Consent in Rape Cases in Swaziland: A Woman's Right to Decide

Abstract

When a woman is battered, bruised, found naked and half dead by he roadside and then claims she has been raped, the public and the criminal justice system are quick to rise up in anger and indignation and to take her allegations seriously. There is no doubt that, such a brutal crime is abhorred by all right-thinking persons. However, most rapes which occur, and even most rapes which reach the courts do not have such a violent character. In most rape trials, the central issue involves determining whether the female complainant has consented to the intercourse.