jako forma działania przestępnego, 1966, p. 65. was controversial until recently. As an example, in the 1920s,
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20 M. Budyn-Kulik, Inna czynność seksualna. Analiza dogmatyczna i praktyka ścigan- the Supreme Court issued a sentence regarding the considera-
ia, 2008, see: M. Królikowski, R. Zawłocki (eds.), Komentarz. Kodeks karny, p. 671. tion of the rape of a child under the age of 16, according to which
21 H. Myśliwiec, Podstęp jako znamię przestępstwa zgwałcenia, Prokuratura i Prawo
11, 2012, p. 66‒67. “the object of the offense in section 182 of the Criminal Act may
22 M. Budyn-Kulik, M. Kulik, Przestępstwa przeciwko wolności seksualnej i obycza- only be an unsullied girl under the age of sixteen. The fact that she
jności, [in:] M. Królikowski, R. Zawłocki (eds.), Kodeks karny. Część szczególna. is ‘innocent’ is not necessarily determined by her previous virgin-
Komentarz art. 117‒221, 2017, p. 668.
23 See: judgment of the District Court in Bydgoszcz of 9 February 2017, III K ity, but by her sexual purity. The subjective essence of this offense
155/15, LEX No. 2663841. requires that the perpetrator is aware that the victim is not yet 16
24 Judgment of the Supreme Court of 14 July 1934, I K 254/34 „Głos Sądownictwa”
1934 No. 12; Judgment of the Supreme Court of 8 October 1997, V KKN 346/96,
Prokuratura i Prawo 1998/4/2; Judgment of the Appeal Court in Krakow of 2 27 M.D. Smith, Encyclopedia of Rape, 2004, p. 72.
October 1997, II Aka 185/97, KZS 1997, No. 9‒10, pos. 34; Judgment of the Ap- 28 Ibidem.
peal Court in Katowice of 8 April 2009, II Aka 72/09, LEX No. 519644; Decision 29 Judgment of Supreme Court of the 14 July 1934, I K 254/34, OSN(K)
of the Supreme Court of the 13 January 2009, V KK 356/08, Biuletyn Prawa 1935/6/247.
Karnego No. 2/09; Judgment of the Appeal Court in Krakow of the 15 February 30 M. D. Smith, Encyclopedia of Rape, p. 72.
1996, II Aka 2/96, OSNKW 2004/11‒12/101. 31 S. Brownmiller, Against Our Will. Men, Women and Rape, 1975, p. 256‒258;
25 See: M. Filar, Przestępstwo zgwałcenia w polskim prawie karnym, 1974; M. Bu- C.A. Mackinnon, Rape on Coercion and Consent, [in:] D. K. Weisberg (ed.), Applica-
dyn-Kulik, M. Kulik, Przestępstwa przeciwko wolności seksualnej…; A. Michal- tions of Feminist Legal Theory to Women’s Life, p. 59‒62.
ska-Warias, Ustawowe znamiona przestępstwa zgwałcenia, [in:] M. Mozgawa (ed.), 32 M. Płatek, Zgwałcenie. Gdy termin nabiera nowej treści. Pozorny brak zmian i jego
Zgwałcenie, 2012. skutki, Archiwum Kryminologii, T. XL, 2018, p. 302.
26 J. Widacki, A. Szuba-Boroń, Przestępstwo zgwałcenia w Polsce w latach 1999‒2017, 33 M. Płatek, Zgwałcenie…, p. 304.
Archiwum Kryminologii, 2019, T. XLI, No. 2, p. 264. 34 Judgment of the Supreme Court of the 8 February 1926, K 544/25.
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