| dc.description.abstract | Rape is a complex issue with many faces. Different researchers from the field of psychology to sociology have attempted to understand rape. ln some psychological studies, rape is considered as a psychological disorder. Psychologists like Krafft-Ebing, a researcher on sexual disorders, in his research "Psychopathia Sexualis," categorized rapists as "degenerate, imbecile men" (Brownmiller 1975:1). Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) (Meyer et al 1989:39), did not deal with the subject of rape specifically. Freud viewed the sexuality of men, which was sometimes marked by aggression and a strong tendency to subdue women, as biological. It is necessary for men to overcome the resistance of the sexual object (women) by actions other than mere courting (Geis 1977:18-19). According to Freud, this aggression is a natural characteristic of being male. Thus, in rape there is no abuse or violence, no offence, no victims and no offenders (Fortune 1983:114-115\. This view that aggression was natural to being male made rape, which is an act of aggression, a natural act. Women had no need to complain, speak up, or lay a charge against their offenders in rape. They need to be silent. Rape was most of the times considered as natural and acceptable in both church and society. | en_US |
