Customer Reviews

Unwanted Sex: The Culture of Intimidation and the Failure of Law

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I heard Professor Schulhofer present this book a few months back at the University of Chicago. Within it, he explains that our sexual assault laws are *not* founded on notions of consent, despite widespread popular beliefs to the contrary.

Schulhofer argues that our laws must do a better job of protecting sexual assault victims, and that by focusing on autonomy (and not force or even requirements of affirmative resistance), we can better protect potential victims of sexual assault. It's a hard argument, because consent can be extremely difficult to prove, or even know at the time of the interaction, but Schulhofer confronts those difficulties directly and helpfully.

"Unwanted Sex" explains, in clear and understandable language, how limited is women's (and men's ) legal protection from unwanted sex. Schulhofer shows that rape laws in almost all states STILL require actual physical force or the immediate threat of it: other forms of coercion are okay! Amazing. He convincingly debunks the claims of Camille Paglia, Katie Roiphe and Christina Hoff Sommers that the law indulges weak-willed women, criminalizes 'bad sex" and so forth. I recommend "Unwanted Sex" to anyone who wants to understand rape law and the ongoing debate around it.