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Rape; what term of rape used to convict army superior, anyone knows?

posted 11 years ago by DaVooz
7 replies | jump to latest

Hi you all. I watched seasons 1 and 2 a while ago. I liked it but found it a bit too spectacular and it could have been a bit more 'real' and dramatic in my taste.

I found the premisse of someone being able to tell lies intriguing though.

My question is: in one of the episodes of season 1 or 2 an army official is convicted of powerabuse. A specific term of (a kind of) rape was used - what was that term, anyone remembers?

A woman soldier had sexual relations with her boss (a soldier higher in rank). This seemed 'okay' although out of line (sex with a co-worker and intimate relationsships with a colleague at the workplace or off-work always are in some way). But then the writers came up with the concept that the woman in fact was forced having sex / having to start and maintain a relationship with her superior, the accusation was that the woman in this situation would fear she would lose her job if she refused and that the superior was thus forcing her to have sex / start a intimate relationship. This abuse of position read as an abuse of power so a typical way of rape (subtle, not brutal; like with psychological blackmail. Also in the typical army community a code of 'omerta' is common, so a victim isn't supposed to 'rat' but to endure etc.) - What was it called?

I'm interested in this, because I had a brother who started three relations with his former female personel, and I always felt something was wrong but couldn't specify it. IMO he impregnated two of them, married them and then later the women divorced him. The term I'm looking for sort of made things more clear for me. And yes, relationships at the workplace do happen, we meet most of our friends and lovers at work, I understand.

with [cheese]

[–] phantom2-2 11 years ago

i think this case was rape by abuse of authority, though i'm not sure if they used those exact words. as long as the victim played along, he would assign her to a relatively safe position on patrols. if she didn't, he would put her at the dangerous point position, presumably until she was killed.

if your brother is forming relationships with former personnel i guess that'd fall more into the "met at work" category, since he'd no longer have power over them at that point. though that might depend on when the relationships began, i suppose.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] DaVooz 10 years ago

Yes phantom2-2 that was the episode. I was looking for the legal term of that particular abuse of authority (rape). My brother formed relationships while working with them (he was the boss or co-owner of company). Never felt right to me, that's why this particular episode held my interest long after I saw it.

with [cheese]

[–] Kati_PR 10 years ago

I believe it was called 'command rape'. Hope this helps!

That's just my two cents.

[–] DaVooz 10 years ago

Thanks Kati, indeed 'command rape' could be the term that they used. Is it a term that you know of?

I remember vaguely that Lie to Me used a more common term indicating a working relation, a professional liason and not specifically an army rank (such is 'command rape'I assumed anyway). Thanks for the feedback, cheers.

with [cheese]

[–] blakewinters 10 years ago

Just watched this episode not too long ago and, yes, the term they use is "command rape." Prior to that, they don't use any other specific terms for it. They just talk about how despite the victim saying "yes" to the sex, etc. it's still rape because it was non-consensual. The victim couldn't say "no" to a commanding officer and felt her safety threatened because he would have put her in a more dangerous position out in the field if she didn't comply. One of the characters says "command rape" in referring to other similar incidents that have occurred in the military.

As far as this occurring outside the military in the real world workplace, you would have to prove that a person has been coerced into having sex and because of that had no other choice but to say "yes." Perhaps easier to prove in the military where a commanding officer can practice some real abuse of power and put victims in life-threatening situations. If it's a regular workplace, you would have to ask why the victim couldn't simply say "no" and walk away. That's why in the real world I think cases of rape are more of the physical force variety. In this episode of "Lie to Me" we saw the verbal threat version. And "command rape" is probably the most apt term for it since it seems most likely to occur within the military.

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Tears of a rapper...

[–] 10 years ago

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